Donald Sutherland, one of Canada's most versatile and giftedactors, who charmed and enthralled audiences in movies such as"M*A*S*H," "Klute," "Ordinary People" and"The Hunger Games," has died at the age of 88.
The actor, whose lengthy career spanned from the 1960s intothe 2020s, died on Thursday, his son, actor Kiefer Sutherland, said on socialmedia.
A tall man with a deep voice, piercing blue eyes and amischievous smile, Donald Sutherland switched effortlessly from character rolesto romantic leads opposite the likes of Jane Fonda and Julie Christie. He alsoplayed his share of oddballs and villains.
One of the biggest stars in Hollywood in the 1970s, heremained in demand for film and TV projects into his 80s. Known for hisunconventional looks and his versatility as an actor, Sutherland played a widerange of memorable characters.
These included a rascally Army surgeon in"M*A*S*H" (1970), a quirky tank commander in "Kelly'sHeroes" (1970), a small-town detective in "Klute" (1971), astoned and libidinous professor in "Animal House" (1978), a localofficial facing an alien presence in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"(1978) and a despairing father in "Ordinary People" (1980).
He won anew generation of fans with his glorious portrayal of a despotic president in"The Hunger Games" (2012) and its sequels.
"I wish I could say thank you to all of the charactersthat I've played, thank them for using their lives to inform my life,"Sutherland said in his speech accepting an honorary Academy Award for lifetimeachievement in 2017.
Kiefer Sutherland said his father was "never daunted bya role, good, bad or ugly."
"He loved what he did and did what he loved, and onecan never ask for more than that. A life well lived," Kiefer Sutherlandwrote on X.
Donald Sutherland was born on July 17, 1935, in Canada's NewBrunswick province, and was raised in Nova Scotia.
He performed in schoolproductions in college, moved to Britain to hone his craft, then moved to theUnited States, where his first big break came as a member of a top-notchensemble cast in the war film "The Dirty Dozen" (1967).
He rocketed to fame three years later playing nonconformistsurgeon Hawkeye Pierce in director Robert Altman's Korean War satire"M*A*S*H" (1970).
The film - later spun off into a TV series -depicted hijinks at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, tapping into the anti-warsentiment among many Americans during the Vietnam War era.
Also in 1970, Sutherland starred alongside Telly Savalas andClint Eastwood in "Kelly's Heroes" as Sergeant Oddball on a missionto steal gold from the Nazis.
The following year, he was paired with Fonda, one ofHollywood's luminaries, in "Klute," and then in 1973 played agrieving father in "Don't Look Now" that included a sizzling sexscene with Christie. "Klute" sparked a romance with Fonda, with whomhe was active in the anti-Vietnam War movement.
His 1978 films could not have been more different. In theuproarious comedy "Animal House," Sutherland played a professor whosleeps with the girlfriend of a fraternity member.
"Invasion of the BodySnatchers" was a successful sci-fi remake of a classic 1956 original,telling the story of alien pods that take over human beings.
Sutherland's performance in "Ordinary People,"Hollywood superstar Robert Redford's directorial debut, helped the 1980 filmwin four Academy Awards, including best picture. Sutherland starred alongsideMary Tyler Moore and Timothy Hutton in this exploration of the splintering of aMidwestern family.
In the 1990s he appeared in films including "JFK"(1991), "Backdraft" (1991), "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"(1992), "Outbreak" (1995), "A Time To Kill" (1996) and"Instinct" (1999) and won an Emmy Award for his performance in the1995 HBO TV movie "Citizen X."
In the 2000s, he appeared in theacclaimed "Cold Mountain" (2003) and "Pride &Prejudice" (2005).
In the "Hunger Games" films in the 2010s about adystopian future in which teenagers are sent into a deadly competition as massentertainment, he reveled in playing the villainous President Coriolanus Snow.
"The reality was he had a country to run. At least hewas running it, which is more than you can say for some people,"Sutherland told the Los Angeles Times in 2017.
"It was funny at the beginning with 'The Hunger Games'to walk through an airport and suddenly you feel this tug and you look down andit's some young person - always a girl, never a boy," Sutherland said.
"And her mother is standing there and they say, 'Could you take aphotograph with my daughter?' And we'd be standing beside each other and I'd belooking at the camera and the girl would say, 'Could you look mean?'"
Tributes to Sutherland came in across Hollywood and Canadaon Thursday.
Ron Howard, who directed Sutherland in"Backdraft," called him "one of the most intelligent,interesting and engrossing film actors of all time."
Sutherland had "incredible range, creative courage& dedication to serving the story & the audience with supreme excellence,"Howard wrote on X.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking toreporters in Nova Scotia, said Sutherland "was a man with a strongpresence, a brilliance in his craft and truly, truly a great Canadianartist."
Sutherland was considered among the best actors to neverreceive an Academy Award nomination for any of his roles. He was married threetimes and had five children, including Kiefer.
