Donald Sutherland, Star of 'M*A*S*H,' 'Klute' & President Snow in 'The Hunger Games,' Dies at 88

Donald Sutherland, the star of dozens of iconic films — and one of the most revered actors never to have received an Oscar nomination — died Thursday in Miami after a long illness. He was 88.

His equally famous son, actor Kiefer Sutherland, announced the sad news on X, writing, "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."

Sutherland was renowned for his ability to turn in electrifying performances in an eclectic variety of films, from action to offbeat, sci-fi to fantasy, comedy to drama.

Born July 17, 1935, in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, he originally intended to have a career in engineering. In 1957, he reinvented himself and moved to the U.K. to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

He made his British TV debut in 1962 ahead of his first, uncredited film work the following year. His credited film debut was the low-budget horror flick "The Castle of the Living Dead" (1964) with Christopher Lee.

He was also a slow-witted henchman in the camp classic "Die! Die! My Darling!" (1965), opposite Tallulah Bankhead and Stefanie Powers.

After acting in the classic "The Bedford Incident" (1965) and on episodes of "The Saint" (1965-1966) and "The Avengers" (1967), he gave a breakthrough performance in the star-packed "The Dirty Dozen" (1967) — of which he had been the last surviving main cast member. The film was one of the year's biggest hits, propelling him to a Hollywood career.

Sutherland's most memorable films included playing Hawkeye Pierce in "M*A*S*H" (1970) for director Robert Altman; "Kelley's Heroes" (1970); the title role in 1971's "Klute" opposite Jane Fonda; Nicholas Roeg's "Don't Look Now" (1973) opposite Julie Christie; "The Eagle Has Landed" (1976); "Federico Fellini's Casanova" (1976); Bernardo Bertolucci's "1900" (1976); the hit remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978); "National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978); "The First Great Train Robbery" (1978) opposite Sean Connery; "Ordinary People" (1980); "Eye of the Needle" (1981); "A Dry White Season" (1989) opposite Marlon Brando; "Backdraft" (1991); "JFK" (1991); "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1992); "Six Degrees of Separation" (1993); "Disclosure" (1994); "Oubreak" (1995); "A Time to Kill" (1996); "Space Cowboys" (2000); "Cold Mountain" (2003); and "Pride & Prejudice" (2005).

In recent years, he cemented his familiarity with movigoers of all ages as President Snow in the "Hunger Games" series (2012-2015).

He was also active on TV, mostly early and late in his career, including in the TV movie "The Winter of Our Discontent" (1983) and on the series "Commander in Chief" (2005-2006) and "Dirty Sexy Money" (2007-2009).

His final filmed performance appears to have been an eight-episode arc on "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" in 2023.

Married and divorced three times, he is survived by his five children.