Donald Sutherland, the influential character actor of classic films like M*A*S*H, Don’t Look Now and Ordinary People, has passed away at the age of 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.

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.”

Born in New Brunswick, Canada in 1935, Sutherland started his career as a radio news reporter before leaving his home country to travel to London in 1957. There, he studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

After departing the Academy, Sutherland got his acting break in the early 1960s with bit-part roles in television episodes of The Odd Man (1963), The Saint (1965-66), Court Martial (1966) and Gideon’s Way (1966). During that period, he also popped up in a variety of films including Castle of the Living Dead (1964), Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1965), Die! Die! My Darling! (1965), and The Bedford Incident (1965).

Having played Jessel in an episode of The Avengers (1967), Sutherland then scored a key role as irreverent soldier Vernon L. Pinkley in the World War II-based action film The Dirty Dozen (1967). After appearing in the likes of Joanna (1968), Interlude (1968), and The Split (1968), his career would soon escalate upon the arrival of the next decade.

In 1970, Sutherland returned to the war genre with his off-kilter roles as zany surgeon Hawkeye Pierce in Robert Altman’s war satire M*A*S*H, and as the aptly-named Sergeant Oddball in Kelly’s Heroes. His performance in the former earned him a first Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical).

Further big-screen work then came in the likes of Act of the Father (1970), Little Murders (1971), and Johnny Got his Gun (1971) before starring as John Klute opposite an Oscar-winning Jane Fonda in the crime thriller Klute (1971). The pair went on to date for two years and act together in the anti-war documentary F.T.A. (1972) and the comedy caper Steelyard Blues (1973).

Shortly after, Sutherland made headlines with his BAFTA-nominated role as grieving father John Baxter in the psychological horror Don’t Look Now (1973). Despite the dark subject matter, the film was best known for his realistic love scene with co-star Julie Christie which led to speculation that the pair had had sex for real.

Throughout the rest of the 1970s, Sutherland took on a variety of character roles including Homer in The Day of the Locust (1975), Atilla Mellanchini in 1900 (1976), Giacomo Casanova in Fellini’s Casanova (1976), Liam Devlin in The Eagle Has Landed (1976), the Clumsy Waiter in The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), and Agar in The First Great Train Robbery (1978).

The late 70s also brought two memorable performances as pot-smoking college professor Dave Jennngs in the frat boy comedy National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978), and as ill-fated public health inspector Matthew Bennell in the sci-fi horror Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978).

In the 1980s, Sutherland earned a second Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Calvin Jarrett, a middle-class father mourning the tragic loss of his eldest son in the Oscar-winning family drama Ordinary People (1980). By this point, the Canadian actor had established himself as one of Hollywood’s most consistent performers and continued to make his presence in other 80s-based films including Eye of the Needle (1981), Catholic Boys (1985), Revolution (1985), The Wolf at the Door (1986), The Rosary Murders (1987), Lock Up (1989), and A Dry White Season (1989).

After playing Ronald Bartel in the action thriller Backdraft (1991), Sutherland then delivered a brief but memorable turn as X, a mysterious Washington intelligence officer who confides to Kevin Costner’s district attorney Jim Garrison about a government plot linked to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in the political epic JFK (1991).

Throughout the early 1990s, he made further appearances in films like The Railway Station Man (1992), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), Shadow of the Wolf (1992) and Six Degrees of Separation (1993). Shortly after, Sutherland won both a Golden Globe, and an Emmy for his supporting turn as Soviet commander Col. Mikhail Fetisov in the fact-based television film Citizen X (1995).

Over the next few years, he played General Donald McClintock in Outbreak (1995), Lucien Wilbanks in A Time to Kill (1996), Jacob Conrad in Shadow Conspiracy (1997), Bill Bowerman in Without Limits (1998), Jerry O’Neill in Space Cowboys (2000), John Bridger in The Italian Job (2003), and Reverend Monroe in Cold Mountain (2003). Having provided the voice of Hollis Hurlbut in an episode of The Simpsons (1996), he then bagged a second Golden Globe win for his portrayal of Clark Clifford in the political television film Path to War (2001).

Other notable big-screen parts in that period included Mr. Bennet in Pride & Prejudice (2005), Hellfrick in Ask the Dust (2007), Judge Raines in Reign Over Me (2007), Nigel Honeycutt in Fool’s Gold (2008), Harry McKenna in The Mechanic (2011), and Jack Pellit in Horrible Bosses (2011).

However, he soon found a new following with his role as the tyrannical President Snow in the hit sci-fi adventure The Hunger Games (2012); a character he would later return to in three further sequels.

Away from film, Sutherland continued to excel on the small-screen with lauded performances as Meehan in Human Trafficking (2005), Nathan Templeton in Commander in Chief (2005-06), Patrick ‘Tripp’ Darling III in Dirty Sexy Money (2007-09), Bartholomew in The Pillars of the Earth (2010), Flint in Treasure Island (2012), and Michel Dorn in Crossing Lines (2013-15).

In his final years, he appeared in various film and television roles including John Spencer in The Leisure Seeker (2017), J. Paul Getty in Trust (2018), Thomas Pruitt in Ad Astra (2019), Franklin Reinhardt in The Undoing (2020), Holdenfield in Moonfall (2022), and Judge Parker in Lawmen: Bass Reeves (2022).

Despite a valuable acting career, Sutherland had the surprise misfortune to not receive a single Oscar nomination. However, the Academy did recognise him with an honorary award in 2017!

Sutherland is survived by son Kiefer, as well as an additional four children, and his third wife Francine Racette.