Actor Donald Sutherland, star of films including The Hunger Games and Don’t Look Now, has died at 88 after a long illness.
His son, the actor Kiefer Sutherland, announced his father’s death in a statement.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
The news was met with an outpouring of support and tributes to Donald Sutherland.
Actor Cary Elwes said he was “devastated” on Instagram.
“Our hearts are breaking for you,” he wrote in a comment to Kiefer. “So grateful to have known & worked with him. Sending our love.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on Sutherland’s death at a news conference in Westville, N.S. recalling feeling “deeply, deeply starstruck” when he first met Sutherland.
“My thoughts go out to Kiefer and the entire Sutherland family, as well as all Canadians who are no doubt saddened to learn, as I am right now,” he said.
“He was a man with a strong presence, a brilliance in his craft and truly, truly a great Canadian artist,” he added.
Ron Howard, who directed Sutherland in the 1991 action film Backdraft, shared a tribute to Sutherland on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“One of the most intelligent, interesting & engrossing film actors of all time,” he wrote. “Incredible range, creative courage & dedication to serving the story & the audience with supreme excellence.”
Sutherland had almost 200 credits to his name, including the films The Dirty Dozen, M*A*S*H and Klute.
Born in New Brunswick, Canada, Sutherland started as a radio news reporter before leaving Canada to travel to London in 1957. There, he studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
He then took on small roles in British film and television.
His earliest roles were in films about the military. He starred in The Dirty Dozen, the 1967 World War II action film, and in the 1970 film M*A*S*H, about medics in the Korean War.
His off-kilter presence also saw him land another war film role as the appropriately named Sergeant Oddball, in Kelly’s Heroes.
