‘Heartbroken’ Jane Fonda reacts to ex and ‘Klute’ co-star Donald Sutherland’s death
Jane Fonda penned a tribute to her late co-star and ex Donald Sutherland following his death on Thursday. The “M*A*S*H” actor died at age 88 in Miami after a “long illness.”
Fonda and Sutherland worked together in the 1971 hit “Klute,” and dated around the same time they filmed the crime drama.
They played Bree Daniels and John Klute, respectively, seeing Sutherland as a detective and Fonda as a call girl who helps him in a missing persons case. The film earned the actress the first of her two Best Actress Oscars.
“I am stunned to hear that Donald Sutherland has died. He was my fascinating co-star in Klute and we loved working together,” Fonda, 86, captioned a black-and-white photo from set via Instagram.
“In this photo we are on the Klute set with director Alan Pakula. Donald was a brilliant actor and a complex man who shared quite a few adventures with me, such as the FTA Show, an anti-Vietnam war tour that performed for 60,000 active duty soldiers, sailors, and marines in Hawaii, Okinawa, the Philippines, and Japan in 1971,” she continued. “I am heartbroken.”
Two years later, they starred on-screen again together in 1973’s “Steelyard Blues.”
Sutherland opened up about the “Grace and Frankie” star in a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone, confirming they were “lovers for a few years.”
“We’d already been cast but had not started shooting,” he said at the time. “And one day, she made it very clear, via a somewhat provocative suggestion, that I should come home with her. And I just said, “OK.”‘
Sutherland was previously married to Lois Hardwick from 1959 to 1966, and had actor twins Kiefer and Rachel, 57, with his ex-wife, Shirley Douglas. The exes split in 1970 after four years of marriage. He and his third wife, Francine Racette, married in 1972 and are parents of Roeg, 50, Rossif, 45, and Angus, 41.
Kiefer confirmed his dad’s death via X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday.
“With a heavy heart, I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away. I personally think one of the most important actors in the history of film,” the “Designated Survivor” actor wrote.
“Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that,” he concluded. “A life well lived.”
In March 2021, the late star made his final public appearance when he attended the 26th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards. He appeared via Zoom remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, the actor hadn’t been photographed since October 2019 when he attended the Festival Lumière in Lyon, France. He was teaching a masterclass at the time.
Born on July 17, 1935, in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, his career spanned 60 years with more than 200 TV and film credits. Some of his notable roles included “Animal House,” “Ordinary People,” “Pride & Prejudice” and the “Hunger Games” franchise, in which he played President Coriolanus Snow. He also starred in the sequels “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2.”
Some of his accolades included winning a Golden Globe for the television movie “Path to War,” and an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance in the miniseries “Citizen X.” In 2017, he earned an honorary Oscar.
He is survived by Racette; sons Kiefer, Rossif, Roeg and Angus; daughter Rachel and four grandchildren.
