Canadian acting legend Donald Sutherland died at age 88 on Thursday, reportedly following a long illness. Sutherland’s eldest son, actor Kiefer Sutherland, posted a photo of himself as a child at his father’s side with the caption, “With a heavy heart, I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away. 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.”

 

Sutherland, who was born in Saint John, N.B., enjoyed a remarkable six-decade career that included leading or supporting roles in a cross-section of films and television series that endeared him to generations and cemented his legacy as one of the finest actors of his time. He memorably starred in The Dirty Dozen, M*A*S*H, Klute, Don’t Look Now, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Ordinary People, JFK, Six Degrees of Separation, Backdraft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Pride & Prejudice and The Hunger Games franchise, just to name a few.

As recently as 2020, he co-starred in the David E. Kelley miniseries The Undoing, winning a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie. His final film role was the 2023 drama Miranda’s Victim, while his final TV credit came the same year for the Western miniseries Lawmen: Bass Reeves.

In 2017, he received an honorary Oscar “for a lifetime of indelible characters, rendered with unwavering truthfulness.” In 2023 he was also honoured with a Canadian postage stamp. 

Sutherland spoke with Zoomer twice in the last decade – first, for the cover story in the magazine’s November 2014 issue. During the interview, the star – who had five children, three of whom are actors ( Kiefer, Rossif and Angus) – discussed his first and only starring role opposite Kiefer, in the 2015 film Forsaken. When asked what it was like to act opposite his son, he told Zoomer: “It was like butter melting. Like ballroom dancing. Like goodnight kisses. That easy. That smooth. That organic. That passionate.”

Four years later, Sutherland again spoke with Zoomer, this time at the Toronto International Film Festival about his latest feature, The Leisure Seeker, in which he co-starred with Helen Mirren. They play an aging couple, each facing a terminal illness, who hop in their RV and take off on one last adventure. 

“There is a hopefulness in being old, you know? I mean, if you get out there a little bit. If you stick yourself in a corner and don’t move, you stay in a chair, it just gets worse and worse,” Sutherland said at the time. “I’m 83 years old and I work. And I work because it’s a passionate endeavour. And if older people do that kind of thing and do some level of passionate work … I don’t know what it’d be like to retire, but I guess just so long as you don’t give up.”

When asked if the film had made him consider his own, real-life future pursuits, he smiled.

“You’d hope that I would learn something from something but I never do. I just keep going as if nothing’s going to change, and then a foot falls off.”

 

Paying Tribute to Donald Sutherland

 

Following news of Donald Sutherland’s passing, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looked back on his encounter with the Canadian acting legend during a live press conference.

Various stars and famous friends also took to social media to pay tribute.

 


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