Actor Donald Sutherland hadn’t been seen in public for three years before his death on Thursday, aged 88.
The death of the legendary Canadian actor, who rose to fame in the 1967 classic The Dirty Dozen, was announced by his son Kiefer Sutherland.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Donald Sutherland accepts Critics Choice Award in 2021.
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“With a heavy heart, I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away,” Kiefer wrote on Instagram.
“I personally think (he was) one of the most important actors in the history of film.
“Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly.
“He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that.
“A life well lived.”
Donald Sutherland, who starred in such diverse shows as M*A*S*H, The Hunger Games and the psychological thriller Don’t Look Now, had retreated from public life in recent years.
Although he continued to act — his final role was as Judge Parker in Lawmen: Bass Reeves (2023) — his last live televised appearance was for the 26th Annual Critics Choice Awards in March 2021.
Sutherland was accepting a best supporting actor award for his role in The Undoing a TV series also starring Nicole Kidman.
Because the awards were held early in the COVID pandemic, actors accepted their awards remotely.
But Sutherland, sporting long white hair and a jaunty moustache, still dressed up for the event in a black tuxedo, white shirt and black bowtie.
In the interview, Sutherland was asked what the key to his acting success had been.
“I have no idea how to answer that,” he laughed.
“I can only say that … you know, it sounds awful and really pretentious … but it’s always been the pursuit of truthfulness.
“Truthfulness of the character and the joy in discovering that.
“That’s been the great happiness of my life.”
Kiefer Sutherland has not revealed his father’s cause of death but it’s understood the star had been battling illness for many years.
The actor had a lengthy career spanning from the 1960s into the 2020s and was considered among the best actors to never receive an Academy Award nomination for any of his roles.
The tall actor with a deep voice, piercing blue eyes and mischievous smile managed to switch effortlessly from character roles to romantic leads, opposite the likes of Jane Fonda and Julie Christie.
Fonda paid tribute to the actor on Friday, saying she “loved” working with Sutherland on the 1971 film Klute.
“Donald was a brilliant actor and a complex man who shared quite a few adventures with me, such as the FTA Show, an anti-Vietnam war tour that performed for 60,000 active duty soldiers, sailors, and marines in Hawaii, Okinawa, the Philippines, and Japan in 1971,” she wrote.
“I am heartbroken.”
Dame Helen Mirren, who starred with Sutherland in The Leisure Seeker, called him “one of the smartest actors I ever worked with”.
“He had a wonderful enquiring brain, and a great knowledge on a wide variety of subjects,” she said.
“He combined this great intelligence with a deep sensitivity, and with a seriousness about his profession as an actor.
“This all made him into the legend of film that he became.
“He was my colleague and became my friend.
“I will miss his presence in this world.”
Director Ron Howard saying he felt “blessed” to have worked with him.
“#RIPDonaldSutherland,” he wrote online.
“I was blessed to direct him in Backdraft.
“One of the most intelligent, interesting & engrossing film actors of all time.
“Incredible range, creative courage & dedication to serving the story & the audience with supreme excellence.”
Even US President Joe Biden took to X to pay tribute.
“Donald Sutherland was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and one-of-a-kind actor who inspired and entertained the world for decades,” he wrote.
“My thoughts are with his family and all those who loved him.”
Sutherland was married three times, to Lois Hardwick, Shirley Douglas and his surviving wife Francine Racette, with whom he shared a four-decade partnership.
He is also survived by his five children: Kiefer and Rachel from his marriage to Douglas; and three sons, Rossif, Angus and Roeg, from his marriage to Racette.
