Donald Sutherland, whose ability to both charm and unsettle, both reassure and repulse, was amply displayed in scores of film roles as diverse as a laid-back battlefield surgeon in “M*A*S*H,” a ruthless Nazi spy in “Eye of the Needle,” a soulful father in “Ordinary People” and a strutting fascist in “1900,” died on Thursday in Miami.
His son Kiefer Sutherland announced the death on social media.
CAA, the talent agency that represented Mr. Sutherland, said he had died after an unspecified “long illness.”With his long face, droopy eyes, protruding ears and wolfish smile, the 6-foot-4 Mr. Sutherland was never anyone’s idea of a movie heartthrob.
He often recalled that while growing up in eastern Canada, he once asked his mother if he was good-looking, only to be told, “No, but your face has a lot of character.” He recounted how he was once rejected for a film role by a producer who said: “This part calls for a guy-next-door type.
You don’t look like you’ve lived next door to anyone.”
Persons:
Donald Sutherland, “, ”, Kiefer Sutherland, Sutherland, you’ve
Organizations:
CAA, Mr
Locations:
Nazi, Miami, Canada