By Brenda June Temple
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Donald McNichol Sutherland CC (17 July 1935 – 20 June 2024) was a Canadian actor. With a career spanning six decades, Sutherland received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. He is considered one of the best actors never nominated for an Academy Award, but was given an Academy Honorary Award in 2017.
Sutherland rose to fame after starring in films such as The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), and Kelly’s Heroes (1970). He subsequently starred in many films both in leading and supporting roles, including Start the Revolution Without Me (1970), Klute (1971), Don’t Look Now (1973), The Day of the Locust (1975), Fellini’s Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), 1900 (1976), Animal House (1978), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The First Great Train Robbery (1978), Ordinary People (1980), Eye of the Needle (1981), A Dry White Season (1989), Backdraft (1991), JFK (1991), Six Degrees of Separation (1993), Without Limits (1998), The Italian Job (2003), and Pride & Prejudice (2005). Sutherland also portrayed President Snow in The Hunger Games franchise (2012–2015).
Sutherland was the recipient of various honours, including inductions into the Canadian Walk of Fame in 2000 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) in 1978, a Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2012, and received the Companion of the Order of Canada (CC) in 2019. He was the father of Kiefer, Rossif, and Angus, all actors. In October 2023, Canada Post issued a stamp in his honour, commemorating his career as one of Canada’s most respected and versatile actors.
Sutherland died on 20 June 2024 in Miami at the age of 88 following a long illness. Kiefer Sutherland announced his death on X/Twitter adding, “He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that. A life well lived”.
