DONALD SUTHERLAND (1935 - 2024)

Donald Sutherland, an esteemed actor who had appeared in well over one hundred films and television programing, has sadly passed away on June 20th at the age of eighty-eight. The Canadian-born performer had been ill over the last few months. For over sixty years, Sutherland consistently delivered extraordinary and memorable screen work.

Sutherland was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada on July 17, 1953. He had suffered through bouts of rhematic fever and polio as a child. Sutherland went on to attend Victoria University in Toronto where he double majored in engineering and drama. After deciding that the life of an engineer wasn't really for him, he went to study acting further at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in 1957. 

A few years later, Sutherland began getting small parts in several British films and television shows. His first major supporting role was in the 1965 horror film from Hammer Studios, "Fanatic" (released in the US as "Die! Die! My Darling!") with Tallulah Bankhead and Stephanie Powers. An impressive appearance on an episode of "The Saint" with Roger Moore helped lead to his big career break. He was cast in the Hollywood feature, "The Dirty Dozen", an all-star WWII drama that became a box-office hit in 1967.

With his subsequent performances in "Kelly's Heroes", "Klute" and "M*A*S*H*", Sutherland went on to become a respected actor and popular leading man in the movies throughout the 1970's. Other notable films the actor appeared in include "Don't Look Now", "The Eagle Has Landed", "1900", "The Great Train Robbery", "Fellini's Casanova", "National Lampoon's Animal House", the 1978 remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Ordinary People", Robert Redford's first film as a director which went on to win the Best Picture Oscar in 1980. 

Sutherland continued to a major presence in cinema, appearing in "The Eye of the Needle", "A Dry White Season", "Backdraft", "A Time to Kill", "Six Degrees of Separation", "Outbreak", "Space Cowboys" and in the "Hunger Games" film series.

He would receive many nominations and awards (which include winning an Emmy and Golden Globes) yet shockingly, after many incredible performances throughout his career, Sutherland had never received even one Academy Award nomination. But he did finally receive an Honorary Oscar in 2017 which recognized his many amazing achievements in cinema.