The actor, who died at the age of 88, was married to the French-Canadian actress Francine Racette, with whom he had three children.
Renowned actor Donald Sutherland passed away at the age of 88.
The actor left behind his wife Francine Racette, his sons Roeg, Rossif, Angus and Kiefer, and his daughter Rachel. He also leaves behind four grandchildren. Donald was married three times during his life. His first marriage was to Lois May Hardwick from 1959 to 1966. He then married Shirley Douglas, with whom he had twins Kiefer and Rachel, from 1966 to 1970.
In 1972, after meeting on the set of Alien Thunder, he married French-Canadian actress Francine Racette. The couple had three sons together: Rossif Sutherland, Angus Redford Sutherland and Roeg Sutherland.
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Donald and Francine remained together for five decades. In a 2005 interview with The Guardian, the Hunger Games star reflected on his past mistakes and his relationship with Francine, saying, “It was all my fault. I was very foolish,” but adding, “But if there wasn’t made the mistakes.” If I had, I wouldn’t have met the wonderful woman I’ve been married to for over 30 years, so I guess that makes mistakes okay.”
Francine, born in September 1947 in Quebec, Canada, is also an accomplished actress. She graduated from Canada’s National Theater School in 1966 and has worked in both American and French films. Her film credits include Four Flies on Gray Velvet, Lumière and Les Vilaines Maniéres. She co-starred with her late husband in Alien Thunder and The Disappearance.
Francine Racette and Donald Sutherland began their love story in 1972 while filming Alien Thunder, and they married that same year. Their collaboration on the big screen officially premiered in 1974, the same year they welcomed their first child; a son named Roeg, inspired by director Nicolas Roeg. In 1978, the couple’s second son, Rossif, arrived; His name is a tribute to the director Frederic Rossif. Four years later, in 1982, they added Angus Redford Sutherland to the brood (his middle name refers to the actor and director Robert Redford).
After decades on screen, Francine made her acting swan song with the 1987 biographical drama, Au revoir les enfants. Almost twenty years later, in a 2008 interview with The Guardian, Donald was asked if it was “luck” that led him to “marry the right woman.”
He replied: “I don’t know… It’s not something you can communicate. She is an extraordinary person. She was courted by intellectuals. Jean-Paul Sartre? She was his actress. She was Frederic Rossif’s muse,” before adding . “I think it’s like Joanne Woodward (actress and Paul Newman’s wife) said: ‘Beauty goes and sex goes, but my husband makes me laugh every day.’ And so does my wife. We laugh all the time.”
The Pride and Prejudice star never shied away from gushing about his wife and took the moment to express his gratitude to her when she received an Honorary Academy Award in 2017.
“And, of course, thanks to Francine Racette, from whom everything has come – that is my family -, from whom everything has come, and to whom everything is due,” he acknowledged during his speech. “I have been her companion for more than 45 years, and through it all she has supported me with her intelligence, her intuition, her instruction, her ability to make me laugh in the most difficult situations, her extraordinary sense of taste, her residual belief in my.”
He further expressed his gratitude by saying, “Among all of this, her ability to absorb and sustain the extraordinary highs and lows of this crazy movie life we’ve been through. I mean, she deserves a medal for that. So, Francine, I’m going to get you a medal.”
His son Kiefer shared the tragic news of Donald’s passing on Thursday, June 20. He posted a touching photo of himself with his legendary father along with a heartfelt tribute.
“It is with great sadness that I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away,” Kiefer said. “Personally, I think he is one of the most important actors in the history of cinema. He never shies away from a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and he did what he loved, and you can never ask for more than that. life well lived.”
CAA confirmed that the actor died after a “long illness.”
