Profile of the Day: Donald Sutherland

Today we remember actor Donald Sutherland on what would have been his 89th birthday.

Image: Donald Sutherland / Frantogian, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Sutherland was born on July 17, 1935 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada to Dorothy Isobel McNichol and Frederick McLea Sutherland. As a young teen, Sutherland worked as a news correspondent for a local radio station. He studied engineering and drama at Victoria University before leaving for England to study drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. While he was there, Sutherland nabbed small roles on British television shows and on the London stage. He later chose to leave his studies to pursue his career full time.

Over the course of his long career, Sutherland appeared in nearly 200 films and television shows. Some of his most memorable films include “Ordinary People,” “MASH,” “Klute,” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Sutherland also had a memorable turn as President Coriolanus Snow in four Hunger Games films. Despite his numerous and versatile roles, Sutherland never received an Oscar nomination. In 2017, he received an honorary Academy Award for his wide body of work.

Sutherland died on June 20, 2024 at the age of 88 after a long illness. In the announcement of his death, his son Kiefer Sutherland shared, “He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that. A life well lived.”