Canadian actor Donald Sutherland, who captivated audiences with performances in films like MASH, Klute, and The Hunger Games, has died at the age of 88.

Sutherland, whose impressive career spanned from the 1960s through the 2020s, passed away on Thursday, his son, actor Kiefer Sutherland, shared on social media.

"Never daunted by a role, be it good, bad, or ugly. He loved his work and did what he loved, and one can never ask for anything more," Kiefer wrote on X.

Sporting a tall frame, a deep voice, intense blue eyes, and a playful smile, Donald Sutherland transitioned seamlessly between character roles and romantic leads, starring alongside talents like Jane Fonda and Julie Christie.

Some of his memorable roles included Hawkeye Pierce in Robert Altman's MASH, set during the Korean War in a military field hospital, and a grieving father in Robert Redford’s Oscar-winning debut, Ordinary People.

He garnered a new fan base with his role as President Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games series, a part he avidly pursued.

"I wish I could thank all the characters I've portrayed, for allowing me to use their lives to enrich my own," Sutherland said during his speech while accepting an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 2017.

‘Legend of film’

Born to a salesman and a math teacher, Donald McNichol Sutherland was born on July 17, 1935, in St. John, New Brunswick. Raised in Nova Scotia, he dabbled in school theatre productions and later honed his craft at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Following minor roles on British TV, he made a splash in Hollywood as Vernon Pinkley, a villain in the 1967 war film The Dirty Dozen. The 1970 release of MASH cemented Sutherland as a star, resonating with the antiwar message of the film.

A vocal critic of the Vietnam War, Sutherland collaborated with actress Jane Fonda, with whom he had a romantic relationship, to establish the Free Theater Associates in 1971. They performed near military bases in Southeast Asia in 1973, circumventing a ban from the army due to their political views. Declassified documents in 2017 revealed that the NSA kept Sutherland on its Watch List from 1971 to 1973.

"I believed I'd be part of a revolutionary change in films and their impact on audiences," Sutherland told the Los Angeles Times.

Some of Sutherland’s standout performances include a detective in Alan Pakula’s Klute, where he met Fonda, and playing a mourning spouse alongside Julie Christie in Nicolas Roeg’s psychological thriller, Don’t Look Now.

After his death announcement on Thursday, tributes began to flood in.

Director Ron Howard, who worked with Sutherland in Backdraft, praised him as "one of the most intelligent, engaging, and compelling film actors ever."

British actress Helen Mirren, co-star in 2017’s The Leisure Seeker, remembered him as a "film legend" and a colleague who turned into a friend.

"He possessed a wonderful inquiring mind, with vast knowledge on various topics," she remarked to Variety. "He combined this intelligence with deep sensitivity and a seriousness about his craft."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking in Nova Scotia, referred to Sutherland as "a man with a commanding presence, brilliance in his art, and a truly great Canadian performer."

Sutherland earned an Emmy, two Golden Globes, and a BAFTA. He was married three times and had five children, including Kiefer. His memoir, Made Up, But Still True, is set for release in November.