Social media has been flooded with tributes to Donald Sutherland from his legion of fans, as well as his peers in the entertainment industry, following the news of his death at the age of 88.
And while many have been remembering some of his most memorable roles from his six decades as a screen actor, others are focussing on the man behind the characters.
One popular clip that has been doing the rounds since the news of the Canadian actor’s death was confirmed comes from a speech that he gave around seven years ago.
While Donald never received an Oscar in his lifetime (or even a nomination, despite his acclaimed body of work), the Academy did recognise him with an Honorary Award at the Governors Awards in 2017.
The Film Academy posted a poignant moment on X to pay tribute to Donald, in which he said he wished he could thank “all the characters that I’ve played” for “using their lives to inform mine”.
His speech ended with a quote from Jack Benny, which said: “I don’t deserve this. But I have arthritis. And I don’t deserve that either.”
Many fans of Donald on X also took a moment to repost their favourite parts of the nine-minute speech, which fans are saying summed up his life and career perfectly:
Donald’s career spanned more than 60 years, with his big screen debut arriving in 1963 with a small role in the British drama The World Ten Times Over.
He went on to appear in films like The Dirty Dozen and Joanna, before landing the lead role in the 1970 war movie M*A*S*H, which inspired the TV series of the same name.
Movie roles that followed included the comedy Kelly’s Heroes, the disturbing domestic thriller Don’t Look Now, Steelyard Blues and Animal House.
In his later years, the award-winning actor appeared in The Italian Job, Cold Mountain, Ad Astra and the Hunger Games series, in which he played President Coriolanus Snow.
His work also extended to the small screen, earning an Emmy and Golden Globe for his performance in the TV movie Citizen X, as well as additional nominations for the series Dirty Sexy Money, The Undoing and Path To War. He also lent his voice to a memorable episode of The Simpsons, playing a historian who befriends Lisa.
Donald’s final film role, in the thriller Heart Land, is to be released posthumously.