The esteemed actor Donald Sutherland, known for his roles in films ranging from The Dirty Dozen to The Hunger Games, has passed away.
Sutherland died on Thursday in Miami, according to US time.
His extensive career featured iconic movies such as The Dirty Dozen and Don’t Look Now.
However, for a younger audience, his most memorable role was that of the devious yet captivating President Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games series.
“With a heavy heart, I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away,” actor Kiefer Sutherland wrote on X/Twitter.
“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 married three times and had five children.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recalled being “deeply, deeply starstruck” upon meeting Sutherland for the first time.
“My thoughts go out to Kiefer and the entire Sutherland family, as well as all Canadians who are no doubt saddened to learn, as I am right now.”
Ron Howard, the actor-turned-director who collaborated with Sutherland in the 1991 film Backdraft, praised him highly.
“One of the most intelligent, interesting and engrossing film actors of all time,” he wrote on social media. “Incredible range, creative courage and dedication to serving the story and the audience with supreme excellence.”
Born in New Brunswick, Canada, in 1935, Sutherland began his career at the age of 14 as a news reporter for a local radio station in Nova Scotia.
He pursued both drama and engineering at university in Toronto but ultimately advanced his acting career by attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1957.
