Kiefer Sutherland Biography Quotes 29 Report mistakes

Early Life and Family
Kiefer Sutherland was born on December 21, 1966, in London, England, to Canadian actors Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas. Though born in the United Kingdom, he was raised largely in Canada and has long identified as Canadian. The arts and public life were part of his upbringing: his mother was the daughter of Tommy Douglas, the former premier of Saskatchewan and a key architect of universal health care in Canada. Kiefer has a twin sister, Rachel Sutherland, who built a career behind the camera in film and television production. His family's deep roots in performance and public service shaped both his ambitions and his sense of responsibility toward craft.

Beginnings and Breakthrough
Sutherland pursued acting from his teens, gaining early notice in Canada for The Bay Boy (1984), which brought him critical attention and set the stage for international work. His American breakthrough came quickly with a string of mid-1980s roles that showcased both menace and charisma. He became widely recognized for Stand by Me (1986), directed by Rob Reiner from a Stephen King novella, in which he played the chilling antagonist Ace Merrill. The Lost Boys (1987), directed by Joel Schumacher, cemented his status as a rising star; his portrayal of the alluring vampire David gave him a lasting pop-culture imprint.

Film Career
Across the late 1980s and early 1990s Sutherland moved between ensembles and leads. He portrayed Doc Scurlock in the popular Westerns Young Guns (1988) and Young Guns II (1990), working alongside Emilio Estevez, Lou Diamond Phillips, and his friend Jason Patric. He reunited with Schumacher for Flatliners (1990), acting opposite Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, and William Baldwin. He appeared in A Few Good Men (1992) as Lt. Jonathan Kendrick, sharing the screen with Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Jack Nicholson, and in The Three Musketeers (1993) as Athos with Charlie Sheen, Chris O'Donnell, and Oliver Platt. Other notable films include The Vanishing (1993), Dark City (1998) for director Alex Proyas, and A Time to Kill (1996), in which he and his father both appeared in pivotal roles.

Sutherland's range kept him in demand. He voiced Samson the lion in Disney's The Wild (2006) and barked orders as General W.R. Monger in Monsters vs. Aliens (2009). He supplied the menacing voice of the caller in Phone Booth (2002). Later, he earned praise for Lars von Trier's Melancholia (2011) and starred opposite Donald Sutherland again in the Western drama Forsaken (2015), directed by longtime collaborator Jon Cassar.

Television Stardom: 24 and Beyond
Sutherland's most defining role came on television as Jack Bauer in 24 (2001, 2010), a real-time counterterrorism drama created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran and later steered by showrunner Howard Gordon. His relentless, morally complex portrayal of Bauer anchored the series and reshaped the possibilities for serialized action on network TV. He won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild honors for the role, and became an executive producer as the show evolved. He reprised Bauer in the television film 24: Redemption (2008) and the limited series 24: Live Another Day (2014). Along the way, he worked closely with a strong ensemble that included Mary Lynn Rajskub, Carlos Bernard, and Dennis Haysbert.

He later led the political thriller Designated Survivor (2016, 2019) as Tom Kirkman, a low-level cabinet secretary thrust into the presidency after a catastrophic attack; the series began on ABC and concluded with a season on Netflix. He explored a more contained, paranoid-conspiracy mode in Rabbit Hole (2023) and appeared as Lt. Cmdr. Philip Queeg in William Friedkin's The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023).

Director, Producer, and Entrepreneur
Beyond acting, Sutherland has directed and produced for film and television. He directed the crime drama Truth or Consequences, N.M. (1997) and the intimate drama Woman Wanted (released in 1999/2000). His tenure on 24 honed his producing instincts, and he continued to develop projects for the small screen. With musician and producer Jude Cole, he co-founded the Ironworks music label, fostering artists and deepening his connection to the music industry.

Music
An avid musician, Sutherland built a parallel career as a touring singer-songwriter. His recordings lean toward Americana and country-inflected storytelling, and he has released albums including Down in a Hole (2016), Reckless & Me (2019), and Bloor Street (2022). He has toured extensively with his band, bringing the same intensity and narrative focus to the stage that marks his screen work, while collaborating closely with Jude Cole on songwriting and production.

Stage Work and Voice Roles
On stage, Sutherland joined Brian Cox, Chris Noth, Jim Gaffigan, and Jason Patric in the 2011 Broadway revival of That Championship Season, reflecting his comfort in ensemble-driven drama. He has also contributed to video games, voicing Sgt. Roebuck in Call of Duty: World at War and stepping into the role of Snake/Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid V, further broadening his reach across media.

Personal Life
Sutherland's personal life has been intertwined with the public eye from the start. He was married to Camelia Kath, with whom he has a daughter, Sarah Sutherland, an actress known for her work on Veep. He later married Kelly Winn. A highly publicized engagement to Julia Roberts ended before the planned wedding, a tabloid flashpoint that also involved his friend Jason Patric. In later years he has kept his relationships more private; actress Cindy Vela has been a longtime partner. He has spoken candidly about setbacks, including arrests for driving under the influence and a brief jail term in the late 2000s, and about efforts to recalibrate his life and work. His mother, Shirley Douglas, died in 2020, and his father, Donald Sutherland, died in 2024; Kiefer's tributes underscored both the personal loss and the profound professional example they set.

Recognition and Legacy
Sutherland holds a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has been inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame, acknowledgments of a career that bridges film, television, stage, and music. His portrayal of Jack Bauer helped define the 2000s era of serialized, high-stakes television and influenced a generation of action-thriller storytelling. As the son of two accomplished actors and the grandson of a consequential political leader, he has navigated a rare legacy while forging his own path, marked by durability, versatility, and a willingness to take risks across mediums. Whether leading a network tentpole, lending his voice to a game or animated feature, or standing at a microphone on a small club stage, Kiefer Sutherland has sustained a distinctive presence in popular culture for decades.

Our collection contains 29 quotes who is written by Kiefer, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Art - Music - Leadership - Writing.

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