Actor has died aged 88.
The MASH and Hunger Games star died in Miami, Florida, after a ‘long illness’, his representative confirmed.
His son, actor Kiefer Sutherland, who is best known for his role in TV series 24 and films Phone Booth and The Three Musketeers, said his father had ‘a life well lived’.
Sharing a black and white photo of himself as a child with his father on X, he wrote: ‘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.’
The star was best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in MASH, as well as in Don’t Look Now, Animal House, and more recently, as President Snow in franchise.
Over his decades-long career, he received numerous awards including an Emmy, two Golden Globes and a Critics Choice, as well as an Academy Honorary Award in 2017.
Sutherland, born in 1935 in Canada, moved to London in 1957 to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, known as Lamda.
Sutherland’s early roles in the 1960s included European and UK productions such as Castle Of The Living Dead, which starred Christopher Lee, and Fanatic with Tallulah Bankhead, before he was cast in The Dirty Dozen as one of the American convicts sent on a secret mission as part of the D-Day landings in the Second World War.
He then appeared in war drama MASH as Captain Kawkeye, a film that earned five Oscar nominations, and another war movie, Kelly’s Heroes, as Sergeant Oddball in 1970 alongside Clint Eastwood.
He then moved to Hollywood, and starred opposite in 1971 thriller Klute.
Throughout the 1970s, his acting career took off with the release of Don’t Look Now in 1973, which saw him nominated for a Bafta award for Best Actor.
He starred alongside in The First Great Train Robbery, and alongside in Lock Up.
In the 90s, Sutherland played a snobbish art dealer in the comedy-drama Six Degrees of Separation, while he starred opposite Michael Douglas and Demi Moore in the thriller film Disclosure.
He also played a central role in the Oliver Stone-directed thriller JFK, which examined the investigation into the assassination of John F Kennedy, the former US President.
Sutherland won a Golden Globe for the TV movie Path To War for playing presidential adviser Clark Clifford and another gong along with an Emmy Award for the the mini-series Citizen X.
In 2017, he received an Academy Honorary Award for his acting but failed to get an Oscar nod during his lengthy career.
In 2012, he became a Commander of the Arts in France and was praised by the French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand for his ‘extraordinary’ career.
Sutherland was about to publish his memoir Made Up, But Still True, later this year, which was set to explore ‘an unfiltered account of his memories of his life’ from how life-changing a role M*A*S*H had been along with ‘his far too many brushes with death’.
The actor had infantile paralysis and rheumatic fever before almost dying from spinal meningitis as a child.
‘I love to work. I passionately love to work,’ Sutherland said in 1998.
‘I love to feel my hand fit into the glove of some other character. I feel a huge freedom — time stops for me.
‘I’m not as crazy as I used to be, but I’m still a little crazy.’
Sutherland was married three times, and had five children, son Kiefer and daughter Rachel from his second marriage, and three sons, Roeg, Rossif and Angus, with his third wife.
Sutherland’s son Roeg is an executive at the talent agency CAA, and his sons Rossif and Angus have also worked as actors.
He is survived by his wife Francine Racette, five children and four grandchildren.
Following the news of his death, Hollywood has paid tribute to the legendary actor.
Director and Happy Days star Ron Howard tweeted: ‘#RIPDonaldSutherland. I was blessed to direct him in #Backdraft. One of the most intelligent, interesting & engrossing film actors of all time.
‘Incredible range, creative courage & dedication to serving the story & the audience with supreme excellence.’
Nancy Sinatra agreed: ‘This hurts. godspeed, Donald Sutherland.’
Piers Morgan commented: ‘RIP Donald Sutherland, 88. One of my all-time favourite actors who played so many great roles. What a sad loss.’
Hot Fuzz filmmaker Edgar Wright shared: ‘RIP the great Donald Sutherland, a favourite actor and always fascinating screen presence. He starred in two of my very favourite and most influential films – Don’t Look Now and the 1978 Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers.
‘But that is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of his legendary filmography; a funny, laconic, but also intense and dramatic presence in so many memorable movies, starting with his break-through in The Dirty Dozen, and then on an incredible run in the 70’s, 80’s and beyond with M*A*S*H, Kelly’s Heroes, Little Murders, Klute, Don’t Look Now, The Day Of The Locust, Ordinary People and JFK, among many others.
‘I even adore his very early appearances in Dr Terror’s House Of Horrors and The World Ten Times Over, as well as his very silly cameo in Kentucky Fried Movie.
‘I know many of you following me will feel the same way about this great screen legend’s passing, so please list your favourite Donald Sutherland films. So sorry to see you go Donald, but what a legacy you leave behind.’
