Donald Sutherland dies as son Kiefer pays heartfelt tribute to Hunger Games star

Kiefer Sutherland has paid heartfelt tribute to his father, Donald Sutherland, who has died aged 88. He described his father as “one of the most important actors in the history of film”.

The star of Ordinary People, M*A*S*H, The Hunger Games and Six Degrees Of Separation died on Thursday (June 20) in Miami, Florida following a “long illness,” his agent told CAA. In a tribute, TV star Kiefer wrote on Instagram: “It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away.

“I personally think he is one of the most important actors in the history of cinema. Never discouraged by a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved and you can never ask for more than that. A life well lived”, PA reports.

Sutherland won a Golden Globe for the TV movie Path To War for his role as presidential adviser Clark Clifford and another gong, along with an Emmy for the miniseries Citizen X. In 2017, he received an honorary Academy Award for acting, but failed to succeed. earn an Academy Award during his long career.

Sutherland’s most recent roles have included The Hunger Games film franchise as dictator President Coriolanus Snow and as a judge in the 2023 TV show Lawmen: Bass Reeves. He has also had roles in the thriller The Mechanic, the epic novel Vulture, the war film The Dirty Dozen, the satire The Day Of The Locust, the horror Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, the period drama Pride & Prejudice and the drama Space Cowboys.

Sutherland is perhaps best known as the effeminate Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce Jr in the 1970 film version of M*A*S*H and would eventually become an anti-war campaign leader. In 2012, he became Commander of the Arts in France and was praised by French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand for his “extraordinary” career.

Sutherland was set to publish his memoir Made Up, But Still True later this year, which would explore “an unfiltered account of his life’s memories” of how a life-changing role M* A*S*H. along with his “far too many brushes with death.” The actor had polio and rheumatic fever before dying of spinal meningitis as a child, and later left Canada for the UK to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (Lamda).

Sutherland’s early roles in the 1960s included European and British productions such as Castle Of The Living Dead, starring Christopher Lee, and Fanatic with Tallulah Bankhead, before being cast in The Dirty Dozen as one of the convicts Americans sent on a secret mission as part of the D-Day landings in World War II.

A statement from CAA said: “Acclaimed actor Donald Sutherland died today in Miami, Florida after a long illness. He was 88 years old.”

It added: “Sutherland is survived by his wife Francine Racette, sons Roeg, Rossif, Angus and Kiefer, daughter Rachel and four grandchildren.

“A private celebration of life will be held by the family.”

Sutherland’s son Roeg is an executive at talent agency CAA, and his sons Rossif and Angus have also worked as actors.