Donald Sutherland, famed actor dead at 88, remembered ‘like a Quebecer’
Denise Robert, a Canadian film producer, remembers when Quebec director Denys Arcand tapped Donald Sutherland for a role in a film they were working on.
“It wasn’t a big role,” Robert told Radio-Canada. “He said that he accepted with great pleasure because his dream was to shoot with Denys Arcand.”
When the late actor arrived on the set of Days of Darkness, she said it was almost as if he had known her and Arcand for a long time.
“Quebec was part of his life. We felt like we were talking to a Quebecer when we spoke to him,” she recalled, remembering his “humility” and “kindness.”
Sutherland, whose death was confirmed Thursday by his son and fellow actor actor Kiefer Sutherland, owned a house in a hidden gem in the province: Georgeville, a village in the Eastern Townships.
“He loved the Memphremagog Lake. He wanted to spend as much time as he could around the lake,” said Johanne Lavoie, president of Memphremagog Conservation, a local non-profit organization working to protect the lake.
She hadn’t met Sutherland, but knew the impact he had on the community and how he made the lake “shine around the world.”
“When we asked for help, he did so. We knew we could count on him if we gave him a phone call just like we did a few years ago to support our organization. It helped us get more members around the lake,” said Lavoie.
Terry Haig, a Canadian journalist and fellow actor, was neighbours with Sutherland in Georgeville, Que., for 30 years. He says the two would travel to Montreal together to see Montreal Expos baseball games.
On the long drives, Sutherland shared wisdom and acting tips.
“Donald was one of the greatest people I’ve ever met,” Haig said in a telephone interview.
“Donald was absolutely brilliant. Donald’s commitment to the truth, in my mind, was contagious. It sharpened me up just a bit just to talk with him.”
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Haig said Sutherland’s Georgeville residence, which he had owned since 1977, was his “emotional home,” although he had houses in several other cities, including Paris, where his children were raised during the school year.
The family would summer in Quebec, Haig said.
Haig called Sutherland a progressive who was passionate about environmental conservation, anti-war and championed several other causes.
“I mean that’s why he was a great actor,” he said. “No matter how crazy and different the character was, we knew the essence of that character. That’s what that was, his brilliance. And we cared about that character,” Haig said.
Donald Sutherland has died at 88. From small-town New Brunswick to Hollywood, the award-winning Canadian actor has had a storied career that spanned genres and generations.
