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Actor Donald Sutherland dies at 88

Born in St. John, New Brunswick, Donald McNichol Sutherland was the son of a salesman and a mathematics teacher. Raised in Nova Scotia, he was a disc jockey with his own radio station at the age of 14. “When I was 13 or 14, I really thought everything I felt was wrong and dangerous, and that God was going to kill me for it,” Sutherland told The New York Times in 1981. “My father always said, ‘Keep your mouth shut, Donnie, and maybe people will think you have character.’” Sutherland began as an engineering student at the University of Toronto but switched to English and started acting in school theatrical productions. While studying in Toronto, he met Lois Hardwick, an aspiring actress. They married in 1959, but divorced seven years later.

After graduating in 1956, Sutherland attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts to study acting. Sutherland began appearing in West End plays and British television. After a move to Los Angeles, he continued to bounce around until a series of war films changed his trajectory.After graduating in 1956, Sutherland attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts to study acting. Sutherland began appearing in West End plays and British television. After a move to Los Angeles, he continued to bounce around until a series of war films changed his trajectory. His first American film was “The Dirty Dozen” (1967), in which he played Vernon Pinkley, the officer-impersonating psychopathic. 1970 saw the release of both the World War II yarn “Kelly’s Heroes” and “M.A.S.H.,” an acclaimed smash hit that catapulted Sutherland to stardom.One of his finest performances came as a detective in Alan Pakula’s “Klute” (1971). It was during filming on “Klute” that he met Fonda, with whom he had a three-year-long relationship that began at the end of his second marriage to actor Shirley Douglas. Having been married in 1966, he and Douglas divorced in 1971.

Sutherland had twins with Douglas in 1966: Rachel and Kiefer, who was named after Warren Kiefer, the writer of Sutherland’s first film, “Castle of the Living Dead.”But Sutherland continued to work steadily. He had a brief but memorable role in Oliver Stone’s “JFK” (1991). He again played a patriarch for Redford in his 1993 movie “Six Degrees of Separation.” He played track coach Bill Bowerman in 1998’s “Without Limits.” In the last decade, Sutherland increasingly worked in television, most memorably in HBO’s “Path to War,” in which he played President Lyndon Johnson’s Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford. For a career launched by “M.A.S.H.” it was a fitting, if ironic bookend.

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One of the great Canadian actors...

RIP

In reply to sgtdjones

Wonderful actor.

He played the villain in "Hunger Games" movies so well but it was his role as Hawkeye in M.A.S.H. which was my favourite.

In reply to sgtdjones

Top shelf actor, period. Enjoyed all his roles and I adored his performance in Kelly's Heroes.
Thanks for fine memories.
RIP

In reply to hubert

One of the GREATS indeed.

I always mix him up with Donald Pleasance. Only seen him in a few films. The one I remember best is The Eagle Has Landed in which he plays an Irish nationalist helping the Nazis in a bid to kidnap Winston Churchill.

In reply to KTom

Mike myers you mean austin powers dont count

In reply to KTom

Unfortunately I view the British bulldog an idiot.

Some Canadian actors to learn you.

Mary Pickford
The Mary Pickford Company, just for her movies.
Three years later, together with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and Griffith, she formed United Artists.
Jack L. Warner...Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California
Yvonne De Carlo
Raymond Burr
Lorne Greene
Glenn Ford

Ryan Reynolds. A versatile actor known for his roles in both comedic and serious films. ...
Jim Carrey. A comedian and actor known for his energetic slapstick performances. ...
Michael J. Fox. ...
Keanu Reeves. ...
Donald Sutherland. ...
Dan Aykroyd. ...
William Shatner. ...
Ryan Gosling.
Leslie Nielsen
Christopher Plummer
Chief Dan George
John Candy

In reply to sgtdjones

a truly great actor.