ALBAWABA - Donald Sutherland, whose performances in films like M*A*S*H, Ordinary People, and The Hunger Games demonstrated his ability to play dark, sympathetic, funny, or sad characters with equal ease, has died. He was 88.
Sutherland died on Thursday in Miami after a protracted illness, according to Missy Davy of CAA.
Although Sutherland never received a competitive Oscar nomination, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences compensated by giving him an honorary statuette at the Governors Awards in November 2017.
Throughout his six-decade career, the lanky Canadian-born actor, who featured in three to five films each year, has shown considerable versatility. His early roles, like crazed/dazed Pvt. Vernon Pinkley in The Dirty Dozen (1967), anti-Establishment Army doctor Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in M*A*S*H (1970), and hippy tank commander Oddball in Kelly's Heroes (1970), were rascally mavericks.
Sutherland's unique baritone and crystal blue eyes made him adept in daring parts, such as his portrayal of a private detective who falls for a prostitute (his then-real-life love partner Jane Fonda) in Alan J. Pakula's Klute (1971).
In Nicolas Roeg's 1973 horror flick Don't Look Now, he and Julie Christie teased moviegoers with one of the most heinous sexual scenes in film history. In addition, he played Casanova in Federico Fellini's 1976 film.
