Donald Sutherland, the acclaimed and prolific actor who starred in countless beloved films across his five-decade career, has died at 88.
Sutherland’s career ranged from early breakout roles in The Dirty Dozen and MASH to Oscar winners like Klute and Ordinary People, to his villainous role in the Hunger Games franchise.
With the passing away of Donald Sutherland, the world of cinema has lost one of the most charismatic and intriguing icons. Universally considered the greatest actor never to have been nominated for an Academy Award in spite of innumerable brilliant performances, Sutherland was nevertheless one of the most enduring stars of cinema, whose appeal showed no signs of diminishing even after seven decades in the industry.
With around 200 roles under his belt, ranging from Federico Fellini’s Casanova (1976) to Hawkeye Pierce in Robert Altman’s MASH (1970) to President Snow in The Hunger Games film series (from 2012), Sutherland was one of the most versatile actors of his generation, who could seamlessly slip into any role that he was given to him and make it his own. He was 88 when he passed away from a prolonged illness.
Feline suppleness
Though not conventionally handsome, Sutherland had a striking screen presence that made it impossible for the audience to take its eyes away from him. In an age of dark, brooding leading men, spawned by Marlon Brando’s method tradition, Sutherland exuded a quirky charm that could easily assume a menacing form, or take on a gentle aspect, or project cold ruthlessness. At 6’4”, his laconic presence hinted at a feline suppleness and power, and somewhere behind the roguish twinkle in his eyes there was always a glint of uncompromising purpose. These subtle complexities that he projected effortlessly made characters such as Liam Devlin in The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Sergeant Oddball in Kelly’s Heroes (1970), and Hawkeye Pierce in Mash, such memorable figures, even though they were not the main protagonists.
Never one to allow himself to be typecast, Sutherland took on a staggering variety of roles in his career, ranging from the sinister to the romantic to the offbeat. He adeptly handled practically all genres: comedy, drama, action, war, fantasy, even horror. From the dope-head Dave Jennings in National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) to the gentle and helpless Calvin Jarrett in Robert Redford’s Ordinary People (1980) to the psychotic fascist leader Attila Mellanchini in Bernardo Bertolucci’s epic, 1900 (1976), Sutherland repeatedly proved himself to be a fearless artiste, who was not afraid to take on roles that would have a harrowing effect on his own psyche. In fact, after seeing his performance as Attila Mellanchini, Sutherland was so disturbed, that he was not able to see 1900 again for a long time
