RIP Movie Veteran Donald Sutherland

Farewell To A Unique Cinematic Figure

Yesterday the very sad news reached us that Hollywood veteran Donald Sutherland, an actor with decades in much-loved films like Kelly’s Heroes, MASH, Invasion of The Body Snatchers, Don’t Look Now and more, has just died at the age of 88…

As a tribute to him, here’s a list of his most notable films:

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

Robert Aldrich’s anti-heroes vs the Nazis film includes a fun performance from Sutherland in his breakthrough role as oddball Vernon Pinkley. He held his own in an ensemble cast which included heavyweights like Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and Charles Bronson.

MASH (1970)

Robert Altman’s Korean war drama saw Sutherland as the sarcastic Hawkeye Pierce, using his dark humour to keep body and soul together. Despite falling out with its director, Sutherland’s portrayal here displayed a truly idiosyncratic range.

Kelly’s Heroes (1970)

Sutherland played proto-hippy soldier Sergeant Oddball in Brian Hutton’s quirky Second World War caper movie, with a strangely magnetic onscreen presence throughout.

Klute (1971)

Alan J Pakula’s sleazy detective drama has the actor joining forces with unlikely ally prostitute played by Jane Fonda in this classic 1970s movie.

Don’t Look Now (1973)

Nicolas Roeg’s unsettling horror drama helped to illustrate Sutherland’s versatility as an actor with real chemistry between him and co-star Julie Christie.

National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)

Even though it’s just a cameo really, Sutherland’s take as teacher Dave Jennings offers an interesting shift in tone for Landis’ anarchic college comedy.

Invasion of The Body Snatchers (1978)

Philip Kaufman’s remake of Don Siegel’s 1950s conspiracy classic is definitely lifted by Sutherland’s role as its shabby protagonist, a man battling against the inevitability of the film’s eventual outcome.

JFK (1991)

Another cameo later on in his career as Mr X in Oliver Stone’s paranoid political thriller with an exceptional monologue which showed that the actor hadn’t lot it even further on in his career.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

Despite the fact that this was just a rather silly sci-fi franchise film, Sutherland as the evil President Coriolanus Snow actually lent the film a little bit of gravitas.

Sutherland was a very unusual actor: a character actor but also able to command a film as a leading man too. Tripwire sends our condolences to his friends and family.