Iconic actor Donald Sutherland dies at 88

FILE – Donald Sutherland, left, and his son Kiefer Sutherland pose for a portrait in Los Angeles to promote the film “Forsaken.” Donald Sutherland, the towering Canadian actor whose career spanned “M.A.S.H.” to “The Hunger Games,” has died at 88. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)

LOS ANGELES – The entertainment world lost a giant today with the death of legendary actor Donald Sutherland, who parlayed guest spots on television programs throughout the 1960s into appearances in iconic films including “The Dirty Dozen,” “M*A*S*H,” “Kelly’s Heroes” and “Animal House.”

“With a heavy heart, I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away,” Sutherland’s son, actor Kiefer Sutherland, wrote on social media Thursday morning. “I personally think one of the most important actors in the history of film. Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that. A life well lived.”

Sutherland was 88. According to various reports, Sutherland died in Miami following a long illness.

Sutherland, who received an honorary Oscar in 2017, was known to younger moviegoers for his more recent work as President Snow in “The Hunger Games.” But his resume includes many of the most notable films Hollywood has produced, including “Klute,” “Ordinary People,” “Pride & Prejudice,” “The Day of the Locust” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

He won an Emmy Award in 1995 for his supporting work in HBO’s “Citizen X.”

Born in Canada, Sutherland’s big film break came when he was cast as a condemned Army prisoner in 1967’s war classic “The Dirty Dozen,” joining a star-studded cast that included Lee Marvin, Telly Savalas and Charles Bronson, among others.

The success of that film helped him land top billing in another Army film, playing the original Hawkeye Pierce in the big-screen version of

“M*A*S*H.” Yet another war epic followed with his appearance as the appropriately named Sgt. Oddball, a flighty tank squadron commander in “Kelly’s Heroes.” The behind-the-lines quest for wartime gold also had an all-star cast, led by Clint Eastwood and including Savalas and Don Rickles.

The following year he appeared opposite Jane Fonda in “Klute.” (CNS)