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Donald Sutherland passed away today, aged 88. His legacy lives on in his son, Kiefer Sutherland, and over five decades of work in Hollywood and cinema. With a legacy that long, chances are high that you’ve seen Donald Sutherland in something, whether that’s The Hunger Games or M*A*S*H. However, with over 200 roles under his belt, it can be hard to keep track of which movies Sutherland was in and at which point in his career.
The world of cinema has lost a cultural icon, so we’ve compiled a list of Donald Sutherland’s greatest hits. These ten most iconic, most memorable roles made him into a household name long before his death and will remain in the public memory for decades to come.
10. Flan Kittredge – Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Six Degrees of Separation (1993) is a comedy-drama movie based on John Guare’s 1990 play of the same name. The film follows the Kittredges, a wealthy family bumping elbows with New York’s elite when they become the next targets of Paul, a con artist who claims to be friends with one of the family’s Ivy League-educated kids. Paul impresses the family with his fine tastes and sharp wit until his schemes are discovered, and the family discovers they’re only the latest in a chain of high-society victims.
Donald Sutherland played Flanders “Flan” Kittredge, the father of the family and a wealthy art dealer. Flan was married to Fifth Avenue socialite Louisa “Ouisa” Kittredge (Stockard Channing), and the couple had three children, all at Ivy League universities. Will Smith, Ian McKellen, and Mary Beth Hurt also starred.
9. Mr. X – JFK (1991)
Released in 1991, JFK follows Jim Garrison, a New Orleans lawyer who launches an investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy, functioning on a hunch that there’s more to the president’s death than the public knows. Based on a book by the real-life Jim Garrison, the movie dives into the events of November 22nd, 1963, as Garrison uncovers the possibility that there was a conspiracy to kill Kennedy and form a coup in the highest levels of the American government.
Donald Sutherland portrayed a figure simply known as Mr. X, a high-level government official who meets with Jim Garrison in secret. X is the first one to bring up the idea that Kennedy’s death was the result of a government coup and that Kennedy was killed because he wanted to dismantle the CIA. Other notable cast members include Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, Lauren Metcalf, and others.
8. Jerry O’Neil – Space Cowboys (2000)
Space Cowboys (2000) is an adventure drama that centers around Team Daedalus, a crack team of aging former test pilots who are launched into space to keep a decaying Soviet satellite, IKON, from falling apart and crashing into Earth. The team is tasked with pulling themselves together despite decades-long grudges and the presence of a younger astronaut team that they’ve got to cooperate with. As the journey to repair the satellite uncovers old international rivalries, these space cowboys are forced to put their grudges aside and work together – for old times’ sake.
Donald Sutherland was Jerry O’Neil, a retired Air Force pilot turned NASA flight engineer who gets pulled onto Team Daedalus alongside other old-timers like Frank (Clint Eastwood), Hawk (Tommy Lee Jones), and Tank (James Garner). Sutherland’s role in this movie would see him nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award in 2001.
7. Calvin Jarrett – Ordinary People (1980)
Ordinary People (1980) centers around the Jarrett family, who are living in a wealthy suburb of Chicago but trying to lead more down-to-earth lives after the death of their teenage son Buck and the attempted suicide of their younger son, Conrad. Conrad, returning home after four months in a psych ward, is left to grapple with his survivor’s guilt as he comes to terms with his involvement in the accident that killed his brother. To make matters worse, Conrad’s parents are torn between wanting their family to survive and the desire to restore the family’s status to what it once was, putting strain on their relationship with their son and each other.
Donald Sutherland starred as Calvin Jarrett, Conrad’s father, who’s working to reconnect with his only surviving son and understand his wife Beth’s complicated frame of mind. Calvin often plays the moderator between his son and wife as Beth’s resentment towards their son begins to fester, and they get closer and closer to a breaking point. Sutherland was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1981 thanks to this role.
6. Matthew Bennell – Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) has gone down in cinema history as a sci-fi horror classic, and it’s got the star power to prove it. The movie centers around an invasion of parasitic aliens who steal people’s bodies and turn them into “pod people,” uncharacteristic impostors of themselves. Brooke Adams plays Elizabeth Driscoll, a San Francisco lab scientist who enlists the help of some colleagues to get to the bottom of the parasite invasion and figure out who’s a “pod person” once and for all.
Donald Sutherland stars as Matthew Bennell, Elizabeth’s colleague and friend-turned-love interest. He’s one of the only human survivors over the course of the movie and instrumental in decimating the alien ranks – until the movie’s twist ending, of course. Sutherland’s performance saw him nominated for a Saturn Award in 1979.
5. John Bridger – The Italian Job (2003)
An adaptation of the 1962 movie of the same name, The Italian Job is a heist action movie directed by F. Gary Gray. The film follows a ragtag group of rogues, including Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg), team leader and master thief; Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron), a professional safe cracker seeking revenge for her father’s death; Lyle (Seth Green), the team’s hacker and computer expert; and Left Ear (Mos Def) as the team’s explosive expert. The team is pulled together to get revenge on a rival heisting crew after they betrayed and killed Stella’s father, professional safe-cracker John Bridger.
Donald Sutherland starred in the movie as John Bridger, Stella’s father and a member of the original heist crew tasked with stealing $35 million in gold bullion. After John is betrayed and killed, his death is the event that gets the ball rolling and motivates his former crew member Charlie into recruiting a new team, including John’s own daughter this time.
4. John Klute – Klute (1971)
Klute is a neo-noir crime drama directed by Andy and Dave Lewis. The movie follows the investigation into the death of Tom Gruneman, a chemical company executive whose death spurs a family friend to hire Detective John Klute. The investigation leads Klute to Bree Daniels, a New York prostitute who’s tangled in the far-reaching web of Gruneman’s death. Bree and Klute become involved with each other as the detective’s case heats up, and they find themselves struggling to stay together as the investigation takes a surprising turn.
Donald Sutherland took the lead role in the movie as John Klute, the detective called in to investigate Gruneman’s death after the police failed to do so. Klute falls in love with Bree (Jane Fonda) as he begins investigating her, and their relationship ends up being the driving force that pulls her away from New York and her empty life as a call girl. The movie won Donald Sutherland an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture in 1971.
3. Mr. Bennett – Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Technically, only one in a series of adaptations, Pride and Prejudice (2005) is one of the best-received adaptations of Jane Austen’s novel in a long time. The movie follows Keira Knightley as Elizabeth “Lizzy” Bennett, the quick-witted second-oldest daughter of the Bennett family. While accompanying her older sister Jane (Rosamund Pike) to a ball, Lizzy meets the silent and seemingly cold Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfayden), who proves to have hidden depths. As they reluctantly grow closer together, Lizzy and Darcy find themselves in an unexpected place: falling in love.
Donald Sutherland starred in the 2005 movie adaptation as Mr. Bennett, the patriarch of the Bennett family and father to Lizzy, Jane, and their sisters. Despite being far more laid-back than his wife, Mrs. Bennett, Mr. Bennett proves to be an honest, steadfast pillar of support for his family, supporting Lizzy and her sisters as they find their way in the world.
2. Hawkeye Pierce – M*A*S*H (1970)
M*A*S*H (1970) has gone down as a film classic. Based on Richard Hooker’s novel of the same name, the movie is set in 1951, when the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital was serving in South Korea. The unit receives two new recruits, Hawkeye and Duke, who arrive in a stolen Army Jeep and prove to be wisecracking, insubordinate, and mischievous, but they eventually bond with the other soldiers in the unit, including commanding officer Henry Blake, chief clerk Radar O’Reilly, dentist Walter Waldowski, surgeon Frank Burns, and Chaplain Father Mulcahy.
Donald Sutherland played Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, a wisecracking, prank-pulling, heavy-drinking new recruit. The character has several iterations between Hooker’s novel, the 1970 movie, and the M*A*S*H TV series, but Sutherland’s performance in the movie has gone down as a hallmark of the franchise, and it got him nominated for a Golden Globe and a Laurel Award.
1. President Snow – The Hunger Games (2012)
The Hunger Games movie series began in 2012 and ended with Mockingjay: Part 2 in 2015. Based on the best-selling books of the same name by Suzanne Collins, the Hunger Games movies take place in the futuristic dystopian world of Panem, which is divided into twelve districts ruled by the corrupt and wealthy Capitol. Every year, two teenagers from each of the districts is chosen to compete in the Hunger Games, an annual death tournament, and the 74th Hunger Games sees Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) spark rebellion from District Twelve.
Many consider The Hunger Games to be Donald Sutherland’s most iconic movie role simply because of how far-reaching the movies are. Donald Sutherland starred in all four movies as President Coriolanus Snow, the tyrannical ruler of Panem who grips the entire society in an iron fist and is constantly attempting to manipulate Katniss and her allies. His performance would win him a Teens Choice Award for Choice Movie Villain and see him nominated for a Kids’ Choice Award and an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. The character of Coriolanus Snow would be expanded on in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a series prequel.
