RIP Donald Sutherland, 1935-2094

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At 88, with his 89th birthday not far off, the great Canadian actor Donald Sutherland has taken his leave of us. I don't even know where to start with his career. I am pretty sure I first saw him in the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but he was already well-established by then from prior roles like being the original "Hawkeye" Pierce in Robert Altman's film version of MASH. I later saw him (with Mrs. M.) in the epic biopic Bethune, where he played severely underappreciated, at least at home, Canadian hero. He received many awards, including Companion of the Order of Canada, GG Award for Performing Arts, and several Golden Globe and other industry awards. Though, oddly, he was never nominated for an Oscar. Not sure what's up with that. Of course, he was also the father of Kiefer Sutherland, a noted actor in his own right, with his second wife Shirley Douglas (daughter of noted political leader Tommy Douglas). Kiefer has a twin sister as well. Douglas also had three other children with Francine Racette, his third wife. Most recently, he had a bit of resurgence with his role as President Snow in the Hunger Games trilogy, which introduced him to my son's generation.

One of the great actors, and Canadians, of my time. RIP.

Donald Sutherland, Star of ‘MASH,’ ‘Klute’ and ‘Hunger Games,’ Dies at 88

Donald Sutherland, who starred in 'MASH,' 'Klute' and 'The Hunger Games' franchise, has died. He was 88.

variety.com

 

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Another obit from The Globe and Mail.

Donald Sutherland was cinema’s Canadian chameleon

From rascally soldiers in the Korean War to villainous presidents in the future, he could play it all

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[Mendalla]

Perhaps one of Donald's lesser known roles was as the scientist and father in Kate Bush's 1985 music video of "Cloudbusting". It's a "mini-movie" style of video with a clear, succinct story and even with no spoken lines, Sutherland handled it well. Director was Julian Doyle and the scenario was created by Kate in cooperation with Terry Gilliam (Time Bandits, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and Monty Python). I was just getting heavily into Kate's music at the time (I've been big on female singer-songwriters for a very long time) and seeing Sutherland in the video impressed me considerably.