Donald McNicol Sutherland,
OC (born 17 July 1935) is a
Canadian character actor with a film career spanning over 50 years.
Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as
The Dirty Dozen, in 1967, and
M*A*S*H and
Kelly's Heroes in 1970, and
Invasion of the Body Snatchers in 1978. He is currently working in the American television series
Dirty Sexy Money.Early life
Sutherland was born in
Saint John, New Brunswick, the son of Dorothy Isobel (
née McNichol) and Frederick McLea Sutherland, who worked in sales and ran the local gas, electricity, and bus company.
He got his first
part time job at age 14 as a news correspondent for
local radio station CKBW in
Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. He then studied at
Victoria College,
University of Toronto, where he met his first wife Lois Hardwick (not the child star of the same name), and graduated with a
double major in engineering and drama. He had at one point been a member of the
"UC Follies" comedy troupe in Toronto. He changed his mind about becoming an engineer, and subsequently left Canada for
England to study at the
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Career beginnings
In the early to mid-1960s, Sutherland began to get small parts in
British films and TV, landing notable roles in horror
films with
Christopher Lee, such as
Castle of the Living Dead (1964) and
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) and twice appearing in the
The Saint, firstly in the 1965 episode "The Happy Suicide" and then, more auspiciously, in a story called "Escape Route" at the end of 1966. The episode was directed by the show's star,
Roger Moore, who later recalled that Sutherland "asked me if he could show it to some producers as he was up for an important part... they came to view a rough cut at the studio and he got
The Dirty Dozen. Thus, Sutherland was on course for the first of the three war films which would be his initial great successes:
The Dirty Dozen in 1967, with
Lee Marvin and
Charles Bronson; in 1970, as the lead
"Hawkeye" Pierce in
Robert Altman's
M*A*S*H; and, again in 1970, as
tank commander Sgt. Oddball in
Kelly's Heroes, with
Clint Eastwood and
Telly Savalas. During his time in England Sutherland also appeared in
The Avengers in 1967, in an episode titled "The Superlative Seven."
Mid-career
Sutherland had an
intimate relationship (on and off screen) with actress
Jane Fonda during the filming of the
Academy award-winning detective thriller
Klute. Sutherland and Fonda went on to coproduce and star together in the
anti-Vietnam war film
F.T.A. (1972), consisting of a series of sketches performed outside army bases in the
Pacific Rim and interviews with American troops who were then on active service. Sutherland found himself in demand as a
leading man throughout the 1970s in films such as the
Venice-based
psychological horror Don't Look Now (1973), the
war film The Eagle Has Landed (1976),and the thrilling film 'Eye of a Needle' (which was filmed on location in the Isle of Mull, West Scotland) and as the ever-optimistic
health inspector in the
sci-fi/horror
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) alongside
Brooke Adams and
Jeff Goldblum. Sutherland also had a small role as pot-smoking Professor Dave Jennings in
National Lampoon's Animal House in 1978, making himself known to younger fans as a result of the movie's popularity. When cast, he was offered either US$40,000 up front or a percentage of the movie. Thinking the movie would certainly not be a big success, he chose the 40K upfront payment.
He received acclaim for his performance in the 1976
Bernardo Bertolucci Italian Fascism epic
1900 and for his role as the torn father in the
Academy award-winning family drama
Ordinary People (1980) alongside
Mary Tyler Moore and
Timothy Hutton. In 1981 he narrated
A War Story a
Anne Wheeler film. He played the part of fellow
Canadian Norman Bethune—a physician, humanitarian, and hero in
China—in two separate
biographical films in 1977 and 1990. A prolific actor, some of Sutherland's better-known roles in the 1980s and 1990s were the
South African apartheid drama
A Dry White Season (1989), alongside
Marlon Brando and
Susan Sarandon; the
firefighter thriller
Backdraft (1991), alongside
Kurt Russell and
Robert De Niro; and as the snobbish
NYC art dealer in
Six Degrees of Separation (1993), with
Stockard Channing and
Will Smith. In the 1991
Oliver Stone film
JFK, Sutherland played a mysterious Washington
intelligence officer, reputed to have been
L. Fletcher Prouty in real life, who spoke of links to the
military-industrial complex in relation to Kennedy's assassination.
He starred as
Wilhelm Reich in the video to
Kate Bush's 1985 single, "
Cloudbusting". In 1992, he played the part of Merrick in the movie
Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Kristy Swanson. In 1995, Sutherland was cast as the antagonistic Maj. Gen. Donald McClintock in Wolfgang Petersen's thriller movie
Outbreak, also starring
Dustin Hoffman,
Morgan Freeman, and
Rene Russo. Sutherland was later cast in 1997 (for only the second time in his career) with his son
Kiefer in Joel Schumacher's award-winning crime thriller
A Time to Kill, based on the bestselling
book of the same name, written by
John Grisham.
Recent career
In more recent years, Sutherland was noted for his role as Reverend Monroe in the
Civil War drama
Cold Mountain (2003), in the
remake of
The Italian Job (2003), in the TV series
Commander in Chief (2005–2006); and in
Pride and Prejudice (2005), starring alongside
Keira Knightley. He earned an
Emmy nomination in 2006 for his performance in the
miniseries Human Trafficking.
Sutherland currently starred as
Tripp Darling in the
prime time serial Dirty Sexy Money for
ABC. Sutherland's distinctive voice has also been used in many radio and
television commercials, including those for
Volvo automobiles. He is the spokesman for
Simply Orange orange juice and recently he played multi-millionaire Nigel Honeycut in the Warner Bros. film
Fool's Gold. He currently provides the
voice-over on a promotional advert for the
2010 Winter Olympics in
Vancouver, Canada.
Awards and recognition
Filmography
Personal life
thumb|right|Sutherland's star on Canada's Walk of FameSutherland was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada on 18 December 1978 and was inducted into
Canada's Walk of Fame in 2000. He maintains a home in Georgeville, in
Quebec's
Eastern Townships. Sutherland was a major fan of the
Montreal Expos.
Son
Kiefer Sutherland, a successful actor best-known for his role as
Jack Bauer on the TV action/thriller series
24, and his twin sister, Rachel, were born to Sutherland and his second wife,
Shirley Douglas, daughter of
Tommy Douglas. Sutherland met his current wife,
French-Canadian actress
Francine Racette, on the set of the Canadian pioneer drama
Alien Thunder. They have three sons, including actor
Rossif Sutherland,
Angus Sutherland, and Roeg Sutherland. Sutherland became a
blogger for the
Huffington Post during the 2008 Elections.
