Donald Sutherland, veteran actor and father of Kiefer Sutherland, dies at the age of 88

Actor Donald Sutherland, who appeared in films such as “Klute,” “M*A*SH*,” and “Ordinary Family” and most recently played the evil President Snow in the “Hunger Games” series, has died at the age of 88.

Sutherland’s son, actor Kiefer Sutherland, posted the news on social media.

“It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away,” Sutherland wrote. “Personally, I consider him to be one of the greatest actors in film history. He was never discouraged by a role, whether it was good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and that’s all you can ask for. A fulfilling life.”

Donald Sutherland was born on July 17, 1935 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. He began his acting career while still a student and went on to have a successful career that included nearly 150 films and over 40 television roles.

His first acting roles were in the early television series “Man of the World” and “Suspense.” He continued to have small roles on television and in films in the 1960s before landing the role of Vernon L. Pinkley in the World War II classic “The Dirty Dozen” in 1967.

Donald Sutherland then played Army surgeon Hawkeye Pierce in director Robert Altman’s 1970 film adaptation of M*A*S*H, which served as the inspiration for the classic television series. The role kicked off a series of film roles and projects for the actor in the 1970s, including the 1971 drama Klute, in which he starred opposite Jane Fonda, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role.

In 1980, Donald Sutherland starred alongside Mary Tyler Moore in the Robert Redford-directed drama “Ordinary Family,” which also starred Judd Hirsch and the then 20-year-old Timothy Hutton. For his role in the film, he became the youngest supporting actor to win an Oscar—one of five Oscars the film won.

After his debut in 1969 in “Buck White,” the actor returned to Broadway in 1981 and played the lead role in Vladimir Nabokov’s play “Lolita,” adapted by Edward Albee.

After his Broadway appearance, Sutherland continued to appear in many notable films in the 1980s and 1990s, including 1989’s “A Dry White Season” alongside Marlon Brando and 1991’s controversial “JFK” by screenwriter and director Oliver Stone with Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon and Tommy Lee Jones.

In the 2000s, Donald Sutherland’s film career continued to flourish with roles in the action comedy “Space Cowboys” in 2000, the Civil War drama “Cold Mountain” in 2003, in which he co-starred with Nicole Kidman, and the gangster film “The Italian Job” in 2003, starring Charlize Theron.

Sutherland also portrayed Mr. Bennett in the 2005 film adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice,” starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Rosamund Pike and others.

Sutherland reached a new generation of fans when he starred in four films in the action-drama franchise The Hunger Games, playing Coriolanus Snow, the tyrannical president of the fictional Panem. The franchise’s star-studded cast included Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci and many more.

Speaking to Good Morning America in 2015 about The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Donald Sutherland said of his role as President Snow, “He’s not misunderstood, he runs a totalitarian state – he’s an oligarch,” adding, “I just wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to end my life being a part of something that I thought would maybe catalyze and revolutionize young people.”

Donald Sutherland’s last screen role was that of the sober judge Isaac Parker in the western miniseries “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” (2023), alongside star David Oyelowo.

In 2017, Sutherland received an honorary Oscar for his lifetime achievement and was introduced and praised on stage by his “The Hunger Games” co-star and fellow Oscar-winning actor Lawrence.

“This is very important to me and my family,” Sutherland said at the time. “It’s like a door opens and a cool, wonderful fresh wind comes in. I wish I could thank all the characters I’ve played. I want to thank them for shaping my life with their lives,” he added.

“And of course I thank Francine Racette, from whom everything comes – this is my family – from whom everything comes and to whom everything is owed,” he continued, referring to his wife. “I have been her partner for over 45 years. And she has supported me through all this with her intelligence, her intuition, her guidance, her ability to make me laugh in the worst situations. Her extraordinary sense of taste, her remaining belief in me. Among all this, her ability to absorb and persevere through the extraordinary ups and downs of this crazy film life that we have lived through. She deserves a medal for that.”

Sutherland’s memoir, “Made Up, but Still True,” is due to be published by Penguin Random House in November.

Donald Sutherland leaves behind five children: twins Kiefer and Rachel Sutherland, whom he had with the late actress Shirley Jean Douglas, and Rossif, Roeg and Angus Redford Sutherland, whom he had with Racette.