LOS ANGELES UNITED STATES.- Donald Sutherland, the eclectic actor known for his roles in “The Dirty Twelve” and “The hunger Games“, deceased at 88, announced his son, Kiefer Sutherland.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce the death of my father,” wrote Kiefer, also an actor, on the social network X.

Over the course of a career spanning more than 50 years and some 200 films, Sutherland established himself as a actor chameleonic, capable of playing great villains, antiheroes and romantic characters.

A 1.93 meter giant, he was one of the most famous Canadian actors outside his country and received an honorary Oscar in 2017.

“He was never intimidated by a role, whether good, bad or ugly,” his son describes him. “He loved what he did and did what he loved, and you couldn’t ask for anything more.” A life well lived,” he added.

His first major role came in 1967 with “The Dirty Twelve,” starring Charles Bronson.

Other successes included the black comedy “MASH” (1970) and Alan Pakula's thriller “My Past Condemns Me” (1971), in which he played a private detective in search of an evil murderer who threatens a prostitute. played by Jane Fonda.

In 1976, he worked with Bernardo Bertolucci in the film “Novecento”. A year later, Federico Fellini hired him for “Casanova”.

He has appeared in about one film per year since its inception in the 1970s. He has rarely starred twice under the same director.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fired him today. “He was a man of great presence, brilliant in his art and truly a great Canadian artist who will be greatly missed,” he said at a press conference.

Ron Howard, who directed Sutherland alongside Robert De Niro and Kurt Russell in the action thriller “Flare,” said on his social media that he considers him “one of the most intelligent, interesting and endearing of all time”.

British actress Helen Mirren, with whom he starred in “The Journey of Their Lives” in 2017, also defined him as “one of the smartest actors I have ever worked with”.

“He had a wonderfully inquisitive mind and enormous knowledge on a wide variety of subjects. He combined this great intelligence with a deep sensitivity and seriousness about his craft as an actor,” Mirren said.

“All this made him a cinema legend. He was my colleague and became my friend. “I will miss his presence in this world,” the actress concluded.

Born July 17, 1935 in Saint John (New Brunswick, eastern Canada), Donald Sutherland had a childhood marked by serious health problems, as he suffered from hepatitis, poliomyelitis and rheumatic fever.

At the age of 14, he became a DJ on a radio station in Nova Scotia. Trained in theater and engineering at the University of Toronto, he turned to theater and left at the age of 22 for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.

He was hailed as “one of the most versatile film and television actors of the century” by Variety magazine.

His slender silhouette, his absent air and his enigmatic smiles give him great charisma and singularity.

In the mid-1960s, he appeared in cult British series like “The Saint” and Bowler Hat and Leather Boots. He then made his cinema debut with Italian horror films like “Castle of the Living Dead” (1964).

More recently, he stood out as President Coriolanus Snow, the cruel dictator of Panem in “The Hunger Games.”

Donald Sutherland had five children, three of them with Quebec actress Francine Racette, his third wife since 1972.