His eldest son from his marriage to late Canadian actress Shirley Douglas, actor Kiefer Sutherland, announced his father’s death in a statement on his social platforms, which read:
“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.”
Kiefer and Donald starred together in a number of films, including Max Dugan Returns in 1983, A Time to Kill in 1996 and the 2015 western Forsaken.
Donald Sutherland was born in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1935 and began his career as a radio DJ before leaving for England in 1957 to study acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Although Donald never received an Academy Award nomination, he was given an honorary Oscar in 2018. He won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe award 1995 TV movie Citizen X and a Genie Award in 1983 for Theshold. He received another Golden Globe award in 2003 for the TV movie Commander in Chief. Donald was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011 and a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2000.
He is pictured in a still from the Netflix TV film Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (2022). His final project was the Paramount+ TV 2023 miniseries Lawmen: Bass Reeves, in which he played Judge Parker.
Donald leaves behind five children from his second and third marriages: Kiefer and twin sister Rachel Sutherland; and Roeg, Angus and Rossif Sutherland from his current marriage (since 1972) to Québecois actress Francine Racette. ~Alexandra Heilbron