How legendary Donald Sutherland was Hollywood outsider famous for oddballs and rebels – & linked to string of beauties
WITH his drooped eyes and his slender frame, 6ft 4in actor Donald Sutherland was not your typical Hollywood idol.
But the legendary Canadian star, who has died at the age of 88, appeared in some 140 movies, won two Golden Globes and was romantically linked to a string of beauties.
The three-times-married father of five’s 50-year film career means he was adored by fans of all ages.
In recent years he was the villainous President Snow in The Hunger Games films, in 1970 he made the dark comedy M.A.S.H and in 1991 he was the mysterious X in JFK.
Donald was never afraid to take risks. He appeared in one of the most infamous sex scenes in cinema in 1973 movie Don’t Look Now, with his explicit intimacy alongside Julie Christie leaving onlookers wondering whether they had made love for real.
The actor, who is said to have dated Christie, denied it — but the stunning actress didn’t.
He almost died after falling ill while making war film Kelly’s Heroes, in which he played tank commander Sergeant Oddball, championed the anti-war message with Jane Fonda, smoked 80 cigarettes a day and used to drink heavily.
But in his later years he settled down with his third wife Francine Racette, quit smoking, eased off of the booze and became a much sought-after star.
His actor son Kiefer Sutherland revealed his passing last night on social media. He wrote: “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.
‘I saw tunnel of death’
“He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that. A life well lived.”
Born in 1935 in the small town of Saint John, on the east coast of Canada, to salesman Frederick and maths teacher Dorothy, Donald grew up in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.
He was a sickly child who battled rheumatic fever, polio and hepatitis. The polio left him with one leg shorter than the other.
But none of that stopped him working as a news correspondent on a local radio station at the age of 14 then studying drama at college.
Donald’s unconventional looks led many to tell him that showbusiness was the wrong career. He was instead advised to become a truck driver.
He ignored his critics, choosing to move to England to study at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1957.
After graduating, he appeared on stage, TV and in films in Britain.
His acting credits included parts in Christopher Lee horror films and TV’s The Avengers and The Saint.
In 1959 he married first wife Lois Hardwick, but that only lasted for seven years. Shortly after their divorce he wed actress Shirley Douglas.
By December 1966, Shirley had given birth to twins Kiefer and Rachel, 57, in London. And the following year he had his big break in hit movie The Dirty Dozen.
Initially a non-talking part, the director asked if the guy “with the big ears” could read the lines that colleague Clint Walker refused to say.
Donald said yes and his career took off. This was followed by Korean War dark comedy M.A.S.H. and Kelly’s Heroes in 1970, by which time he was a bona fide A-lister.
While making the latter war movie in Yugoslavia, he nearly died from spinal meningitis. Donald said: “I went into a coma and they tell me that, for a few seconds, I died.
“I saw the blue tunnel of death. It was soft, warm and I was the most relaxed I’ve ever been.
“I somehow found myself looking down on my own body, stretched out like a shell. At first I couldn’t get my brain to order anything to move, but I was determined not to die.”
At the start of the following year he made the thriller Klute with Jane Fonda. Later, referencing a scene in which he unzips her dress, he would admit: “I guess we’d made love an hour before we shot that.”
His relationship with Jane helped to politicise him, as he attended rallies protesting against the involvement of the US in the war in Vietnam.
One of the most intelligent, interesting and engrossing film actors of all time
Ron Howard
The couple were both put on National Security watchlists. His affair with Jane didn’t last more than two years, and he admitted: “It was a wonderful relationship right up to the point we lived together.”
The anti-war protests didn’t seem to harm Donald’s career too much, with him taking lead roles in Don’t Look Now in 1973, The Eagle Has Landed in 1976 and Invasion Of The Body Snatchers in 1978.
However, his reputation as a ladies’ man was not good for his marriage. Pondering why the opposite sex found him so attractive, he once said: “I suspect women prefer men who are not gorgeous.”
Donald divorced his wife Shirley when Kiefer was four in 1970, and admitted: “I wasn’t present much as a father when he was young. Perhaps that’s part of the reason Kiefer has struggled to settle emotionally.”
His comment came after Kiefer’s engagement to actress Julia Roberts was dramatically called off in 1991.
In 1972 Donald had tied the knot for the final time, settling down for good with Francine, 76.
The insatiable star once told a journalist that he had made love to her 5,000 times in 18 years.
It is perhaps surprising, then, that they only had three children, all sons. Rossif, Angus Redford and Roeg were all named after directors Donald had worked with.
Even though he was constantly making films and TV shows, the actor denied being a workaholic.
He said: “I never work for money. I do two pictures a year. I don’t work from June to September because I want to be with my kids.”
His principles led him to turn down parts in the cult classics Deliverance and Straw Dogs because he thought the scripts were too violent.
There were plenty of other strong roles to be had, including in the spy drama Eye Of The Needle in 1981, Cold Mountain in 2003 and Pride & Prejudice in 2005.
None of them, though, secured him an Oscar nomination and his two Golden Globe wins were for TV parts. They were supporting role gongs, first in 1996 for Citizen X and Path To War in 2003.
‘Sad loss’
Donald did finally get his hands on a golden statuette in 2018 — when he picked up an honorary Oscar.
Part of the reason he did not scoop more gongs was perhaps that he appeared in popular films of the sort often shunned by awards chiefs.
The Hunger Games, a five-part franchise that started in 2012, was a massive sci-fi box office smash which was lifted by his acting talents and those of lead star Jennifer Lawrence.
Donald — who also played the inventor of a rain machine in Kate Bush’s video for her 1985 single, Cloudbusting — said: “It was the first thing I’d read in years that could become a creative political stimulus for young people.”
He kept acting right up to the end, with a movie called Heart Land in the pipeline. And even though he earned millions, the actor insisted he needed to keep working.
After all, having had homes in Quebec, Los Angeles and Paris, plus five children, there was plenty for him to spend his wages on.
Last night, British director Edgar Wright paid tribute to Donald’s talent, describing him as “a funny, laconic, but also intense and dramatic presence in so many memorable movies”.
Ron Howard, who directed him in 1991 action thriller Backdraft, hailed the late star “one of the most intelligent, interesting and engrossing film actors of all time”.
And also paying tribute, Sun writer Piers Morgan said: “RIP Donald Sutherland, 88.
“One of my all-time favourite actors who played so many great roles. What a sad loss.”