Hollywood actor Donald Sutherland, known for roles in M*A*S*H, Klute and The Hunger Games, has died after a long illness.
The 88-year-old died on Thursday in Miami, his agency CAA confirmed.
“With a heavy heart, I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away,” his son Kiefer Sutherland wrote in a post on Instagram on Thursday.
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“I personally think 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.”
Tall and known for his intensity on screen, Sutherland’s career spanned more than 50 years and 140 film credits and earned an Emmy for his role as a Soviet official in the fact-based HBO movie Citizen X, as well as a pair of Golden Globes.
Sutherland’s big break came when he was cast as one of The Dirty Dozen in the star-studded 1967 film, which became a major hit. He followed that with another war movie, Kelly’s Heroes, before playing the wisecracking doctor Hawkeye Pierce in the movie version of M*A*S*H and opposite Jane Fonda in her Oscar-winning portrayal of a high-class “call girl” in the crime mystery Klute.
Reflecting his ability to play all sorts of roles, Sutherland’s 1970s resume included a remake of the horror film Invasion of the Body Snatchers and a memorable turn as a pot-smoking professor in the National Lampoon comedy Animal House.
Many younger filmgoers, meanwhile, will likely remember him as the evil president in The Hunger Games movies.
Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Sutherland endured several bouts of ill health as a child, including polio.
He attended the University of Toronto, where he studied engineering before gravitating toward drama and appearing on stage, graduating with degrees in both.
Asked what advice he would give young actors, Sutherland told Reuters in 2019, “Try and be as truthful as you possibly can, read, read a lot, learn, memorize things, enjoy your artistry, study dancing, be a circus performer, learn how to juggle so many things, but mostly you have to observe.”
Sutherland received an honorary award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences board in 2017 and was honoured with the Order of Canada.
– with CNN
