Donald Sutherland, the veteran actor and father of Kiefer Sutherland, has died at the age of 88

Actor Donald Sutherland, who starred in films such as “Klute,” “M*A*SH*” and “Ordinary People,” and most recently played the evil President Snow in the “The Hunger Games” series, has died at the age of 88.

Sutherland’s son, actor Kiefer Sutherland, I posted the news To social media.

“It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away,” Sutherland wrote. “I personally think he is one of the most important actors in the history of cinema. No role, whether good, bad or ugly, ever intimidated him. He loved what he did and he did what he loved, and no one could ask for more than that.” Life well lived.”

Born Donald Sutherland on July 17, 1935 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, he began acting as a student and went on to have a prolific career that included nearly 150 films and more than 40 television roles.

His first acting roles were in the early television series Man of the World and Suspense. He had more small television roles in films throughout the 1960s before landing the role of Vernon L. Binkley in the 1967 World War II classic, “The Dirty Dozen.”

Donald Sutherland next played Army surgeon Hawkeye Pierce in Robert Altman’s 1970 film version of “M*A*S*H,” which inspired the classic TV series. The role launched a series of film roles and projects for the actor throughout the 1970s, including the 1971 drama Klute, in which he starred alongside Jane Fonda, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role.

In 1980, Donald Sutherland starred opposite Mary Tyler Moore in the Robert Redford-directed drama Ordinary People, which also starred Judd Hirsch and 20-year-old Timothy Hutton, who became the youngest supporting actor to win an Academy Award for his film. role in the film, one of the five Academy Awards he won.

The actor returned to Broadway in 1981 after making his debut in 1969’s “Buck White” and played the title role in Edward Albee’s adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel “Lolita.”

After Broadway, Sutherland continued to star in several notable films throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including 1989’s “A Dry White Season” alongside Marlon Brando, and in writer-director Oliver Stone’s controversial 1991 film “JFK,” with Kevin Costner. And Kevin Bacon. And Tommy Lee Jones.

In the 2000s, Donald Sutherland’s film career continued to flourish with roles in the 2000 action comedy Space Cowboys, the 2003 Civil War drama Cold Mountain, in which he starred with Nicole Kidman, and the heist film “The Italian Job” in 2003 with Charlize Theron.

Sutherland also portrayed Mr. Bennet in the 2005 film adaptation of “Pride & Prejudice” with Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Rosamund Pike and more.

Sutherland reached a new generation of fans when he starred in four films in the action drama series “The Hunger Games,” playing Coriolanus Snow, the tyrannical president of the fictional Panem. The star-studded cast included Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci, and more.

While talking toGood morning AmericaIn 2015’s “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1,” Donald Sutherland said of the role of President Snow, “He’s not misunderstood, he’s running a totalitarian state — he’s an oligarch,” adding, “I just wanted to be a part of it.” “I wanted to end my life as part of something that I thought might motivate and revolutionize young people.”

Tom Blythe, who played young Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, paid tribute to Donald Sutherland on Instagram, writing: “Donald Sutherland has come as close to mastering the craft of acting as anyone.”

He continued: “This is what genius performances can be like.” “I have not had the honor of knowing him personally, but it has been a lifelong honor to follow in his footsteps. Thank you sir for giving birth to one of the greatest cinema personalities of all time.”

Donald Sutherland’s final on-screen role was as no-nonsense Judge Isaac Parker in the 2023 Western TV series “Lawmen: Bass Reeves,” opposite star David Oyelowo.

In 2017, Sutherland was given an honorary Academy Award for his body of work, and was introduced and praised onstage by his “The Hunger Games” co-star and fellow Oscar winner Lawrence.

“This is very important to me and my family,” Sutherland said He said on time. “It’s as if the door has opened and cool, fresh, wonderful air has come in. I wish I could say thank you to all the characters I’ve played. Thank them for using their lives to enrich mine.” he added.

“And of course, thanks to Francine Racette, from whom everything came – this is my family – from whom everything came and to whom everything goes back,” he continued, referring to his wife. “I have been her partner for more than 45 years. And through it all she supported me with her intelligence, her intuition, her instruction, her ability to make me laugh in the darkest of situations. Her exceptional sense of taste, her refined taste. Among all of that, her ability to absorb the extraordinary ups and downs of… This crazy cinematic life we ​​had and maintained.

Sutherland’s memoir, “Made Up, But Still True,” is scheduled to be published by Penguin Random House next November.

Donald Sutherland leaves behind his five children: twins Kiefer and Rachel Sutherland, whom he shares with the late actress Shirley Jane Douglas, as well as Rusev, Rouge and Angus Redford Sutherland, whom he shares with Racette.