Born on July 17, 1935 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, Donald (McNichol) Sutherland left his native for England in 1957 to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Dropping out from the institution, he then joined the Perth Repertory Theatre in Scotland. Beginning from the early-to-mid-1960s, he began taking on minor roles on British films and TV, including "Castle of the Living Dead" (1964), "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" (1965), "The Bedford Incident", and "The Saint". He finally got his breakthrough through a starring role in the 1967 war film "The Dirty Dozen" as Vernon L. Pinkley.

Upon moving to Hollywood to expand his acting career, Sutherland landed the lead roles in "MASH" and "Heroes". He next acted in crime thriller "Klute", anti-Vietnam War documentary "F.T.A.", "Steelyard Blues", horror flick "Don't Look Now", war film "The Eagle Has Landed", "Federico Fellini's Casanova", thriller "Eye of the Needle", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", and in "The Day of the Locust". Some other notable features that Sutherland had starred in, including "National Lampoon's Animal House", "1900 ", "Ordinary People", "A Dry White Season", "Lock Up", "Disclosure", and "A Time to Kill".

During the 2000s, Sutherland was billed to act in a number of commercially success movies, naming some were "Cold Mountain", "The Italian Job", "Pride & Prejudice", and "Fool's Gold". He then rose to prominence for one more time with his portrayal of President Snow in "The Hunger Games" in 2012, the role which he reprised in its sequel, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" (2013), "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay � Part 1" (2014), and "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay � Part 2" (2015). On TV, he had appeared on "Human Trafficking", which earned him an Emmy nomination, "Dirty Sexy Money", also "The Pillars of the Earth".

Sutherland has been married three times. His first marriage was to Lois Hardwick from 1959 to 1966. His second was to Shirley Douglas, the daughter of Canadian politician Tommy Douglas, from 1966 to 1970. They have twins; actor son Kiefer Sutherland and daughter Rachel. He then married his third wife, French Canadian actress Francine Racette, in 1972. They have three sons; Rossif Sutherland, Angus Redford Sutherland, and Roeg Sutherland.