Oscar-winning actress Jane Fonda has led heartfelt tributes to her former co-star Donald Sutherland, who passed away at the age of 88. Sutherland, known for his roles in “Ordinary People,” “M*A*S*H,” and “The Hunger Games,” died on Thursday in Miami, Florida, after a prolonged illness.
Kiefer Sutherland, Donald’s son, confirmed the news on Instagram, calling his father “one of the most important actors in the history of film.” He added, “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.”
Among Donald Sutherland’s most memorable roles was that of detective John Klute in the 1971 thriller “Klute,” where he starred opposite Jane Fonda. Fonda, who won an Oscar for her role in the film, shared a black-and-white photograph of a younger Sutherland on Instagram, captioning it, “I am heartbroken.”
Fonda and Sutherland had a close relationship, both professionally and personally. They dated for a period and in 1971, they staged a traveling anti-war roadshow in front of U.S. soldiers, a reaction to Bob Hope’s USO tour during the Vietnam War. The show was later turned into a documentary titled “FTA” in 1972.
“He was my fascinating co-star in ‘Klute’ and we loved working together,” Fonda said. “Donald was a brilliant actor and a complex man who shared quite a few adventures with me, such as the FTA Show, an anti-Vietnam war tour that performed for 60,000 active duty soldiers, sailors, and marines in Hawaii, Okinawa, the Philippines, and Japan in 1971.”
Donald Sutherland is perhaps best known for his role as Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce Jr. in the 1970 film version of “M*A*S*H.” His co-star Elliott Gould, who played Captain “Trapper” John Francis Xavier McIntyre, described Sutherland as a “giant” of acting who was “enormously kind and generous.”
Gould recalled that they were both “young fathers” when they worked together and said Sutherland’s death “really profoundly hurts because Donald was like my brother, and a big part of my own career.”
Throughout his illustrious career, Sutherland won a Golden Globe for the TV movie “Path To War” and another for the mini-series “Citizen X,” which also earned him an Emmy Award. He starred in the 1980 drama “Ordinary People,” which won four Oscars, including Best Picture.
In 2017, Sutherland received an Academy Honorary Award for his acting but never received an Oscar nomination during his career. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called him “truly a great Canadian artist” after learning of his death during a news conference.
U.S. President Joe Biden described Sutherland as a “one-of-a-kind actor who inspired and entertained the world for decades” in a post on X. British actress Dame Helen Mirren, who appeared alongside Sutherland in “The Leisure Seeker,” called him “one of the smartest actors I ever worked with.”
“He had a wonderful enquiring brain and a great knowledge on a wide variety of subjects. He combined this great intelligence with a deep sensitivity and with a seriousness about his profession as an actor. This all made him into the legend of film that he became,” Mirren said.
Sutherland’s most recent roles included playing President Coriolanus Snow in “The Hunger Games” film franchise and a judge in the 2023 TV show “Lawmen: Bass Reeves.” The official account for “The Hunger Games” film called him “the kindest man in the world” who portrayed “the most corrupt, ruthless dictator we’ve ever seen.”
British actress Brenda Blethyn, who played Sutherland’s wife in the 2005 film “Pride & Prejudice,” said working with him was a “joy” and that she was “so so sad to hear” of his death.
In 2012, Sutherland became a Commander of the Arts in France and was praised by the former French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand for his “extraordinary” career. Sutherland was set to publish his memoir, “Made Up, But Still True,” later this year, exploring his life-changing “M*A*S*H” role and his “far too many brushes with death.”
Donald Sutherland is survived by his wife Francine Racette, sons Roeg, Rossif, Angus, and Kiefer, daughter Rachel, and four grandchildren.
