Actor Donald Sutherland dies at 88ExBulletin

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Actor Donald Sutherland has died at the age of 88. He has starred in more than 150 films and television shows over the years, including popular films such as “Ordinary People” and the “Hunger Games” franchise. Sutherland died today in Miami following an illness. Mansee Khurana has this memory.

MANSEE KHURANA, BYLINE: Donald Sutherland was a Canadian actor who spent a lot of time playing American soldiers.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “THE DIRTY DOZEN”)

DONALD SUTHERLAND: (As Vernon L. Pinkley) What kind of general, sir?

LEE MARVIN: (As Major John Reisman) Just a simple, ordinary, everyday, home-loving American general.

SUTHERLAND: (As Vernon L. Pinkley) I prefer to be a civilian, sir.

KHURANA: His main role was that of a convict turned soldier in “The Dirty Dozen.” And then he played Hawkeye in the 1970 film “M*A*S*H.”

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “M*A*S*H”)

SUTHERLAND: (as Hawkeye Pierce) Are you a beer drinker, sir, or would you like to share a martini with me?

ELLIOTT GOULD: (as Trapper John McIntyre) Martini? I… it would be… I would love a martini.

KHURANA: The same year, he played a rogue tank commander in the film “Kelly's Heroes”.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “KELLY'S HEROES”)

SUTHERLAND: (As Sergeant Oddball) A Sherman can give you a very good advantage.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SUTHERLAND: (As Sergeant Oddball) These are my boys.

KHURANA: All of these films came out while the Vietnam War was raging. And Donald Sutherland made his opposition to the war very clear, even though he played many soldiers. He performed alongside Jane Fonda in a road show in front of American military soldiers. It was a left-wing response to the USO tours at the time. Their sketches and songs were filmed in a documentary in 1972.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, “FTA”)

DONALD SUTHERLAND AND JANE FONDA: (Singing) Foxtrot, tango, alpha. Help me. Tell me, what does that mean?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: [Expletive] the army, navy and marines.

KHURANA: Sutherland and Fonda were in the middle of a romantic affair at the time. Both actors ended up on NSA watch lists for two years due to their anti-war activities, but Sutherland moved on to leading film roles. He was probably more memorable as a quirky authority figure – say, a weed-smoking professor at “National Lampoon's Animal House.”

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE”)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Is this true?

SUTHERLAND: (As Dave Jennings) Just try not to drool too much at the end.

KHURANA: Over the years, he has played doctors, sadistic prison guards and paranoid government figures.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “JFK”)

SUTHERLAND: (As

KHURANA: But more recently, he has become well known for his chilling portrayal of the tyrannical president in the “Hunger Games” film franchise.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 2”)

SUTHERLAND: (As President Snow) We both know I don't hesitate to kill children, but I don't waste it.

KHURANA: Donald Sutherland's real children followed in his footsteps, including actor Kiefer Sutherland. Even though Donald Sutherland has starred alongside dozens of Oscar-winning actors, he himself has never been nominated for one. In 2017, the Academy awarded him an honorary prize. Here is an excerpt from his speech.

(SOUNDBITE OF 89TH ACADEMY AWARDS BROADCAST)

SUTHERLAND: I don't deserve this. But I have arthritis and I don't deserve this either.

(LAUGH)

SUTHERLAND: Thank you.

KHURANA: But Donald Sutherland's reputation as a gifted actor who played complicated, sardonic characters was well deserved.

Mansee Khurana, NPR News.

Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit the terms of use and permissions pages on our website at www.npr.org for more information.

NPR transcripts are created on urgent deadlines by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio recording.