‘M*A*S*H’ and ‘Hunger Games’ actor Donald Sutherland dead at 88
Beloved actor Donald Sutherland died Thursday, his son Kiefer Sutherland announced. He was 88.
The Hollywood icon, who was known for his roles as Benjamin “Hawkeye” Pierce in “M*A*S*H” and President Coriolanus Snow in the “Hunger Games” film franchise, among many others, had been battling an unspecified long illness at the time of his death, according to his talent agency, CAA.
“With a heavy heart, I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away,” Kiefer wrote on X. “I personally think one of the most important actors in the history of film.”
The “24” star, 57, gushed that his late father was “never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly.”
He concluded, “He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that. A life well lived.”
Alongside the announcement, Kiefer shared a black-and-white photo of himself and his dad.
Page Six has reached out to Donald’s rep for comment.
The late actor shared Kiefer and the “Designated Survivor” star’s twin sister, Rachel Sutherland, with his ex-wife Shirley Douglas, to whom he was married from 1966 to 1970.
He is also survived by his wife, Francine Racette, whom he wed in 1972, and their three sons, Roeg Sutherland, 50, Rossif Sutherland, 45, and Angus Sutherland, 41.
Born in New Brunswick, Canada, on July 17, 1935, Donald went to school for engineering before moving to the UK in 1957 to study acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
His career had a slow start, with minor roles in films including 1964’s “Castle of the Living Dead” and 1965’s “Fanatic” (which was titled “Die! Die! My Darling!” in America).
His breakthrough came with 1967’s “The Dirty Dozen,” which was one of the year’s highest-grossing movies and allowed Donald to move to Hollywood, where he would go on to appear in nearly 200 projects.
He became a star thanks to the 1970 war film “M*A*S*H,” which would go on to spawn a popular CBS series of the same name.
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The following year, Donald and his “Klute” co-star Jane Fonda, whom he was dating at the time, made an anti-Vietnam War documentary titled “F.T.A.”
He worked with some of the era’s top directors throughout the ’70s, including Federico Fellini in 1976’s “Fellini’s Casanova” and Bernardo Bertolucci in 1976’s “1900.”
“For me, working with these great guys was like falling in love,” he once said of famed filmmakers. “I was their lover, their beloved.”
Donald also famously starred in the 1978 classic “National Lampoon’s Animal House.” He was offered either 2 percent of the gross earnings or an up-front payment of $40,000 to play pot-smoking professor Dave Jennings, the latter of which he chose. Unfortunately for him, the flick ended up making $141.6 million.
Nonetheless, Donald was soon considered a well-established actor, with subsequent roles in 1980’s “Ordinary People,” 1991’s “Backdraft,” 1993’s “Six Degrees of Separation,” 2003’s “The Italian Job” and 2005’s “Pride & Prejudice.”
The star never won an Oscar throughout his illustrious career, but he did receive an honorary award in 2017. He was eating spaghetti on a hotel balcony in Rome with Racette, 76, when he got the call.
Donald told “Live with Kelly and Ryan” viewers that his wife turned to him upon hanging up and joked, “We’re gonna have to lose weight.”
The Emmy-winning “Citizen X” star looked at their pasta and replied, “We’ll start tomorrow.”
In his acceptance speech, Donald quipped that he did not “deserve” the trophy — but he also had “arthritis and [didn’t] deserve that either.”
He gushed, “This is important to me, to my family. It’s like a door has opened and an incredibly fresh breath of air has come in.”
