The Sutherland family is one talented bunch, but father Donald, who passed away at age 88 on Thursday, June 20, was one of the industry greats.
Kiefer, Donald’s oldest son, best known for his role in the Fox drama series 24, was the first to break the news of his father’s passing via a touching tribute posted to his X account. “With a heavy heart, I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away,” he said, adding that, to him, he was “one of the most important actors in the history of film.” The 57-year-old praised his father’s commitment to his characters “good, bad or ugly,” and underlined that Donald loved what he did and did what he loved.
Donald Sutherland acted in over 140 films and over 40 television series, crafting one of the most iconic filmographies of all time. From 1967’s The Dirty Dozen and 1970’s M*A*S*H to 1995’s Citizen X and the 2010s’ The Hunger Games series, Sutherland continued to make inspired choices and leave a mark on every new generation of moviegoers.
Across six decades of working in film and television, the late actor only worked with his son once. They had worked in a couple of the same films before shooting Forsaken in 2014 but had never shared a scene together. The Canadian Western was commissioned by the younger Sutherland who had been looking for a worthwhile project to make with his father for a while. He described it as “one of the great experiences” of his life in a 2014 David Letterman interview and confessed to feeling “really nervous” to work with his dad, who just so happened to be one of the most talented actors of his time.
When Kiefer called Donald to tell him how he felt, his dad replied something along the lines of “Oh my god, I’ve already crapped myself.” The one advice the equally jittery dad had given him was to “be truthful.” Kiefer later confessed to The Hollywood Reporter that shooting the film was “the most amount of time I’ve been able to spend with my father since I was about 3.”
“My father is sitting right over there. Hi! We’re gonna have to have dinner now,” Kiefer joked as he won an Emmy in 2006 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his work on 24, while Donald was in the audience, thanks to his own nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Human Trafficking. Although the older man lost that evening, he already had an Emmy at home from his 1995 win for Citizen X. Both have also won Golden Globes.
Donald Sutherland had four other children, who all work in and around the movie industry. Kiefer’s twin Rachel is a television producer, Roeg (50, named after Don’t Look Now director Nicolas Roeg) works in Media Finance, Rossif (45, named after French director Frédéric Rossif) is an actor like his dad and older brother and co-starred with Donald in 2010’s The Con Artist, and Angus (41) is a film producer.
On Friday, Kiefer thanked everyone for “the outpouring of condolences and support.” Donald Sutherland died in Miami after a prolonged battle with an undisclosed illness.
