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Kiefer Sutherland at an event for 24 (2001)

Biography

Kiefer Sutherland

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Overview

  • Born
    December 21, 1966 · Paddington, London, England, UK
  • Birth name
    Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland
  • Height
    5′ 8½″ (1.74 m)

Biography

    • Kiefer Sutherland was born in London, England, UK, to Canadian actors Shirley Douglas and Donald Sutherland, who moved to California shortly after his birth. His maternal grandfather, Tommy Douglas, was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who was a Premier of Saskatchewan for over 17 years and led the national NDP party for almost 10.

      Kiefer got his first film role in the comedy drama Max Dugan Returns (1983). Sutherland's first major role was in the Canadian drama The Bay Boy (1984), which earned Sutherland and director Daniel Petrie, Genie award nominations for best actor and best director, respectively. Following his success in The Bay Boy, Sutherland eventually moved to Los Angeles and landed television appearances in "The Mission", an episode of Amazing Stories (1985) and in the telefilm Trapped in Silence (1986) with Marsha Mason.

      In 1992, Sutherland starred opposite Ray Liotta and Forest Whitaker in Article 99 (1992) and in the military drama A Few Good Men (1992) also starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise. Later, in 1994, he starred with Jeff Bridges and Nancy Travis in the American version of The Vanishing (1993) for 20th Century Fox. In 1997, he co-starred with William Hurt and Rufus Sewell in Dark City (1998), directed by Alex Proyas, which was a special presentation at the Cannes Film Festival. Sutherland also added his second directorial credit and starred in Truth or Consequences, N.M. (1997) alongside Kevin Pollak, Mykelti Williamson, Rod Steiger and Martin Sheen. He stars in the Fox drama series 24 (2001) as Jack Bauer for which he has earned a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Series. Most recently, he has been seen in the movie Phone Booth (2002) as a man who calls up someone at a phone booth and threatens to kill them if they hang up.
      - IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

Family

  • Spouses
      Kelly Winn(June 29, 1996 - May 19, 2004) (divorced)
      Camelia Lynne(September 12, 1987 - February 1, 1990) (divorced, 1 child)
  • Children
      Sarah Sutherland
  • Parents
      Shirley Douglas
      Donald Sutherland
  • Relatives
      Rachel Sutherland(Sibling)
      Rossif Sutherland(Half Sibling)
      Angus Sutherland(Half Sibling)
      Roeg Sutherland(Half Sibling)

Trademarks

  • Blonde hair and blue eyes
  • Gravelly smoke burnished voice
  • His role as Jack Bauer on 24 (2001)
  • Often works with Joel Schumacher
  • Often plays psychotic sadists

Trivia

  • Was roommates with Robert Downey Jr. for three years during their early days in Hollywood in the 1980s.
  • When his character, Jack Bauer, got a new tattoo (part of the plotline) for Season 3 of 24 (2001) instead of having to go though tedious make up for each scene which the tattoo would show, Kiefer had a real tattoo inked onto his arm.
  • Upon the conclusion of Season 5 of 24 (2001), Kiefer has spent more on-screen time as the character Jack Bauer than as all of his previous roles combined. He has also received more nominations for the series than his entire film career.
  • During the fourth season of 24 (2001), he filmed a Public Service Announcement to tell viewers that the series' creators were not trying to exploit 9/11 in their storylines, and that the whole terrorist storyline was fictional.
  • Considers his father, Donald Sutherland, to be one of the greatest actors of all-time.

Quotes

  • (his reaction to winning the Golden Globe Award!) Now I know how Charlie Sheen feels, I've lost all feeling in my lower half.
  • When you're a young actor you like to go for characters with a bit of flair, so in many films I ended up playing the weirdos. But I can assure you I'm not a psycho or a criminal or a bully.
  • There are two kinds of event in rodeo and bull riding's one of the roughstock events. I was into immobilising cows myself.
  • On his 1990s career: You could say I was not on everybody's first list to do the bigger films. Luckily, other opportunities have come along.
  • (on the much-hyped broken engagement to Julia Roberts) You can't do all these interviews about how wonderful you both are and then when it falls apart six days before your wedding not expect people to have a shot at you. I know Julia and I unwittingly asked for it.

Salaries

  • 24 (2001) - $40,000,000 (2007-2009)
  • 24 (2001) - $550,000 /episode (2009-10)
  • 24 (2001) - $550,000 per episode
  • The Three Musketeers (1993) - $1,700,000
  • A Few Good Men (1992) - $250,000

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