NEED TO KNOW
- Donald Sutherland was a renowned Canadian actor who was well known for his roles in the films like MASH, The Dirty Dozen, and The Hunger Games series.
- Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, was Donald Sutherland was born on July 17, 1935.
- Donald Sutherland had five children: Kiefer, Rachel, Rossif, Angus, and Roeg Sutherland.
Donald McNichol Sutherland was a Canadian actor. He was well known for his unique voice and screen presence. Donald Sutherland was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada on July 17, 1935. Donald Sutherland passed away on 20 June 2024 in Miami, Florida, at the age of 88.
Before joining the University of Toronto, he attended school at Bridgewater High School. While pursuing education at college level, he initially studied engineering. But later he became fascinated about drama and acting performances. At college level, He joined the UC Follies comedy club and also acted in various plays. He finished his education in engineering and drama but opted to become an actor.
Donald Sutherland started his acting career in the early 1960s when he played some minor roles in television and films in Britain. He got considerable fame in 1967 because of ‘The Dirty Dozen’, and later in 1970 for his role of Captain Benjamin Franklin ‘Hawkeye’ Pierce in ‘MASH’.
He also became renowned for producing some of the films such as ‘Klute, Don’t Look Now, Ordinary People, and JFK’’. Donald Sutherland made new fans for himself with his role as President Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games. With his performances in dramas, comedies, thrillers, and historical films, Donald Sutherland became one of the most acclaimed actors of Canada.
Throughout his life, he was quite close to the field of acting, theatre, literature, and the arts. During his childhood, he liked to perform in comedy and theatrical plays and developed an interest in acting. He also had some connections with broadcasting and had been working as a radio jockey in his childhood. Do not provide much information about his hobbies.
Donald Sutherland got married thrice. His first marriage was with Lois Hardwick, and the couple stayed together between 1959 and 1966. Following that, in 1966, he married Canadian actress Shirley Douglas, and the two parted ways during the early 1970s. In 1972, he got married again to French-Canadian actress Francine Racette; he stayed married to her until his death in 2024.
Sutherland came from a family of five siblings and had strong ties with Canada all through his lifetime. He had a family that had interests in the entertainment industry, especially his two children, Kiefer and Rossif Sutherland, who became actors.
Donald Sutherland had five children: Kiefer Sutherland, Rachel Sutherland, Rossif Sutherland, Angus Sutherland, and Roeg Sutherland.
Rachel Sutherland
Credit – boldjourney.com
Rachel Sutherland is an outstanding personality from Britain and Canada, whose specialization in films and television includes being a producer, post-production supervisor, and production manager. Rachel Sutherland was born on December 21, 1966 in London, United Kingdom. Rachel Sutherland is the twin sister of actor Kiefer Sutherland, and the daughter of actor Donald Sutherland and Canadian actress Shirley Douglas.
Reliable public sources do not provide details about her academic background. She started her career at the beginning of the 1990s working as a casting assistant on the TV series ‘Beyond Reality’ (1991). Then, she worked as a member of the costume department, camera and art departments for the 1997 film ‘Truth or Consequences, N.M’.
She supervised various series including ‘The Zack Files’, ‘Radio Free Roscoe’, ‘Darcy’s Wild Life’, ‘Wild Roses’, ‘The Kennedys’, ‘Lost Girl’, ‘Nurses’, and ‘Pretty Hard Cases’. Her post-production supervisor film credits include ‘You Might As Well Live’, ‘Real Time’, ‘Away from Her’, and the romantic drama ‘Cairo Time’ (2009).
Rachel Sutherland belongs to one of the most well-known acting families in North America – she is the daughter of Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas and the twin sister of Kiefer Sutherland.
Kiefer Sutherland
Credit – biography.com
Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland, or better known by his stage name Kiefer Sutherland, is a Canadian born in Britain. He was born on December 21, 1966, in London, England, where his parents Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas are actors while his sister Rachel Sutherland works in production.
After the separation of his parents, Kiefer Sutherland grew up mostly in Toronto, Canada. He went to different schools in Toronto, including St. Andrew’s College in Aurora, Ontario; Martingrove Collegiate Institute, Harbord Collegiate Institute, and Malvern Collegiate Institute in Toronto; and one semester at Regina Mundi College in London, Ontario. Early education for him consisted of attending Crescent Town Elementary School and St. Clair Junior High School in East York, Ontario. He considers himself to be spiritual but not religious, and he has mentioned going to Catholic schools while growing up.
His first appearance in film was in ‘Max Dugan Returns’, while a breakthrough came through leading roles in the Canadian drama ‘The Bay Boy’; he received a nomination for the Genie Award for Best Actor for this film. He then relocated to Los Angeles where his early performances were in an episode of ‘Amazing Stories’ and the telefilm ‘Trapped in Silence’. Some of his film performances in the 1980s and 1990s have made him one of the leading young actors in films including ‘Stand by Me’, ‘The Lost Boys’, ‘Young Guns’, ‘Flatliners’, ‘A Few Good Men’, and ‘Dark City’.
His most significant performance came through ‘24’, where he played US counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer. This was a live action thriller drama series that aired between 2001 to 2010 and was revived for a short while in 2014. This performance earned him a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe, and two SAG Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
In 2008, he appeared in the movie ‘24: Redemption’, and after that, he starred in series like ‘Touch’ (2012–2013), ‘Designated Survivor’ (2016–2019), ‘The First Lady’ (2022), ‘Rabbit Hole’ (2023), and ‘The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial’ (2023–2024). Recent filmography includes movies such as ‘The Contractor’ (2022) and ‘Melancholia’ (2011).
Besides his acting career, Kiefer Sutherland has always had a passion for horses and western lifestyle; his passion increased while he was making films like ‘Young Guns’ and ‘Young Guns II’. In the late 1990s, he temporarily left Hollywood to become part of the rodeo tour as a rancher, lassoer, and professional rodeo rider.
He is also a singer and runs his own recording studio and record company. He publishes country and Americana songs and performs them on stage as a singer and a guitarist. He has been married twice in his life. His first wife is actress Camelia Kath (1996-2008). After that, in 2016, he got married to actress Kelly Winn; they separated in 2017 and got divorced in 2021. As of 2026, he is divorced and has not publicly announced a new marriage. He has a daughter named Sarah Sutherland; she was born in 1998 during his relationship with actress Winifred “Winnie” Gees.
Rossif Sutherland
Credit – justjared.com
Rossif Racette-Sutherland, who is professionally known as Rossif Sutherland, is an actor from Canada. Rossif Sutherland’s birth took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on 25 September 1978. There is very little available in public sources about his education details like any acting school or university education he might have had. His biographies mention that he was brought up in France before moving back to Canada for his acting career.
Rossif Sutherland made his feature film debut in the year 2003 with a historical science fiction adventure movie by Paramount titled ‘Timeline’, in which he played the part of Francois Dontelle opposite Paul Walker and Gerard Butler. Some of the other works in his early career include playing the character of Lester Kertzenstein in the popular American medical drama series ‘ER’.
Gained considerable attention as a leading man with the drama film Poor Boy’s Game (2007), that explores the theme of race relations. In the movie, he played together with Danny Glover as an ex-convict who attempts to get out of his past. From then on, he has been working steadily in Canadian and international films. Among these films are River (nomination for Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor), Hyena Road (ACTRA nomination for Best Actor), High Life (nomination for Genie Award), The Con Artist, Dead Before Dawn, Trench 11, Hellions, Age of Winter, Possessor (directed by Brandon Cronenberg), and Guest of Honour directed by Atom Egoyan.
Besides, his films include Backstabbing for Beginners (alongside Ben Kingsley), A Call to Spy, Keeper, Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey, and Orphan: First Kill. On TV, he has been performing regularly and as a recurring guest star in such series as Reign, King, Crossing Lines, Haven, Being Erica, Flashpoint, Covert Affairs, Catastrophe, The Expanse, and lately Three Pines and A Murder in a Small Town. He has also performed in The Handmaid’s Tale and other Canadian and American TV series shot in Canada.
Angus Sutherland
Credit – imdb.com
Angus Redford Sutherland is a Canadian and American actor and producer who was born on 3rd September 1982 in Los Angeles, California. He is the youngest son of actor Donald Sutherland and actress Francine Racette. Prior to fully joining the entertainment industry, he attended Middlebury College, a liberal arts college located in Vermont. After college, while acting and producing, he also worked in the media industry in a capacity that dealt with business affairs; one of these was his stint as a business development executive of Media Guarantors.
His first appearance on screen came in 2005 when he played the younger version of his father’s character, Florida Representative Nathan Templeton, in the White House drama ‘Commander in Chief.’ In 2008, he got his breakthrough movie role as the vampire Shane in the direct-to-DVD follow-up ‘Lost Boys: The Tribe,’ winning him acclaim amongst genre fans. During the same year, he also appeared in the comedy movie ‘Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay’ (as Anton) and in the indie movie ‘Familiar Strangers’.
Among others, his later works include appearances in a guest star role in the sci-fi show ‘Dollhouse’, the sports drama ‘Undefeated’, the documentary ‘Back and Forth’ about the band, the thriller ‘Tiebreaker’, and the crime films ‘November Criminals’ and ‘Kidnap’. In addition, he was in a secondary role in the World War I period drama ‘1917’.
In addition to acting, Angus has taken on producing and other behind-the-scenes roles as well. As his career developed, he shifted his focus towards producing and development.
Roeg Sutherland
Credit – 2020.miamarket.it
Roeg Jacob Racette Sutherland is an American film producer, talent agent, and entertainment executive who currently holds the position of senior executive at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), LA. Roeg was born on February 5, 1974, in Los Angeles, California, as the first-born child of actors Donald Sutherland and actress Francine Racette. Roeg Sutherland earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University. He entered the entertainment business in 2001 and joined CAA, where he rose to the rank of board member and co-head of various departments.
He serves as co-head of the Media Finance department and the International Film Group at CAA; CAA is one of the world’s leading entertainment and sports agencies. Based in Los Angeles, Roeg specializes in the packaging and representation of independently financed film, television, and digital content. He works with writers, directors, actors, and producers to structure deals and secure financing. He has played a pivotal role in establishing production companies as well as domestic and international sales and distribution entities.
He represents major filmmakers on projects such as ‘Les Miserables’, ‘1917’ (Sam Mendes), ‘Knives Out’, ‘Midway’, ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’, ‘The Revenant’ and ‘Birdman’, and ‘The Bad Batch’. In recognition of his impact on the global indie film market, he was honored with the ‘Game Changer Award’ at the 2024 Zurich Film Festival.
Belongs to the renowned Sutherland entertainment family. He is the son of Donald Sutherland and Francine Racette and the brother of Roeg Sutherland and Angus Sutherland; he is also the half-brother of Kiefer Sutherland and Rachel Sutherland, his father’s children from his first marriage to Shirley Douglas.