Donald Sutherland, who appeared in films such as The Hunger Games and Kelly’s Heroes, has died at the age of 88.
His agency CAA said he died in Miami “after a long illness.”
The Canadian actor won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance in the miniseries Citizen X.
In 2017 he received an honorary Oscar.
His son, actor Kiefer Sutherland, said “with great sadness” that his father had “passed away.”
“I personally think [he was] one of the most important actors in the history of cinema,” Kiefer Sutherland published in X, adding that his father “was never intimidated by a role, good, bad or ugly.”
“He loved what he did and he did what he loved, and you can never ask for more than that. A life well lived.”
Director and former Happy Days star Ron Howard said he was “blessed” to direct Sutherland in the 1991 film Backdraft.
Sutherland was “one of the most intelligent, interesting and fascinating film actors of all time,” Howard added, with “incredible range” and “creative courage.”
Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland, posted on X: “RIP Donald Sutherland: the best of all the Donalds.”
Sutherland with his son Kiefer. Photo: Reuters
“I love to work, I love to work passionately,” Sutherland told American talk show host Charlie Rose in 1998.
“I love feeling my hand fit into some other character’s glove. I feel a huge freedom: time stops for me. I’m not as crazy as I used to be, but I’m still a little crazy.”
In The Hunger Games franchise, Sutherland played President Snow opposite Jennifer Lawrence.
In Kelly’s Heroes he starred alongside Telly Savalas and Clint Eastwood as Sergeant Oddball, on a mission to steal gold from the Nazis.
Sutherland with The Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence in 2015. Photo: AP
His “breakthrough performances” were in the 1967 film The Dirty Dozen and MASH, CAA said.
He also appeared in Robert Redford’s Ordinary People and Oliver Stone’s JFK.
He is survived by his wife Francine Racette, sons Roeg, Rossif, Angus and Kiefer, daughter Rachel and four grandchildren.
“The family will hold a private celebration of his life,” CAA said.
Born in St John, New Brunswick, on the east coast of Canada, in July 1935, Sutherland was the son of a salesman and a mathematics teacher.
He started university in Toronto as an engineering student, but switched to English and began acting in university productions.
After graduating in 1956, he attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and began appearing in West End plays and on British television.
After moving to Los Angeles, his career was boosted by a series of war films.
He played the irreverent soldier Vernon Pinkley in The Dirty Dozen, his first American film.
He praised the character actors and said there were “more challenges in the character roles.”
He told the Washington Post in 1970: “There is longevity. A good character actor can show a different side in each film and not bore the audience.”
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