Donald Sutherland is considered one of the finest American actors of his generation. The unconventional leading man and equally capable character actor has accumulated nearly 200 big and small screen credits since beginning his career in 1962. He has won two Golden Globes for his Supporting work on television, including honors for Citizen X in 1996 and Commander in Chief in 2006.
In 2018, Sutherland was given an Honorary Academy Award for his lifetime of memorable achievements on screen. The seasoned actor continues to add to his filmography, which is loaded with projects deemed his best to date.
Ordinary People (1980) 89%
Robert Redford's directorial debut Ordinary People was named Best Picture of 1980, controversially beating out Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull. Sutherland plays Calvin, the patriarch of a family reeling over the death of their eldest son.
Following the tragic accident, teenage Conrad (Timothy Hutton) struggles mightily in dealing with the pain, grief, and loss of his older brother. Calvin and his wife Beth (Mary Tyler Moore) try to keep the family together, relying on therapy to help overcome their plight.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) 90%
Sutherland adds unparalleled gravitas as President Snow in The Hunger Games franchise.
Catching Fire finds Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) on the run after winning the 74th Hunger Games and inciting a mutiny in the Panem Districts. The Capitol puts the pair squarely in its crosshairs as they run for their lives.
National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) 90%
Sutherland stands out as Dave Jennings, the hip pot-smoking college professor who steals Boone's (Peter Reigert) girlfriend in National Lampoon's Animal House.
Directed by John Landis, the film concerns the drunken and debauched hijinks of a raucous college fraternity led by the slick-talking prankster Eric Stratton (Tim Matheson). When Eric's close pal Boone chooses hard-partying over his girlfriend Katy (Karen Allen), she begins a love affair with Jennings.
Panic (2000) 91%
The little-known existential crime comedy Panic features Sutherland as a domineering hitman who forces his son Alex (William H. Macy) to assume the family mantle despite his unwillingness to do so.
Alex is an assassin who wants to leave the family business behind but is pressured by his father to remain onboard. Alex visits a therapist (John Ritter) and meets an attractive young woman named Sarah (Neve Campbell) who completely changes his outlook on life and love.
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978) 93%
In the same year he played a bit role in Animal House, Sutherland took center stage on the well-regarded remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Set in San Francisco, the story concerns a race of alien seed-pods that land on Earth and slowly begin to subsume and replicate human beings as soulless, empty vessels. Sutherland stars as a lab scientist who slowly uncovers the mystery surrounding the alien pods. The film earned Philip Kaufman a Saturn Award for Best Director.
Klute (1971) 93%
In the first chapter in what would become known as director Alan J. Pakula's "paranoia trilogy," Sutherland starred as the titular private eye John Klute, tasked with solving a missing person case.
When high-profile Pennsylvania businessman Tom Gruneman suddenly disappears, his boss and wife hire his detective friend John Klute to discover his whereabouts. The only lead Klute has to go on is Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda in an Oscar-winning turn), a savvy call-girl who Tom was last seen with.
Don't Look Now (1973) 94%
Nicolas Roeg's startling mystery Don't Look Now is widely hailed as one of the best European horror movies of the 1970s. Sutherland costars with Julie Christie as an American couple retreating to Venice following the tragic death of their young daughter.
Once John and Laura Baxter arrive in Venice, they're soon tormented by cryptic visions of a little girl in a red raincoat ambling throughout the city. John becomes obsesses with the hooded figure and tries to uncover their identity while grieving his deceased child.
Uprising (2001) 100%
The three-hour TV-movie Uprising traces the Jewish rebellion against Nazi forces in a ghetto in Warsaw, Poland during WWII. Sutherland plays Adam Czerniakow, head of the Judenrat who is assigned to send Jews to a concentration camp in Treblinka.
Costarring Leelee Sobieski, Hank Azaria, David Schwimmer, Jon Voight, and Stephen Moyer, the film features altered archival footage from WWII as well as dramatized recreations of events in 1942-43 Germany.
Dinosaurs: Giants Of Patagonia (2007) 100%
Sutherland lends his familiar voice to narrate the 2007 documentary Dinosaurs: Giant of Patagonia, a 41-minute piece of edutainment written and directed by Marc Fafard.
Using research from Argentinian paleontologist Rodolfo Coria, Fafard recreates 3D models of the various landscapes dinosaurs inhabited near Patagonia eons ago. Among the dinosaur species to be featured include the herbivorous Argentinosaur and its arch-enemy, the carnivorous two-legged Gigantosaur.
Path To War (2002) 100%
In another made-for-TV war film, Sutherland also stars in the highly-acclaimed Path to War, a historical dramatization of The United States' decision to end the war in Vietnam.
Directed by John Frankenheimer, the film traces the mindstate of President Lyndon Johnson (Michael Gambon) as he weighs the pros and cons of exiting the Vietnam War. Sutherland takes second billing as Clark Clifford, a lawyer, and Democratic Party adviser who helps Johnson arrive at his decision. Sutherland won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.