Donald Sutherland was a film star of the sort they don't make anymore. In this richly colorful portrait, Marlon Thayne provides the first full biography of the man, the actor and his films.
Never an old-fashioned matinee-idol, he cut his teeth in M.A.S.H., Klute and The Day of the Locust, but hardly conformed to the traditional image of the heartthrob. However, as the creator of some of the most sinister and sympathetic roles on screen, his career spanned over 100 films and countless TV roles. This enthralling biography follows him from his childhood in Canada to his climactic assumption as one of Hollywood's most versatile performers. Spanning decades, A Life on Screen covers the best of Sutherland's oeuvre, films that have fast become cinema classics: Kelly's Heroes, The Eagle Has Landed, Klute, The Eye of the Needle, Casanova, JFK, The Hunger Games, and Space Cowboys. Sutherland's other notable films include Alex in Wonderland, Klute, Johnny Got His Gun, Don't Look Now, National Lampoon's Animal House, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Ordinary People, Eye of the Needle, Six Degrees of Separation, Citizen X, and Uprising. Along the way we meet a galaxy of screen greats - from Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Franco Fellini, Robert Redford and Gene Wilder to Michael Caine, Clint Eastwood and Jane Fonda. In this fascinating biography, we discover a hugely talented and intelligent man - a true legend in his own lifetime who never failed to deliver a solid performance. Filled with remarkable insights, Thayne's portrait is a fitting tribute to one of Hollywood's greatest actors.