Biography
Perhaps one of the most prolific and widely recognized actors of his generation, Donald Sutherland made a career playing some of the most unusual and memorable characters in cinema history. Though best known for playing odd, off-beat roles, like a hippie tank commander in "Kelly's Heroes" (1970), an anti-authoritarian surgeon in "M*A*S*H" (1970), a novice private investigator in "Klute" (1971) and a stoner college professor in "Animal House" …
Donald Sutherland SlideShow
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Career Milestones
2012 | Cast as series antagonist President Snow in the feature film adaptation of "The Hunger Games" | |
2011 | Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame | |
2009 | Lent his voice to the animated feature "Astro Boy" | |
2008 | Played multi-millionaire Nigel Honeycut in "Fool's Gold" | |
2007 | Cast as Patrick 'Tripp' Darling III on ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money"; earned a Golden Globe (2008) nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Series | |
2007 | Played an aging aristocratic billionaire in Griffin Dunne's "Fierce People" | |
2006 | Played a Virginia firearms-shop owner in Aric Avelino's film debut "American Gun" | |
2006 | Co-starred with Colin Farrell in the Robert Towne-directed adaptation of "Ask the Dust" | |
2005 | Co-starred with Mira Sorvino in the Lifetime movie "Human Trafficking"; earned Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for Best Actor in a TV movie | |
2005 | Cast as the patriarch in Joe Wright's adaptation of the Jane Austen classic "Pride and Prejudice" | |
2005 | Cast as Speaker of the House Nathan Templeton on Rod Lurie's ABC drama "Commander in Chief"; earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor | |
2003 | Cast in Anthony Minghella's war epic "Cold Mountain" | |
2003 | Had memorable role in F. Gary Gray's remake of the "Italian Job" | |
2001 | Had lead role as an Irish thief who plans to rob an airport terminal in the A&E original "The Big Heist" | |
2001 | Starred as a painter in the off-Broadway play "Ten Unknowns" by Jon Robin Baitz | |
2000 | Acted on stage in "Enigma Variations" | |
1998 | Played University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman in Robert Towne's "Without Limits," about track sensation Steve Prefontaine | |
1998 | Stalked the hidden enemy in the supernatural thriller "Fallen" | |
1997 | Cast as a coldly manipulative CIA agent in "The Assignment" | |
1996 | Second film with son Kiefer, as the alcoholic mentor of Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) in "A Time to Kill" | |
1995 | Came aboard "Outbreak" late to play the icy General McClintock | |
1995 | Offered an award winning performance as Colonel Fetisov in the HBO movie "Citizen X" | |
1994 | Narrator for The Learning Channel's "Great Books" series | |
1994 | Portrayed a corporate honcho in Barry Levinson's adaptation of Michael Crichton's "Disclosure" | |
1993 | Offered a captivating performance as a snobbish but charming, upscale New Yorker living through the eyes of other people in "Six Degrees of Separation"; film based on a 1990 play by John Guare | |
1992 | Mentored Kristy Swanson in the feature "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" | |
1991 | Played a mysterious Washington intelligence officer in Oliver Stone's "JFK" | |
1991 | Cast as a mad firebug in Ron Howard's "Backdraft" | |
1989 | Cast as a teacher in the South African apartheid drama "A Dry White Season" | |
1987 | Portrayed middle-aged Paul Gauguin in "Wolf at the Door"; also provided voice of Gauguin in PBS' "Paul Gauguin: The Savage Dream" (1989) | |
1983 | Returned to TV after a 15-year absence in the CBS movie "John Steinbeck's 'The Winter of Our Discontent'" | |
1983 | Appeared in "Max Dugan Returns" along with son Kiefer in his film debut (also debut of Matthew Broderick) | |
1981 | Played a German agent in the thriller "Eye of the Needle" | |
1981 | Founded McNichol Pictures Inc.; also served as President | |
1981 | Broadway debut as Humbert Humbert in Edward Albee's stage adaptation of "Lolita" | |
1980 | Came to see the falseness of his life as he struggled to overcome the death of his son in the Academy Award-winning "Ordinary People", co-starring Mary Tyler Moore and Timothy Hutton; film marked Robert Redford's directorial debut | |
1979 | Teamed with Sean Connery for the stylish "The Great Train Robbery" | |
1978 | Delivered arguably his best performance since "Klute" as scientific-minded public health inspector confronting unspeakable horrors in Phillip Kaufman's remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" | |
1976 | Delivered a romantic turn as the title role of "Fellini's Casanova" | |
1976 | Played a bestial fascist in Bernardo Bertolucci's "1990" | |
1975 | Evoked pity as the hick in love with an aspiring, selfish would-be starlet (Karen Black) in John Schlesinger's "The Day of the Locust" | |
1974 | Re-teamed with Gould in "S.P.Y.S." | |
1973 | Executive produced "Steelyard Blues" (also starred with Fonda) | |
1973 | Starred opposite Julie Christie in Nicolas Roeg's "Don't Look Now" | |
1972 | Feature debut as co-producer and co-writer for the anti-Vietnam war film "F.T.A."; featured a series of anti-war skits and songs (with Fonda) performed outside army bases | |
1971 | Delivered an outstanding performance as detective opposite then-girlfriend Jane Fonda in "Klute" | |
1971 | Played Jesus Christ in Dalton Trumbo's "Johnny Got His Gun" | |
1971 | Reteamed with Elliott Gould (from "M*A*S*H") for Alan Arkin's "Little Murders" | |
1970 | Portrayed a prototypical hippie in the WWII comedy-drama "Kelly's Heroes" | |
1970 | Soared to stardom as the original Hawkeye Pierce in Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H" | |
1968 | Received strong notices as a flamboyant wealthy young man in "Joanna" | |
1967 | Breakthrough supporting role, "The Dirty Dozen" with Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson | |
1966 | Made U.S. TV debut on the ABC series "Court Martial" | |
1964 | First significant film role, "Il Castello dei Morti Vivi/Castle of the Living Dead" | |
1963 | London stage debut, "August for the People" | |
| Acted with the Perth Repertory Theatre in Scotland | ||
1960 | Began acting in British TV and repertory theater | |
1958 | Moved to England to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art | |
1952 | Made stage debut in "The Male Animal" at the Hart House Theatre in Toronto | |
| Played Scrooge in a radio production of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" | ||
1949 | Became Canada's (Nova Scotia) youngest radio announcer and disc jockey at age 14 | |
| Suffered a series of potentially crippling diseases during childhood, including polio, rheumatic fever and hepatitis | ||
Awards
2007 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in Dirty Sexy Money |
2006 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor In a Miniseries or Movie in Human Trafficking |
2005 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in Commander in Chief |
2005 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television in Human Trafficking |
2002 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in Path To War |
1998 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture in Without Limits |
1995 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in Citizen X |
1995 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor In a Miniseries or Special in Citizen X |
1982 | Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for Best Actor Award in Threshold |
1980 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama in Ordinary People |
1970 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical in M*A*S*H |