Hunger Games and MASH star Sutherland dies aged 88

An anti-war activist as well as a chameleonic actor, his career spanned seven decades and encompassed almost every genre

- KEVIN E G PERRY

When Kiefer Sutherland announced the death of his father, Donald Sutherland, at the age of 88, he called him “one of the most important actors in the history of film”. If the claim sounds hyperbolic, it is borne out by celluloid history.

The elder Sutherland’s film career began in the early 1960s and spanned seven decades and more than 150 features to the present, with his final performance coming in last year’s western series Lawmen: Bass Reeves. His CV includes classics across several genres, including the 1970 anti-war satire M*A*S*H, the 1973 thriller Don’t Look Now, and his more recent appearances in The Hunger Games. At 6ft 4in, he was a towering presence on screen and cast a lengthy shadow.

Donald McNichol Sutherland was born in the Canadian east coast seaport of Saint John, New Brunswick on 17 July, 1935. His parents were Dorothy and Frederick, who ran the local gas, electricity and bus company. His first word, he once told Esquire, was “neck”. “My mother turned around and said, ‘What did he say?’” Sutherland recalled. “My sister said, ‘He said, neck.’ My neck was killing me. That was a sign of polio. One leg’s a little shorter, but I survived.”

Keen to get involved in the entertainment business, his first job at the age of 14 was working as a DJ for local radio station CKBW. By 1952, Sutherland was attending the University of Toronto, where he became a valued member of the UC Follies comedy troupe. He graduated in 1956 with a double major in engineering and drama, but it was clear which half of his degree had excited him the most when he moved to the UK to continue his acting studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He married his first wife, Lois May Hardwick, in 1959, and the marriage lasted seven years.