Donald Sutherland Dead at 88

The celebrated Canadian actor's passing was confirmed by son Kiefer Sutherland

Photo: Manfred Werner

BY Alex HudsonPublished Jun 20, 2024

Celebrated Canadian actor Donald Sutherland has died.

Sutherland was 88 years old. His death was confirmed on Twitter/X by his son Kiefer Sutherland, who wrote, "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."

A cause of death has not been made public.

Sutherland was born in Saint John, NB, in 1935. He began his acting career in the 1960s, and had his breakthrough in 1967's The Dirty Dozen. Some notable roles over the years included Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), The First Great Train Robbery (1978), Ordinary People (1980), JFK (1991), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), Space Cowboys (2000), The Italian Job (2003), Pride & Prejudice (2005), The Hunger Games (2012) as well as its sequels, and many other films. He is set to appear in the upcoming coming-of-age zombie thriller Heart Land, playing the grandfather of the main character.

He won two Golden Globes for his roles in 1995's Citizen X and 2002's Path to War, respectively. The former also won him a Primetime Emmy Award. He earned a Critics' Choice Television Award for the 2020 HBO miniseries The Undoing.

He had five children, including actors Kiefer, Rossif and Angus. He is survived by his wife Francine Racette, a fellow Canadian actor he met on the set of the 1974 film Alien Thunder.

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