"Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear."
June 20, 2024 10:50 AM Subscribe
Donald Sutherland, known for movies like The Hunger Games, Ordinary People, Animal House, and the video for Kate Bush's 'Cloudbusting,' has passed away.
An absolute legend and a terrible loss. (I think it's a tiny bit odd not to put M*A*S*H in the FPP, no?) Here, Mark Harris (as usual) nails it:
posted by The Bellman at 11:00 AM on June 20 [21 favorites]
Donald Sutherland, a master actor, elevated everyone around him. He was the spark of M*A*S*H, the mesmerizingly still center of Klute, the hapless, decent dad who held Ordinary People together, the key to Don't Look Now. No Oscar noms? That oversight belongs in the Academy's obit, not in his. RIP..
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Mentioning those four movies undersells Sutherland's brilliance. He could go into any film--as foil, menace, wild card, patriarch, villain, monster, comic/anarchic force, center of gravity, two-scene wonder--and just nail the world, the role, the assignment. We'll be watching him forever.
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Invasion of the Body Snatchers. JFK. The Day of the Locust. The Eagle Has Landed. 1900. Pride & Prejudice. National Lampoon's Animal House. Little Murders. Casanova. Eye of the Needle. Kelly's Heroes. Six Degrees of Separation. The Great Train Robbery. A Time to Kill. A jawdropping filmography.
posted by The Bellman at 11:00 AM on June 20 [21 favorites]
Always a fascinating, quirky, complicated actor. Enjoyed seeing everything he did.
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posted by kinnakeet at 11:01 AM on June 20
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posted by kinnakeet at 11:01 AM on June 20
He could pretty much do anything, and that last scene in Invasion of the Body Snatchers(1978) is still one of the most unsettling things I have ever seen.
What a legacy he leaves behind.
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posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 11:01 AM on June 20 [19 favorites]
What a legacy he leaves behind.
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posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 11:01 AM on June 20 [19 favorites]
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posted by JustSayNoDawg at 11:06 AM on June 20
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 11:06 AM on June 20
Any time I saw him pop up, I knew I was in for a bit of Art. He could be given the least, most pithy lines and still keep me mesmerized.
posted by foxtongue at 11:13 AM on June 20
posted by foxtongue at 11:13 AM on June 20
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I need to watch Kelly's Heroes again, it has been a long time.
posted by AzraelBrown at 11:13 AM on June 20 [10 favorites]
I need to watch Kelly's Heroes again, it has been a long time.
posted by AzraelBrown at 11:13 AM on June 20 [10 favorites]
Oh man. I've always liked him, and he was good in everything. RIP
posted by Liquidwolf at 11:18 AM on June 20 [1 favorite]
posted by Liquidwolf at 11:18 AM on June 20 [1 favorite]
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posted by Windopaene at 11:20 AM on June 20
posted by Windopaene at 11:20 AM on June 20
he tended to own his roles (and he had many). Once you saw him in a part, it was difficult to imagine anyone else taking it on.
I recall reading that it was his small part in The Dirty Dozen that truly kickstarted his career, this scene in particular. Very few words spoken, scenery devoured regardless.
posted by philip-random at 11:20 AM on June 20 [8 favorites]
I recall reading that it was his small part in The Dirty Dozen that truly kickstarted his career, this scene in particular. Very few words spoken, scenery devoured regardless.
posted by philip-random at 11:20 AM on June 20 [8 favorites]
From the NYT obit:
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.”
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posted by mefireader at 11:25 AM on June 20 [33 favorites]
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.”
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posted by mefireader at 11:25 AM on June 20 [33 favorites]
and man, he could villain. I was going to link to a scene from 1900, but nah, I'm still traumatized almost half a century later.
posted by philip-random at 11:25 AM on June 20 [6 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 11:25 AM on June 20 [6 favorites]
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posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 11:29 AM on June 20
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 11:29 AM on June 20
Why don’t you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
posted by funkaspuck at 11:40 AM on June 20 [3 favorites]
posted by funkaspuck at 11:40 AM on June 20 [3 favorites]
And Donald Sutherland as the clumsy waiter!
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Edit AJaffe: body snatchers gif!
posted by dannyboybell at 11:45 AM on June 20 [2 favorites]
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Edit AJaffe: body snatchers gif!
posted by dannyboybell at 11:45 AM on June 20 [2 favorites]
Saw him hanging around the bottom of the hill, waiting for his kids at Mt. Orford in the 80s. He wore a long peacoat with toggle buttons and some heavy rubberized snow boots with buckle closures. Nothing was buttoned or toggled. Pointedly louche against the neon skiwear of the time. Amazing life.
posted by brachiopod at 11:47 AM on June 20 [10 favorites]
posted by brachiopod at 11:47 AM on June 20 [10 favorites]
A first rate actor, and a man clearly in love with life.
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:50 AM on June 20 [1 favorite]
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:50 AM on June 20 [1 favorite]
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posted by grumpybear69 at 12:02 PM on June 20
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:02 PM on June 20
Oh man... he was a high point in Animal House. Apparently it was his idea to show his pasty, naked butt in that scene, and it's hard to imagine that sequence without it. RIP.
posted by SoberHighland at 12:02 PM on June 20 [7 favorites]
posted by SoberHighland at 12:02 PM on June 20 [7 favorites]
The first serious role I saw him in was as a Russian officer in Citizen X. I liked everything I saw him in.
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posted by JohnFromGR at 12:07 PM on June 20
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posted by JohnFromGR at 12:07 PM on June 20
always with the negative waves...
We are the Pros from Dover and we figure to crack this kid's chest and get out to golf course before it gets dark.
Listen, we're not the last humans left. There are people who will fight you. They will find out what you're doing here.
The lone victor, bathed in riches, would serve as a reminder of our generosity and our forgiveness. This is how we remember our past. This is how we safeguard our future.
and so many more...
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posted by j_curiouser at 12:10 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
We are the Pros from Dover and we figure to crack this kid's chest and get out to golf course before it gets dark.
Listen, we're not the last humans left. There are people who will fight you. They will find out what you're doing here.
The lone victor, bathed in riches, would serve as a reminder of our generosity and our forgiveness. This is how we remember our past. This is how we safeguard our future.
and so many more...
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posted by j_curiouser at 12:10 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
It’s been edited now, but earlier this morning the New York Times front-page subhead of his obituary started with “Never anyone’s idea of a heartthrob…”
ExCUSE me?? Talk about (citation needed). As if I needed any more reasons to distrust the NYT these days.
posted by doift at 12:15 PM on June 20 [16 favorites]
ExCUSE me?? Talk about (citation needed). As if I needed any more reasons to distrust the NYT these days.
posted by doift at 12:15 PM on June 20 [16 favorites]
Damn. We were keeping him in reserve in case the Krauts launched a counteroffensive that threatened Paris, or maybe even New York.
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posted by Ickster at 12:21 PM on June 20 [2 favorites]
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posted by Ickster at 12:21 PM on June 20 [2 favorites]
He was great in Don't Look Now, a deeply unsettling film in which he sports a mustache both alluring and unnerving. I suoppose being directed by Nicolas Roeg might do that to a man.
He will be missed.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:21 PM on June 20 [4 favorites]
He will be missed.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:21 PM on June 20 [4 favorites]
I love this exchange from when he played the curator of Springfield's historical society on The Simpsons
Hollis Hurlbut: Sounds like you've come down with a serious case of Jebeditis.
Lisa: [laughs nervously] Just as I was getting over my Chester A. Arthritis.
Hollis Hurlbut: [laughs just as nervously] You had arthritis?
posted by downtohisturtles at 12:29 PM on June 20 [7 favorites]
Hollis Hurlbut: Sounds like you've come down with a serious case of Jebeditis.
Lisa: [laughs nervously] Just as I was getting over my Chester A. Arthritis.
Hollis Hurlbut: [laughs just as nervously] You had arthritis?
posted by downtohisturtles at 12:29 PM on June 20 [7 favorites]
He was genuinely alarming as the arsonist in Backdraft -- like, way more than the rest of that movie called for.
And I always thought that Sutherland would make a really good Kurt Vonnegut if they ever needed one for a movie. (They never did, as far as I know.)
posted by wenestvedt at 12:38 PM on June 20 [10 favorites]
And I always thought that Sutherland would make a really good Kurt Vonnegut if they ever needed one for a movie. (They never did, as far as I know.)
posted by wenestvedt at 12:38 PM on June 20 [10 favorites]
"It's all right, Father, I'm just telling him about the Holy Trinity. You know it? Footwork, timing, and hitting!"
-Donald Sutherland as Liam Devlin.
posted by clavdivs at 12:39 PM on June 20
-Donald Sutherland as Liam Devlin.
posted by clavdivs at 12:39 PM on June 20
Donald Sutherland, Expos fan. Le Journal de Montreal remembers.
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:43 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:43 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
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posted by Lawn Beaver at 12:45 PM on June 20
posted by Lawn Beaver at 12:45 PM on June 20
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posted by Faintdreams at 1:00 PM on June 20
posted by Faintdreams at 1:00 PM on June 20
Was there anyone cooler than Donald Sutherland? Ok, maybe James Dean, but really Donald Sutherland. From M*A*S*H, to Kelly's Heroes (Oddball!) to the serious movies to TV, etc. One badass MFer
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posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:03 PM on June 20
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posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:03 PM on June 20
"But everytime it rains, you're here in my head, like the sun coming out..."
This one hits hard. The Cloudbusting video - it's Donald and Kate, or Kate and Donald - is lodged in my mind and heart; it was "our song" with an ex- of a particularly life-changing relationship some years back now.
Kate, interviewed by MTV in 1985, about acting with Donald Sutherland.
Dazed: If you’ve seen the video for “Cloudbusting”, released 30 years ago this month, you’ll know that it’s a cinematic, oddly moving tale of a young boy, played by Kate Bush in a ragamuffin wig, and his idyllic adventures with his dad, played by Donald Sutherland, who is working on a giant ray-gun contraption that can shoot at clouds to make it rain. At some point in the video, a group of men in suits arrive to snatch the boy’s father away, but not before the boy can reach into his dad’s jacket pocket and pull out a slim volume called “A Book of Dreams”.
posted by Wordshore at 1:06 PM on June 20 [7 favorites]
This one hits hard. The Cloudbusting video - it's Donald and Kate, or Kate and Donald - is lodged in my mind and heart; it was "our song" with an ex- of a particularly life-changing relationship some years back now.
Kate, interviewed by MTV in 1985, about acting with Donald Sutherland.
Dazed: If you’ve seen the video for “Cloudbusting”, released 30 years ago this month, you’ll know that it’s a cinematic, oddly moving tale of a young boy, played by Kate Bush in a ragamuffin wig, and his idyllic adventures with his dad, played by Donald Sutherland, who is working on a giant ray-gun contraption that can shoot at clouds to make it rain. At some point in the video, a group of men in suits arrive to snatch the boy’s father away, but not before the boy can reach into his dad’s jacket pocket and pull out a slim volume called “A Book of Dreams”.
posted by Wordshore at 1:06 PM on June 20 [7 favorites]
Kelly's Heroes was a movie my family didn't show me but was a family favorite of a best friend that invaded our family and so now I know it by heart.
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posted by macrael at 1:12 PM on June 20
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posted by macrael at 1:12 PM on June 20
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posted by gentlyepigrams at 1:32 PM on June 20
posted by gentlyepigrams at 1:32 PM on June 20
My first thought after MASH was his role in Outbreak. Such a good righteous-in-his-own-view villain.
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posted by janell at 1:37 PM on June 20
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posted by janell at 1:37 PM on June 20
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posted by confluency at 1:39 PM on June 20
posted by confluency at 1:39 PM on June 20
He could pretty much do anything, and that last scene yt in Invasion of the Body Snatchers(1978) is still one of the most unsettling things I have ever seen.
I love that movie, but it's a small shock in comparison to the climax of 'Day of the Locust', which might be one of the most awful things ever put on film by a Hollywood studio. Jesus.
posted by ryanshepard at 1:40 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
I love that movie, but it's a small shock in comparison to the climax of 'Day of the Locust', which might be one of the most awful things ever put on film by a Hollywood studio. Jesus.
posted by ryanshepard at 1:40 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
and man, he could villain. I was going to link to a scene from 1900, but nah, I'm still traumatized almost half a century later.
A more palatable scene that shows Sutherland's talent for villainy is this scene in Backdraft, the Ron Howard thriller from the 1990s about firefighters. I love how Sutherland switches from menacing to grandfatherly to menacing just by subtly changing his posture, the volume of his voice, and the glint in his eye.
Sutherland's role in that movie was basically "What if instead of Hannibal Lecter advising how to catch serial killers you had a pyromanic advising how to catch arsonists?" The way he reads the line, "I burned her," is just chilling, like a note of modern elevated horror in a normie Ron Howard thriller.
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posted by jonp72 at 2:01 PM on June 20 [5 favorites]
A more palatable scene that shows Sutherland's talent for villainy is this scene in Backdraft, the Ron Howard thriller from the 1990s about firefighters. I love how Sutherland switches from menacing to grandfatherly to menacing just by subtly changing his posture, the volume of his voice, and the glint in his eye.
Sutherland's role in that movie was basically "What if instead of Hannibal Lecter advising how to catch serial killers you had a pyromanic advising how to catch arsonists?" The way he reads the line, "I burned her," is just chilling, like a note of modern elevated horror in a normie Ron Howard thriller.
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posted by jonp72 at 2:01 PM on June 20 [5 favorites]
He was genuinely alarming as the arsonist in Backdraft -- like, way more than the rest of that movie called for.
Especially the moment when he is talking with a fireman and excitedly asks "did the fire look at you?" and then gasps with wonder like an eight year old who's just seen Batman.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:25 PM on June 20 [2 favorites]
Especially the moment when he is talking with a fireman and excitedly asks "did the fire look at you?" and then gasps with wonder like an eight year old who's just seen Batman.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:25 PM on June 20 [2 favorites]
In the early 80s the CBC played The Eye of The Needle as a late night flick, likely because Sutherland was Canadian. It is indelible in my mind. I was starting to read Le Carre and had just read The Eagle has Landed. I loved spy novels, but a spy movie? My god! I was/am so hooked.
He was often the villain, but his commitment to them made them likeably human. (Though that's a lot less the case in The Hunger Games - is anyone likeably human in those movies?)
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posted by kneecapped at 2:41 PM on June 20 [2 favorites]
He was often the villain, but his commitment to them made them likeably human. (Though that's a lot less the case in The Hunger Games - is anyone likeably human in those movies?)
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posted by kneecapped at 2:41 PM on June 20 [2 favorites]
Donald Sutherland was unwittingly a harbinger of a new economic model for Hollywood & didn't know it. He was offered a percentage of the box office from National Lampoon's Animal House, but took a flat fee instead because he didn't think the movie would go anywhere. He lost the opportunity to get millions of dollars that way. But at least Sutherland was classy enough not to be bitter about it.
posted by jonp72 at 2:46 PM on June 20
posted by jonp72 at 2:46 PM on June 20
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posted by Halloween Jack at 2:56 PM on June 20
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:56 PM on June 20
He was a talent for the ages but to be honest, his shriek at scream queen Veronica Cartwright in the second Invasion of the Bodysnatchers was the first thing that came to my mind. God, that was a jolt.
posted by y2karl at 3:00 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
posted by y2karl at 3:00 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
And omigod, was that a distorted Amazing Grace in the background music at the penultimate moment of that scene? That was truly a masterpiece of a remake.
posted by y2karl at 3:09 PM on June 20 [2 favorites]
posted by y2karl at 3:09 PM on June 20 [2 favorites]
Oh wow, I was just talking about him in the Eye of the Needle post over on Fanfare. He had been so unsettling in so many things I saw while young that I was always a little nervous about him, wondering what terrible things his character might do. I know a lot of it probably came from Day of the Locust—you are so not kidding about that. The…stomping scene, let’s just leave it at that, is truly one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen on film. If you think the ending of Body Snatchers is too intense or horrifying, I’d recommend staying away from Locust.
Man could really mess you up with his characters. What a great actor.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 3:12 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
Man could really mess you up with his characters. What a great actor.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 3:12 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
I like to kick in for Fellini's Casanova, an under-rated and fascinating film. He's not exactly likeable or unlikeable as the protagonist, just something else?
posted by ovvl at 3:24 PM on June 20
posted by ovvl at 3:24 PM on June 20
RIP Donald, an actor we Canadians are always quick to identify as one of our own. I’ll always think of him as Tommy Douglas’ son-in-law. But that aside, he really was a very fine actor.
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posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:34 PM on June 20 [3 favorites]
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posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:34 PM on June 20 [3 favorites]
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posted by cupcakeninja at 4:21 PM on June 20
posted by cupcakeninja at 4:21 PM on June 20
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I'm a bit ashamed to say it but, outside of Body Snatchers, I wasn't all that familiar with his work. Then the Hunger Games came around and I found him absolutely (and nefariously) magnetic. That laugh he does just after Katniss shoots the arrow at the end of the "trilogy" is forever burned in my memory, just like the scream at the end of Body Snatchers. I'm going to make a point to watch more of his movies.
And for whatever reason, I always got the impression that he was a kind person with a lot of intellect and depth to match. If I'm wrong about that, I don't want to know. Even in his villainous roles he somehow projected that aura, not unlike Gene Wilder
posted by treepour at 4:45 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
I'm a bit ashamed to say it but, outside of Body Snatchers, I wasn't all that familiar with his work. Then the Hunger Games came around and I found him absolutely (and nefariously) magnetic. That laugh he does just after Katniss shoots the arrow at the end of the "trilogy" is forever burned in my memory, just like the scream at the end of Body Snatchers. I'm going to make a point to watch more of his movies.
And for whatever reason, I always got the impression that he was a kind person with a lot of intellect and depth to match. If I'm wrong about that, I don't want to know. Even in his villainous roles he somehow projected that aura, not unlike Gene Wilder
posted by treepour at 4:45 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
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posted by rossmeissl at 5:12 PM on June 20
posted by rossmeissl at 5:12 PM on June 20
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posted by hap_hazard at 5:27 PM on June 20
posted by hap_hazard at 5:27 PM on June 20
Invasion of the Body Snatchers:
posted by mazola at 5:39 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
Donald was so funny. He’d decided his character had to have curly hair – I’ve no idea why. He had it set every morning and then again at lunchtime and during rehearsals he’d have his head covered in pink curling rods. Finally, towards the end of the shoot, he just said: “Oh, go ahead and perm it.”I totally respect all of that.
posted by mazola at 5:39 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
Such a focused presence, and alternatively menacing and goofy and heartbreaking.
posted by goofyfoot at 6:11 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
posted by goofyfoot at 6:11 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
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posted by Artful Codger at 6:16 PM on June 20
posted by Artful Codger at 6:16 PM on June 20
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posted by but no cigar at 6:21 PM on June 20
posted by but no cigar at 6:21 PM on June 20
Goddamn. I forgot - I saw him in the flesh, when he dropped in to a production facility I was working at, to record some dialogue replacement for the Canadian-made film "Bethune", in which he played the title role.
Tall sucker.
posted by Artful Codger at 6:24 PM on June 20 [4 favorites]
Tall sucker.
posted by Artful Codger at 6:24 PM on June 20 [4 favorites]
Another doublehander with Helen Mirren - "The Leisure Seeker" (Netflix, 2017). The last thing of his that I've seen. Quite good.
posted by Artful Codger at 6:36 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
posted by Artful Codger at 6:36 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
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posted by lalochezia at 6:45 PM on June 20
posted by lalochezia at 6:45 PM on June 20
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Nobody's mentioned Steelyard Blues with Peter Boyle and Jane Fonda.
posted by Scout405 at 7:03 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
Nobody's mentioned Steelyard Blues with Peter Boyle and Jane Fonda.
posted by Scout405 at 7:03 PM on June 20 [1 favorite]
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posted by Joey Michaels at 8:02 PM on June 20
posted by Joey Michaels at 8:02 PM on June 20
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posted by JoeXIII007 at 8:33 PM on June 20
posted by JoeXIII007 at 8:33 PM on June 20
I will watch Ordinary People again this weekend. His gravitas in this film (with Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton) will forever stay with me. Excellent film, and a directorial debut for Robert Redford.
Rest in Peace, Donald Sutherland.
posted by seawallrunner at 9:09 PM on June 20 [2 favorites]
Rest in Peace, Donald Sutherland.
posted by seawallrunner at 9:09 PM on June 20 [2 favorites]
I used Amazing Grace to give a sense of hope towards the end which is almost immediately undercut.
Ha -- I heard it right! That's from Mazola's link above. Which confirms what a masterpiece of a remake it was indeed. So much work was put into that movie.
posted by y2karl at 9:30 PM on June 20
Ha -- I heard it right! That's from Mazola's link above. Which confirms what a masterpiece of a remake it was indeed. So much work was put into that movie.
posted by y2karl at 9:30 PM on June 20
I worked with Donald on my first movie that I was hired on as permanent crew. It was a tiny western called "Forsaken", and it was the first (and I believe only) time that Donald and Kiefer Sutherland had made a movie together. (Worth checking out if you like slow-paced character-study westerns, I think Netflix has it.)
I remember one day I was carrying a propane mini-smoker across set, and I hear a man's voice say "your purse is on fire" I turn, ready to chirp back at what I assume to be a smart arsed Grip, but it was in fact Donald Sutherland. I spluttered out something that I hope was as witty as "oh no! not again!"
The tone that Donald set (supported by Kiefer and Demi) on that production was calm, professional, and workmanlike, but still fun. He retained the old theatre discipline even then (he was 78 at the time). I still return to the lessons I learned on that show when I need to keep things steady amidst chaos. For his example, I will be forever grateful.
posted by MiningForInorite at 12:05 AM on June 21 [15 favorites]
I remember one day I was carrying a propane mini-smoker across set, and I hear a man's voice say "your purse is on fire" I turn, ready to chirp back at what I assume to be a smart arsed Grip, but it was in fact Donald Sutherland. I spluttered out something that I hope was as witty as "oh no! not again!"
The tone that Donald set (supported by Kiefer and Demi) on that production was calm, professional, and workmanlike, but still fun. He retained the old theatre discipline even then (he was 78 at the time). I still return to the lessons I learned on that show when I need to keep things steady amidst chaos. For his example, I will be forever grateful.
posted by MiningForInorite at 12:05 AM on June 21 [15 favorites]
Donald was in the Avengers UK episode The Superlative Seven, but he didnt have any lines.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0516935/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm
posted by Billiken at 6:36 AM on June 21
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0516935/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm
posted by Billiken at 6:36 AM on June 21
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posted by joannemerriam at 7:29 AM on June 21
posted by joannemerriam at 7:29 AM on June 21
He starred in a Chinese movie called "Big Shot's Funeral" in the early 2000s as the titular big shot, and I didn't know his work too well before that, but once he came on the scene I was immediately convinced that he was indeed a Big Shot.
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posted by of strange foe at 7:54 AM on June 21
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posted by of strange foe at 7:54 AM on June 21
I watch few movies, but even I have favorite Donald Sutherland characters. He was a fine fine actor. I am especially happy the first comment on this post references my favorite one, Oddball. As another MFer noted, you cannot imagine anyone else playing that part once you’ve seen him.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 8:20 AM on June 21 [1 favorite]
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 8:20 AM on June 21 [1 favorite]
He was the original Hawkeye Pierce. And much more like the book Hawkeye than the TV one was.
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posted by grubi at 8:52 AM on June 21 [3 favorites]
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posted by grubi at 8:52 AM on June 21 [3 favorites]
I know he was in far worthier films, but I'll always remember him as Merrick, Buffy's first watcher, in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie.
Merrick: You do everything wrong.
Buffy: Sorry.
Merrick: No. Do it wrong. Don't play our game.
posted by ilana at 1:12 PM on June 21 [3 favorites]
Merrick: You do everything wrong.
Buffy: Sorry.
Merrick: No. Do it wrong. Don't play our game.
posted by ilana at 1:12 PM on June 21 [3 favorites]
He was the original Hawkeye Pierce. And much more like the book Hawkeye than the TV one was.
Whew, I was scrolling down and getting worried that no one would mention this. The movie MASH (no asterisks) was terrific thanks to him.
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posted by Melismata at 2:59 PM on June 21
Whew, I was scrolling down and getting worried that no one would mention this. The movie MASH (no asterisks) was terrific thanks to him.
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posted by Melismata at 2:59 PM on June 21
How Donald Sutherland Created The Greatest Sci-Fi Twist Ever
posted by y2karl at 8:54 PM on June 21 [1 favorite]
posted by y2karl at 8:54 PM on June 21 [1 favorite]
A nice round-up of kind words: ‘I can see him now. I will see him forever’: Donald Sutherland remembered by Keira Knightley, Elliott Gould, Ralph Fiennes and more [The Guardian].
posted by mazola at 11:38 AM on June 24 [1 favorite]
posted by mazola at 11:38 AM on June 24 [1 favorite]
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posted by drewbage1847 at 10:56 AM on June 20 [13 favorites]