It is a truly sad day because the legendary actor Donald Sutherland has just passed away. Let us remember his amazing career and the amazing nude scenes he gave us, including a sex scene that was rumored to be real.
The darling Donald Sutherland was born and raised in Canada. After studying drama at Victoria University, he left Canada in 1957 to continue his acting studies in England. He stayed in the UK for a while taking various acting classes and booking roles in British TV shows and movies. He starred in all kinds of films, including 60s thrillers like Die! Die! My Darling as well as an episode of The Avengers. After starring in MGM's box office success The Dirty Dozen in 1967, he felt that he was finally ready for Hollywood.
Going to Hollywood turned out to be a great idea! Donald became a big star. He played "Hawkeye" Pierce in the 1970 Altman film MASH. He starred in the comedy Start the Revolution Without Me and then turned around the following year to star in the Oscar-winning movie Klute as a detective who cozies up to a sex worker. That sex worker? Jane Fonda! The two started a relationship and began getting into movies, lovemaking, and protesting the Vietnam War.
One thing that stands out from Donald Sutherland's nude career is his incredible work in the film Don't Look Now. In this truly unique and moving ghost story, Donald Sutherland starred alongside Julie Christie as a couple on vacation in Venice after the loss of their daughter. The pair start believing that they see her. Could that be true? Is it her?
Well, viewers felt like we all had a similar experience because we swear we saw Donald and Julie have sex. REAL sex. Their sex scene in the movie has long been rumored to have been real. The rumor has persisted with people - including people who worked on the movie - insisting that it was real.
I had heard about the scene being real before seeing the film, but when I saw the film it seemed obvious that it wasn't real. It is very sexy, but the editing doesn't show much beyond Donald's derriere. There's no penetration and there are multiple cuts that tell me that this was not real, but it still makes for a great story and an even better scene.
Watch the scene. Go on, you can look now:
In the 1980s, he was a verifiable and bankable star. He continued to work on a variety of roles, namely dramas and adaptations of classics. In the 90s, he dabbled in TV roles including a role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which he was rumored to have not enjoyed doing despite gaining him newer younger fans). His later roles in the 2000s were more fun, allowing the older Donald to flex his muscles in a variety of formats.
Donald showed skin after that. He continued to show off his body well into his old age from Space Cowboys to 2018's Trust. We could always Trust Donald to show us the goods and that is something that we will severely miss.
Today Donald passed in Miami, Florida at the age of 88. He is survived by his children and grandchildren, including his famous sons Kiefer, Argus, and Rossif. His legacy lives on in them and in his nude scenes.
