24

Background:

British actor/director Kiefer Sutherland is most famous for his role as CIA agent Jack Bauer in the worldwide TV hit “24” (2001-?). Due to his magnificent acting in the Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran- created series, Sutherland won a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Golden Satellite Awards, as well as received two Emmy nominations. As a skilled director, Sutherland received positive reviews for his behind-the-scene efforts in the drama Woman Wanted (2000), which won the Best Feature Film Slamdunk Film Festival Award.

Besides acting, Sutherland is interested in music. He co-owns Ironworks recording studio and music label in Los Angeles with Jude Cole. He also has a special fondness toward men sports, such as roping (he earned first place in the US Team Roping Championships), ice hockey and rodeo (in the late 1990s he won rodeos in Phoenix and Albuquerque).

Off screen, in 2004, Sutherland was sentenced to serve 50-hours community service for a drunk-driving charge in Los Angeles. The ex-husband of actress Camelia Kath is known to have had romantic relationships with several women like Julia Roberts (became engaged, scheduled to marry on June 14, 1991, no longer together) and dancer Amanda Rice. The 2002 GQ “Man of the Year” was once also married to Elizabeth Kelly Winn, but they separated in 2004.

“I don’t rule it (marriage) out. And who knows, the third time just might be the charm. I’m really a hopeless romantic at heart, or maybe I’m just hopeless.” Kiefer Sutherland

Reefer

Childhood and Family:

On December 21, 1966, Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland, who would later be famous as Kiefer Sutherland, was born in London, UK. He is the son of actor Donald Sutherland (born on July 17, 1935) and Canadian actress Shirley Douglas. He was named after screenwriter Warren Kiefer who wrote his father’s film debut. “Reefer” was Kiefer’s nickname in high school. He has a twin sister named Rachel who works as TV post-production supervisor in Toronto, and three half brothers from his father’s previous marriage, Roeg, Rousif and Angus Redford. He is the grandson of Canada’s influential politician Tommy Douglas.

Kiefer’s parents divorced when he was 4, leaving the young boy under the guidance of his mother. As a child, he showed a great interest in acting. He spent a lot of time in the theatre with his mother and occasionally visited his father’s movie sets. Reefer attended St. Andrew’s College in Aurora, Ontario, but dropped out at age 15. He then studied at Martingrove Collegiate Institute in Etobicoke, Ontario.

As for his private life, Kiefer has been married twice. In 1987, he was married to actress Camelia Kath (born in 1954), but the couple filed for divorce in February 1990. They share a daughter, Sarah Jude (born in 1988), who was named after actress Sarah Jessica Parker and singer Jude Cole. Kiefer then married Elizabeth Kelly Winn on June 29, 1996. Unfortunately, the marriage ended in May 2004.

The Sentinel

Career:

“You could say I was not on everybody’s first list to do the bigger films. Luckily other opportunities have come along.” Kiefer Sutherland on his 1990s career

Kiefer Sutherland kicked off his journey in acting when in 1976 he made a stage debut with the Los Angeles Odyssey Theater in “Throne of Straw.” As soon as he relocated to New York in 1983, Sutherland made a big screen debut by appearing as Bill in Max Dugan Returns (1983). He then earned a Genie nomination for his leading role of Donald Campbell, a Roman Catholic boy with grown-up problems, in The Bay Boy (1984). The next year, Sutherland moved back to Los Angeles and made his first TV appearance in the Steven Spielberg-directed series “Amazing Stories.” It was followed by roles in films like Stand by Me (1986) and Promised Land (1987).

Sutherland’s fame was lifted higher when director Joel Schumacher chose him to play David, the head of a teenage vampire mob, in the successful The Lost Boys (1987). He earned additional attention in the following year when he was cast as Josiah Gordon ‘Doc’ Scurlock in Young Guns (1988), alongside Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez. In the western action film, Sutherland’s part as a young gunman was awarded a Western Heritage Bronze Wrangler in Theatrical Motion Picture.

After starring as Buster McHenry in Renegades (1989) and reprising his role of Doc in Young Guns II (1990), Sutherland rejoined director Joel Schumacher in his sci-fi thriller Flatliners (1990), opposite Julia Roberts and Kevin Bacon. Following his appearance as the host in an episode of the high-profile TV show “Saturday Night Live” (1991), Sutherland took the supporting turn of Lt. Jonathan Kendrick in Rob Reiner’s popular military drama A Few Good Men (1992).

In 1993, he made his TV directorial debut with Last Light, where he also costarred with Forest Whitaker. He then executive produced the thriller Natural Selection/Dark Reflections (1994, TV), directed and starred in Love and Blood (1995, TV), had a part as the party host in Griffin Dunne’s Oscar-nominated short film Duke of Groove (1996) and earned a MTV Movie nomination for Best Villain for playing the supporting role of Ku Klux Clan leader Freddie Lee Cobb in A Time to Kill (1996).

Sutherland costarred with his mother in an Ottawa play of Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” (1997). The actor then debuted as a movie director in 1997 with Truth or Consequences, N.M. (1997), in which he also costarred opposite Vincent Gallo and Mykelti Williamson. 1998 saw him play roles in Dark City (as Dr. Daniel P. Schreber), A Soldier’s Sweetheart (starred as Rat Kiley), Break Up (played John Box) and Ground Control (as Jack Harris).

Sutherland’s directorial breakthrough arrived when he helmed the romance drama Woman Wanted (2000), in which he also starred as Wendell Goddard. For his bright work, he won a Slamdunk Film Festival for Best Feature Film. The same year, Sutherland also portrayed writer William S. Burroughs, opposite Courtney Love, in the drama Beat (2000).

2001 was the best year for Sutherland. His accomplishments in acting had attracted the attention of creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran who cast him in the leading role of Jack Bauer in the TV series “24.” Delivering a brilliant turn as the head of a CIA elite team, Sutherland’s performance in the still-running series garnered him a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild and two Golden Satellites for Best Actor. He also received two Emmy nominations for Best Actor.

The gifted actor kept amazing the public by playing The Caller in the acclaimed Joel Schumacher’s thriller Phone Booth (2002), where he earned another MTV Movie nomination. The following years, he reprised Kevin Spacey’s role of Det. Jack Vincennes on the TV version of L.A. Confidential (2003), costarred as Hart in the thriller Taking Lives (2004) and played Doyle in River Queen (2005).

Recently, Sutherland took parts in such high-profile films as the animated fable movie The Wild (2006, provided his voice for Samson the lion) and Clark Johnson’s thriller The Sentinel (2006), based on the novel of Gerald Petievich. The latter film saw Sutherland costar alongside Michael Douglas and Eva Longoria.

Awards:

• Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, “24,” 2004

• Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden: Best Foreign TV Personality – Male, 2003

• Golden Satellite: Best Performance by an Actor in a Series, Drama, “24,” 2003

• Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama, “24,” 2002

• Golden Satellite: Best Performance by an Actor in a Series, Drama, “24,” 2002

• Slamdunk Film Festival: Best Feature Film, Woman Wanted, 2000

• Western Heritage: Bronze Wrangler - Theatrical Motion Picture, Young Guns, 1989