Donald Sutherland

Donald Sutherland graduated with a dual degree in engineering and drama from Toronto’s Victoria University, but ended up using only one of them for the rest of his life. In the 1960s, he moved to Scotland and began gaining small roles in British television and film, with his first breakthrough being 1967’s The Dirty Dozen. He then moved to Hollywood, where he originated the role of Hawkeye Pierce in the film M*A*S*H, which was made even more famous in the subsequent television series by Alan Alda. In 1978, Sutherland hit upon two of his most memorable roles in Invasion of the Body Snatchers and National Lampoon’s Animal House. That year, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and would later be promoted to the rank of Companion in 2019.

Sutherland’s roles continued over the years and he won a Primetime Emmy in 1995 for his performance in the HBO Film Citizen X. In 2002, another HBO film, Path to War, earned him a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. He reached a new generation of viewers in the 2010s with his role of President Snow in The Hunger Games franchise. He was inducted into the Canada Walk of Fame in 2000 and, in 2010, he helped carry the Olympic flag in the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Having never been nominated, in 2017 he received an honorary Academy Award to celebrate his career. Several of his children also ventured into acting, most notably Kiefer, who starred in the long-running television series 24.