The towering presence of Canadian actor Donald Sutherland was often
noticed, as were his legendary contributions to cinema. He appeared in almost 200 different shows and films. He was also the father of renowned actor Kiefer Sutherland, among others.
Donald McNichol Sutherland was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, to Dorothy Isobel
(McNichol) and Frederick McLea Sutherland, who worked in sales and
electricity. He had Scottish, as well as German and English, ancestry. Sutherland
worked in several different jobs - he was a radio DJ in his youth - and
was almost set on becoming an engineer after graduating from the
University of Toronto with a degree in engineering. However, he also
graduated with a degree in drama, and he chose to abandon becoming an
engineer in favour of an actor.
Sutherland's first roles were bit parts and consisted of such films as
the horror film
Die Todeskarten des Dr. Schreck (1965)
which starred Christopher Lee.
He was also appearing in episodes of TV shows such as "The Saint" and
"Court Martial". Sutherland's break would come soon, though, and it
would come in the form of a war film in which he was barely cast.
The reason he was barely cast was because he had been a last-minute
replacement for an actor that had dropped out of the film. The role he
played was that of the dopey but loyal Vernon Pinkley in the war film
Das dreckige Dutzend (1967). The film
also starred Lee Marvin,
Charles Bronson, and
Telly Savalas. The picture was an instant
success as an action/war film, and Sutherland played upon this success
by taking another role in a war film: this was, however, a comedy
called M*A*S*H (1970) which landed Sutherland
the starring role alongside Elliott Gould
and Tom Skerritt. This is now
considered a classic among film goers, and the 35-year old actor was
only getting warmed up.
Sutherland took a number of other roles in between these two films,
such as the theatrical adaptation
König Oedipus (1968), the
musical Joanna (1968) and the
Clint Eastwood-helmed war comedy
Stoßtrupp Gold (1970). It was
Stoßtrupp Gold (1970) that became
more well-known, and it reunited Sutherland with
Telly Savalas. 1970 and 1971 offered
Sutherland a number of other films, the best of them would have to be
Klute (1971). The film, which made
Jane Fonda a star, is about a prostitute
whose friend is mysteriously murdered. Sutherland received no critical
acclaim like his co-star Fonda (she won an Oscar) but his career did
not fade.
Moving on from Klute (1971), Sutherland
landed roles such as the lead in the thriller
Diamantenlady (1973), and another lead in the
western Ferner Donner (1974). These
films did not match up to "Klute"'s success, though Sutherland took a
supporting role that would become one of his most infamous and most
critically acclaimed. He played the role of the murderous fascist
leader in the Bernardo Bertolucci
Italian epic 1900 (1976).
Sutherland also gained another memorable role as a marijuana-smoking
university professor in
Ich glaub', mich tritt ein Pferd (1978) among other work
that he did in this time.
Another classic role came in the form of the
Robert Redford film,
Eine ganz normale Familie (1980).
Sutherland portrayed an older father figure who must deal with his
children in an emotional drama of a film. It won Best Picture, and
while both the supporting stars were nominated for Oscars, Sutherland
once again did not receive any Academy Award nomination. He moved on to
play a Nazi spy in a film based on
Ken Follett's book "Eye of the Needle" and
he would star alongside Al Pacino in the
commercial and critical disaster that was
Revolution (1985). While it drove
Al Pacino out of films for four years,
Sutherland continued to find work. This work led to the dramatic,
well-told story of apartheid
Weiße Zeit der Dürre (1989)
alongside the legendary actor
Marlon Brando.
Sutherland's next big success came in the
Oliver Stone film
JFK: Tatort Dallas (1991) where Sutherland plays the
chilling role of Mister X, an anonymous source who gives crucial
information about the politics surrounding President Kennedy. Once
again, he was passed over at the Oscars, though
Tommy Lee Jones was nominated for his
performance as Clay Shaw. Sutherland went on to appear in
Buffy, der Vampirkiller (1992),
Schatten des Wolfes (1992), and
Enthüllung (1994).
The new millennium provided an interesting turn in Sutherland's career:
reuniting with such former collaborators as
Clint Eastwood and
Tommy Lee Jones, Sutherland starred in
Space Cowboys (2000). He also
appeared as the father figure to
Nicole Kidman's character in
Unterwegs nach Cold Mountain (2003) and
Charlize Theron's character in
The Italian Job - Jagd auf Millionen (2003). He also made a fascinating, Oscar-worthy performance as the revolutionist
Mr. Thorne in
Land of the Blind (2006) and
also as a judge in
Die Liebe in mir (2007). He
also joined forces with his son
Rossif Sutherland and Canadian comic
Russell Peters with the new comedy
The Con Artist (2010), as well as
acting alongside Jamie Bell and
Channing Tatum in the sword-and-sandal
film Der Adler der Neunten Legion (2011). Sutherland
also taken a role in the remake of
Charles Bronson's film
Kalter Hauch (1972).
Donald Sutherland made a lasting legacy on Hollywood, whether
portraying a chilling and horrifying villain, or playing the older
respectable character in his films. A true character actor, Sutherland
was one of Canada's most well-known names and will hopefully continue to be remembered long after his time.
