The Greatest Actor Who Never Won An Oscar

Donald Sutherland spent decades wowing audiences with his skill and bravery but there may be a startling reason why the academy snubbed him Donald Sutherland never won an Oscar in his career but recently Declassified CIA documents provide a hint to the shocking reason why stay tuned for more on that later Donald southernland has been in some of America's most iconic movies there was The Supercharged drama of JFK the thought provoked mash and even the knee slapping hilarity of National Lampoon's Animal House with these films he may seem about as American as apple pie but Donald southernland

was a proud Canadian so how does a country boy from rural Canada become an international icon for Donald southernland it was a long road Donald southernland was born on July 17th 1935 in St John New Brunswick Canada but the family soon moved out of the city and into the countryside while living in the sticks a young Donald southernland suffered from rheumatic fever hepatitis and polio eventually though the family decided to move back to the city where Sutherland could start his career Sutherland's career had a false start with an interest in puppetry joining the puppet Club

in high school he then got serious and decided on engineering but while at the University of Toronto he got the acting bug and added a second major in drama eventually he was going to need to choose between the two disciplines in 1957 he made his choice and it prompted a big move drama won over engineering and it led southernland to London England where he signed up for the London Academy of Music and dramatic art after a year he gave up on school but it was for a good reason producer Paul maslansky saw southernland act in

London and wanted him for a role in a film likely southernland thought this was his big break but then re real it set in what maslansky wanted Sutherland for was a low-budget Italian horror film called castle of the Living Dead the offer was to play multiple roles get $40 a week and sleep on the director's couch that was good enough for southernland he said goodbye to the stage and hello to lowbudget Horror in the end the film with maslansky only broke even so it didn't exactly boost southernland to movie stardom but it did introduce horror

film lovers to him apparently they liked him and what they saw he followed up this film with Dr tera's House of Horrors and other scary movies making these films was probably a lot of fun southerland's love of horror films would persist for the rest of his career but he was about to need a much healthier paycheck back in 1959 southernland had married school teacher Lois May Hardwick when that marriage ended in divorce southernland married fellow Canadian actor Shirley Douglas while living in the UK the couple were preparing to welcome a baby into their little family

when it turned out to be twins southernland had a dilemma now he wasn't just paying for the divorce he'd have to feed a family of four on an actor's salary but lucky for him that's exactly when he got a break from a surprising Source through his work on TV and film southernland had met a fellow Canadian and the sound of music star Christopher Plumber plumber who barely knew southernland saw another young actor who just needed a little help plumber graciously gave southernland $5,000 as an investment in his career with this financial boost southernland was ready

to take Hollywood by storm in 1967 Sutherland did an episode of the saint starring future James Bond portrayer Roger Moore who also directed the episode Sutherland must have been quite proud of his work because he asked more if he could get a cut of the episode southernland armed himself with the Reel of his work and the money from plumber there was a role he was after and he was ready to fight for it the role southernland had his eye on was in Lee Marvin's World War II film The Dirty Dozen I guess he figured with

a cast of that size even an unknown like him had a good chance plus he had another Edge the American movie was shooting in the UK where souland already was he still didn't make the cut but lucky for him another actor had to drop out finally it was time for souin to step up now he just had to see if he could hold his own against some of the toughest movie stars in Hollywood southernland was now earning $600 per week and acting opposite big stars like Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson the problem now was trying

to stand out next to the other 11 actors southernland would make this happen with his natural Charisma and talent and also a huge dose of luck there was a pivotal scene in The Dirty Dozen that in the script anyways was meant for southerland's co-star Clint Walker Walker told the director that he was comfortable doing the scene so southernland got called up naturally he nailed the scene and it led him to something even bigger than the dirty dozen Robert Altman was looking for actors to appear in his film Mash about America's involvement in Korea Altman wanted

someone who could do drama comedy and most importantly ad lib dialogue there was something that Altman saw in that dirty dozen scene that caught his eye southernland got the role but he had no clue what he was in for when Souther showed up for his first day on Mash he realized that he' made a big mistake alman's chaotic directing style didn't just drive him and his co-stars Elliot ghouled crazy they actually thought he was ruining the film instead of talking to Altman directly southernland and G went to the studio and asked to have Altman replaced

the studio gave the two stars a hard no years later this event would come back to haunt southernland as it turned out southernland and G were completely wrong about all alman's directing style Mash was a huge hit and went on to be one of 20th century Fox's most successful films of the early 1970s it also received five Academy Award nominations including one for Altman G saw his error and apologized to Altman Sutherland never did and paid the consequences ghoul had apologized to Altman and his reward was appearing in more of alman's films southernland had lost

favor and never worked with the director again no matter southernland had more than his fair share of offers his next film saw him again in a uniform but once again there would be more than enough trouble on set next up for southernland was the star studed Kelly's Heroes This World War II film was a drama a comedy and even a heist film thrown in for good measure more importantly they were filming it in Yugoslavia and Southerland would be away from his wife Douglas while he was working on the film he got some disturbing news from

from back home while filming Kelly's Heroes southerland's co-star Clint Eastwood approached him with some bad news back in Los Angeles FBI officials had taken Sutherland's wife in for an outrageous reason she had tried to purchase explosives what made matters worse was that she tried to buy them from undercover FBI agents the next part of the story Eastwood could not tell without losing his cool southernland knew that his wife was heavily involved in the Civil Rights movements and had connections to the Black Panthers so he probably would have put two and two together but what southernland

couldn't believe was what Eastwood told him next Douglas had tried to pay for the explosives with a personal check Sutherland loved to tell how Eastwood roared with laughter when he mentioned the check but he also offered to help Douglas out any way he could but this was just the start of Sutherland's Nightmare on Kelly's Heroes while southernland was filming Kelly's Heroes in yugos IA his wife got a message that no wife ever wants to receive it said that her husband had become very ill and that she'd better get to Yugoslavia as soon as she could

the final line of the message must have sent a chill down her spine it said that southernland likely wouldn't make it until she arrived southernland had come down with spinal menitis while in Yugoslavia this soon deteriorated into a coma and then southerland's heart stopped and he died well at least for 5 seconds he did eventually recover and finish making the film what didn't survive was his marriage to Douglas they divorced that same year but this was good timing for southernland because he was about to meet the most beautiful woman in Hollywood after making the mostly

forgettable start the revolution without me southernland landed another huge role Jane Fonda was riding high off a recent Academy Award nomination and southernland got a call that he'd be working with her on a thriller called Clute but for southernland it was more than just a career opportunity like southernland Fondo was a passionate activist it was inevitable that Sparks would fly Sparks did fly between Sutherland and Fonda both on and off camera the newly divorced southernland and the recently separated Fonda quickly began an affair rumor had it that this was a Friends with Benefits situation but

there was more to this pairing than just animal attraction once they got out of bed Sutherland and Fondo went to work together they made FTA a documentary about the show they performed for American GIS the film sparked controversy because unlike other similar tours this one was fiercely critical of America's involvement in Vietnam the heat continued after FTA and the friends with benefits were ready to make film number three together could they hit the hattick of cinematic success next Southerland and Fonda would team up for the comedy Steelyard blues and it went over like a lead

balloon this forgettable film came and went and with it went their spicy Affair Fonda moved on to activist Tom Hayden and southernland quickly married Canadian actor Francine rette but rette was about to learn the hard way that being with Donald southernland came with complications British director Nicholas Rogue had an idea for a film and he knew exactly who he wanted to star in it Donald suin and Julie Christie the idea was was the horror film don't look now with his schlocky horror Roots southernland was a natural fit but nothing could have prepared him for this

part southernland and christe had never met before filming and that director gave a brilliant idea which turned out to be not so brilliant the very first thing they film should be a love scene just to you know get it out of the way so remember southernland and christe had never met and now first thing in the morning on day one there suddenly Sands close and taking directions from a shouting Rogue on how to make love let's just say this scene would go on to have a life of its own the love scene between southernland and

christe and don't look now immediately became Infamous before it even hit theaters they had to cut nine frames just so the movie wouldn't get an x- rating for Irish audiences they had to cut the entire scene next were the rumors someone started saying that in the scene sutherin and christe were actually making love if this was true southernland had a lot of explaining to do the rumors about christe and southernland were set Ablaze when producer Peter Bart said that what he saw on the set of don't look now was two people making love this rumor

got enough traction that christe's boyfriend Warren batty punched Rogue in the face over it but it wasn't even true suland later said that Bart wasn't even in the room it was just him Christy Rogue and the cinematographer on Kelly's Heroes southernland had met a lowly production assistant who bragged to Southerland that he'd be a big director one day Southerland told the production assistant that he would be in all of his movies likely thinking it would come to nothing this production assistant was John Landis and he came back to make sure southernland kept his promise when

southernland saw the script for landis's first film he may have regretted making his promise the film was Kentucky Fried Movie and it was an anthology of silly sketches not only that the rest of the cast didn't quite me measure up to southerland's respectability as an actor not surprisingly the critics didn't think much of this movie but something did come of it landis's next movie would make southernland part of a legend Sutherland has said that he avoided working with the same director twice but he broke this for his friend Landis what the young director was offering

now was National Lampoon Animal House again this looked like a silly movie but southernland was good on his word for his work on the movie Landis offered southernland a payment of $775,000 or a percentage of the box office southerland's decision would go down in Hollywood history southernland took the check over the percentage and summed up his experience on the film as a really good time but it could have been so much more you see Animal House became a classic movie that ended up grossing over $141 million if Southerland had taken the percentage of the box

office he would have earned an extra4 million southernland would now go from idiotic hilarity to one of the most depressing films of the decade southernland had already portrayed a father dealing with the loss of a child in don't look now so when ordinary people came along he was ready this was a bleak tale that had the added excitement of having Robert Redford as a director and the always smiling sitcom star Mary Tyler Moore playing completely against type order Ordinary People was a huge hit and award season was just around the corner Ordinary People had wild

audiences and everyone expected the academy to shower it with nominations sure enough there were six Academy Award nods including ones for more Timothy Hutton Redford Jud Hirsch and the writer of the film missing in action was southernland the film took home five trophies on Awards night as a consolation southernland got a Golden Globes nomination which he lost there was perhaps a reason why the academy overlooked southernland for this role when Redford first started preparing for Ordinary People the studio wanted him to play the lead male role Redford declined and the role eventually went to Southerland

who was happy to be playing something that wasn't his usual Oddball character but there's a Twist Redford later said that he had declined because the character was not interesting to him well I guess he wasn't interesting to the members of The Academy either either in 1981 southernland signed up for the British World War II Thriller the eye of the needle Sutherland had played Germans before so he knew the accent already but there was a wrinkle this time his character had to pretend to be British so here was southernland a Canadian playing a German who was

pretending to be English I can only imagine the accent coach throwing their arms in the air southerland's next feature would get him no closer to that Oscar win he so craved but it would almost and the career of his co-star in 1985 southernland appeared opposite meast star alpacino in Revolution this film was a disaster both critically and financially earning four golden raspberry Award nominations it was so bad that after its release Pacino had to stop making movies at least for 4 years not southernland though he just wiped his feet of this turkey and moved on

and what he moved on to was an epic film that had plenty of Oscar buzz in 1991 southernland joined the star study cast of Oliver Stone's JFK once again southerland's acting was universally praised in JFK but when award season came along it was Tommy Lee Jones who got the nod for his supporting role in gfk it was time to give up on an Oscar and just do something fun well southerland's Choice was no fun at all at least for the writer in 1992 southernland maybe trying to appeal to a younger demographic appeared in a film

that inspired an i iconic TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer when southernland arrived on set for the campy teen romp he quickly started rewriting most of his scenes and it made him a powerful enemy the writer was Jos Weeden who was furious at southernland for changing his scripts too bad southernland made an enemy of Weeden because some of his films certainly could have used some help with the writing in 2005 southernland returned to Canada to start in a disturbing miniseries about human traffic tring The Twist the incredibly dark series aired on the incredibly light and

fluffy Lifetime network audiences and critics were scandalized with one critic even calling the film exploitative to women southernland did manage to get nominated for an Emmy but still no win southernland was now entering his golden years and it was time for a franchise in the 21st century it seems like any actor playing the Hollywood Game eventually has to end up in a franchise for southernland he join up with Philip Seymour Hoffman Woody harelson in The Hunger Games series of films but if you think that was just a money grab you don't know Donald southernland the

truth is that southernland was desperate to appear in the Hunger gam series once he read the script for the first movie he actually wrote a lengthy email telling the director why the films were politically important and why he should be in them director Gary Ross must have been pinching himself it could only be a dream where a director gets a big name in his film so easily The Hunger Game game series was important to southernland but his name was important to another game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is a game played to link actors to

each other and eventually to Kevin Bacon ironically two of the best films to use in this game because they have huge casts and also include Kevin Bacon also feature southernland these are National Lampoon's Animal House and JFK weirdly enough southernland also appeared in a film called 6° of Separation in his home country of Canada Donald suin got a star on the Walk of Fame and a postage stamp in the US he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame a couple of Golden Globes and an Emmy of course what's missing from this list is

a mention from The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for his entire career it seemed no matter what he did the Oscar always eluded him southernland never received an acting academy award or even a nomination which seems un likely to be a coincidence maybe a cynic might put it down to his activism or his ex-wife's connection to the Black Panther group at least the academy did eventually decide he needed recognition in 2017 sutherin received an academy honorary award not quite best actor but an honor nonetheless there may be a reason why the academy had

snubbed sulin all those years in 2017 a startling truth came out of recently Declassified documents because of southerland's anti-vietnam activities the CIA had put his name on a list this was the National Security agency's watch list he was on the list from 1971 to 1973 this didn't stop Southerland from being an activist he later spoke out against the US invasion of Iraq if southernland had any regrets in his life it was time to look at them now southernland was never one to spend a lot of time processing his career in 2023 he said that it

was finally time to start going over his life and the work he'd done as it turned out he only had one year to do that southernland passed following a long illness on June 20th 2024 he was 88 years old fans will certainly Miss southernland but let's not forget his family kefir southernland said that it took him a long time to realize how famous his father actually was by the time Keir was 18 years old he hadn't seen most of his father's movies if this seems strange you have to consider something most of southerland's early films

were R-rated and kefer was too young to watch them in 2015 southernland and his son appeared together as father and son in the western forsaken if you've enjoyed these stories don't forget to show some love by hitting that like button and subscribing to our Channel stay tuned because we'll be back with more incredible narratives soon thanks for joining us today and until next next time