Kiefer Sutherland announced the news on Thursday afternoon, calling his dad “one of the most important actors in the history of film.”
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Donald Sutherland, who starred in dozens of films, including M*A*S*H, Klute and The Hunger Games series, has died at age 88.
The revered Canadian actor’s son, Kiefer Sutherland, announced the news on X Thursday afternoon, calling his dad “one of the most important actors in the history of film.”
“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,” Sutherland 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… pic.twitter.com/3EdJB03KKT — Kiefer Sutherland (@RealKiefer) June 20, 2024
In a career that stretches back more than 50 years, the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor played a variety of roles, including villains, antiheroes, romantic leads and dramatic figures.
Sutherland won a supporting actor Emmy for HBO’s Citizen X in 1995 and was bestowed with an Honorary Oscar in 2017.
In a 2015 interview with Postmedia, Kiefer said working with his dad on Forsaken, an Alberta-shot western, was something he had wanted to do since he started as an actor himself in the early 1980s.
“It’s exactly what I wanted … It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for 30-some odd years. Really since my career began, I’ve wanted to be able to work with my father,” he said.
Kiefer was an extra on Donald’s Max Dugan Returns. The father-and-son pair also appeared in 1996’s A Time to Kill, but did not have any scenes together.
But acting in a film together in which they share almost equal screen time was definitely something Kiefer wanted to see happen before Donald retired.
“It just took a long time to find the right piece of material and we did,” he said. “I’m really proud of the film.”