Kiefer Sutherland

Early life and family background

Kiefer Sutherland was born in London, England, on 21 December 1966, to Canadian actors Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas. His parents divorced when he was three years old, and he has a twin sister named Rachel Sutherland who works in film post-production. His maternal grandfather was Tommy Douglas, the Scottish-born Canadian politician and former Premier of Saskatchewan who is widely regarded as the father of Canada's universal health care system. Sutherland is named after Warren Kiefer, an American writer and director who gave his father his first major film role in Castle of the Living Dead. When he was a baby, his mother was arrested by the FBI and charged with conspiracy to possess unregistered explosives, though she was later exonerated. After his mother's arrest, the family moved to Corona, California, in 1968 before Sutherland relocated with his mother to Toronto, Ontario, in 1975. He attended numerous schools in the Toronto area, including Crescent Town Elementary School, St. Clair Junior High, John G. Althouse Middle School, and high schools such as St. Andrew's College, Harbord Collegiate Institute, and Malvern Collegiate Institute. Sutherland has stated he saw his father infrequently during his youth, primarily during holidays, until he moved out on his own at age 15 to pursue acting. When he first moved to Hollywood, he was roommates with actor Robert Downey Jr. for three years, and the two later starred together in the 1988 film 1969.

Breakthrough and film success in the 1980s

He was considered for the role of Glen Lantz in A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984, a part that ultimately went to Johnny Depp. His first leading role came in the 1984 Canadian drama The Bay Boy, for which he received a Genie Award nomination and critical acclaim that prompted his move to Hollywood. His first American film was Rob Reiner's coming-of-age classic Stand by Me in 1986, where he played the neighbourhood bully Ace Merrill. He followed this with a supporting role as one of Sean Penn's friends in the crime thriller At Close Range that same year. In 1987, he achieved wider fame playing the vampire David in Joel Schumacher's cult hit The Lost Boys. The late 1980s solidified his status as a rising star with leading roles in films like Promised Land, the first film commissioned by the Sundance Film Festival, and the Western Young Guns, where he played Doc Scurlock alongside Emilio Estevez and Lou Diamond Phillips. He was considered for the role of Robin in Tim Burton's Batman during early production before the character was cut from the script. He starred again with Lou Diamond Phillips in the 1989 crime-action film Renegades, and he and his father presented an honorary Academy Award to the National Film Board of Canada at the 61st Academy Awards in 1989.

Leading man status and diverse roles in the 1990s

The 1990s saw Sutherland establish himself as a versatile leading man in Hollywood. He reprised his role as Doc in Young Guns II in 1990, which as of 2017 remains the only sequel to a feature film he has starred in. That same year he starred as the lead in the psychological thriller Flatliners, which featured an ensemble cast including Julia Roberts and Kevin Bacon, and played a young FBI agent in Flashback opposite Dennis Hopper. He also provided the voice for Hans, the Nutcracker Prince, in the animated film The Nutcracker Prince. Sutherland did not make a film in 1991, later expressing regret for turning down the lead role in Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho because he wanted to go skiing. In 1992, he played a doctor in Article 99 with Ray Liotta, appeared as Agent Sam Stanley in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, and delivered a notable supporting performance as Lieutenant Jonathan Kendrick in the courtroom drama A Few Good Men, starring alongside Jack Nicholson. He played the central character Athos in the 1993 adaptation of The Three Musketeers and starred as a man obsessed with finding his missing girlfriend in The Vanishing with Jeff Bridges. Sutherland appeared in three films in 1996, including the cult favourite Freeway with Reese Witherspoon, the thriller Eye for an Eye with Sally Field, and A Time to Kill, which featured his father Donald Sutherland in a separate role. He closed the decade with starring roles in the science fiction noir Dark City in 1998, where his character was inspired by Daniel P. Schreber, and the drama Ground Control as an air traffic controller haunted by a past crash.

Global fame with 24 and television dominance

Kiefer Sutherland's career was permanently transformed in 2001 when he took on the role of counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer in the Fox real-time drama series 24. The show became a global phenomenon, renowned for its high-stakes storytelling and Sutherland's relentless performance. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times before winning in 2006 for the show's fifth season, and he also won a Golden Globe Award for the role in 2002. His 2006 contract, which paid him $40 million for three seasons, made him the highest-earning actor on television at the time. The intense production schedule for 24, which consumed ten months per year, limited his film work during this period, though he did appear in Phone Booth in 2002, Taking Lives in 2004, and The Sentinel in 2006. He also voiced the lion Samson in Disney's The Wild in 2006 and starred in the horror film Mirrors in 2008. The show's frequent depiction of torture drew a visit from United States Military Academy dean Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan in 2007, leading Sutherland to later speak to West Point cadets about the wrongness of torturing prisoners. In February 2010, production on Season 8 was temporarily suspended due to a ruptured cyst near Sutherland's kidney requiring surgery. 24 concluded its initial run in 2010 but returned for a twelve-episode limited series, 24: Live Another Day, in 2014, with Sutherland serving as an executive producer for the 2017 spin-off 24: Legacy.

During and after his tenure on 24, Sutherland received several major honours. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2005 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008. Sutherland also pursued various commercial projects, including providing voice-overs for the Ford Motor Company of Canada and voicing Apple advertisements. He performed in Japanese commercials for CalorieMate, parodying his Jack Bauer character from 24.

• Inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto in 2005, joining both his parents who are also inductees.
• Ranked 68th on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 2006, with reported earnings of $23 million.
• Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008.
• Became the first child of a former guest to appear on Inside the Actors Studio, following his father's 1998 appearance.
• Provided voice-over narration for major advertising campaigns for Ford Motor Company of Canada, Apple Inc. announcing Intel chips in Macs, and ESPN's coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
• Starred in Japanese commercials for CalorieMate, parodying his Jack Bauer character, and in Brazilian TV commercials for Citroën.
• Provided the introductory voice for NHL games on the Versus network in the United States.

Post-24 career in television, film, and music

Following the conclusion of 24, Sutherland continued to headline television series and take on significant film roles. He made his Broadway debut in March 2011 in the revival of That Championship Season, acting alongside Brian Cox, Jim Gaffigan, Chris Noth, and Jason Patric. He starred in the Fox series Touch from 2012 to 2013, playing the father of an autistic child who communicates future events through numbers. In 2013, he was offered the lead role in NBC's The Blacklist but instead returned to 24 for its limited series revival. In 2016, he began starring as Tom Kirkman, an unexpected President of the United States, in the political drama Designated Survivor, which aired on ABC and was renewed by Netflix for a third season released in June 2019. His film work in the 2010s included a lead role in Lars von Trier's Melancholia in 2011, for which he was nominated for the Danish Bodil Award, and a supporting part as Jim Cross in The Reluctant Fundamentalist in 2013. He played the antagonist Senator Quintus Attius Corvus in the 2014 historical film Pompeii, a role he described as fun and filmed in a comfortable environment. In 2015, he starred alongside his father Donald in the western drama Forsaken, which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. Sutherland also expanded into voice acting for video games, providing the voice for Sergeant Roebuck in Call of Duty: World at War and the voice and facial capture for Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain. In 2023, he starred as the lead in the Paramount+ thriller Rabbit Hole and delivered a critically acclaimed performance as Lieutenant Commander Phillip Queeg in William Friedkin's final film, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. He narrated the 2023 Apple TV+ docuseries John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial and starred in Clint Eastwood's 2024 film Juror No. 2. At the end of 2025, he began filming the Luc Besson-directed feature Father Joe, where he stars alongside Al Pacino.

Parallel to his acting, Sutherland launched a successful music career. He released his debut country music album, Down in a Hole, in 2016, featuring songs he co-wrote with Jude Cole, and a music video for the track 'Not Enough Whiskey'. His band, The Kiefer Sutherland Band, made its debut at the Grand Ole Opry in June 2016 and toured extensively in North America in April and May of that year. A second album, Reckless and Me, was released in April 2019, and the band performed in locations including Scotland and Las Vegas that same year. A 2017 review in The Guardian suggested his music had a real shot at greatness, calling it the first Hollywood hobby act unshackled by convention. Sutherland also played Detective Clay Bryce in the 2020 action thriller television series The Fugitive, which premiered in August of that year.

Selected filmography

Kiefer Sutherland's extensive career spans from the 1980s to the 2020s across many genres. His early film roles include The Bay Boy in 1984, Stand by Me in 1986, and The Lost Boys in 1987. In the 1990s, he appeared in films such as Flatliners, A Few Good Men, and A Time to Kill. His notable 2000s films include Phone Booth and Mirrors. More recent films include Melancholia in 2011, Pompeii in 2014, and The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial in 2023.

Personal life and public persona

Kiefer Sutherland has been married twice. His first marriage was to Camelia Kath, the widow of musician Terry Kath, in September 1987 when he was 20 and she was 34. They had a daughter, Sarah Sutherland, born in February 1988, and Sutherland became stepfather to Camelia's daughter Michelle. The couple divorced in 1990. He was engaged to actress Julia Roberts, his Flatliners co-star, in 1991, but the wedding planned for June of that year was called off four days prior. Sutherland married Kelly Winn in June 1996. They separated in 1999, he filed for divorce in 2004, and it was finalized in May 2008. In the late 1990s, he purchased a 900-acre ranch in Montana and toured on the rodeo circuit. He was romantically linked to actress Bo Derek in 2000 and later dated model and actress Cindy Vela beginning around 2014, keeping their relationship private until 2017. Sutherland has faced legal issues, including jail sentences for impaired driving in 2007 and 2010, and has been open about his struggles with alcohol. Despite these challenges, he maintains a reputation as a dedicated professional, known for his intense work ethic on projects like 24 where he devoted ten months a year, and his serious commitment to his country music career. His daughter, Sarah Sutherland, has followed him into acting, known for her role in the television series Veep.

Questions about Kiefer Sutherland

What is Kiefer Sutherland's most famous role?

Kiefer Sutherland is most famous for his portrayal of counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer on the Fox television series 24, which aired from 2001 to 2010 and returned for a limited series in 2014. The role defined his career for a decade, earning him a Primetime Emmy Award in 2006 and a Golden Globe Award in 2002. His performance as the relentless agent operating in real-time became a defining element of television in the 2000s. He is also widely recognized for his role as President Tom Kirkman in the political drama Designated Survivor, which aired from 2016 to 2019.

What movies has Kiefer Sutherland been in with his father, Donald Sutherland?

Kiefer Sutherland has appeared in several films with his father, Donald Sutherland. They both starred in A Time to Kill in 1996, though their characters did not interact in the story. They presented an award together at the 61st Academy Awards in 1989. Most notably, they starred together as father and son in the 2015 western drama Forsaken, which also featured Demi Moore and Brian Cox and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Has Kiefer Sutherland won any major awards?

Kiefer Sutherland has won several major awards throughout his career. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2006 for his role in 24. He also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama for 24 in 2002. In addition to these, he has been honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008 and was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2005. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Zurich Film Festival and was nominated for a Genie Award for his first leading role in The Bay Boy.

Does Kiefer Sutherland have a music career?

Yes, Kiefer Sutherland has pursued a parallel career as a country music singer and songwriter. He released his debut album, Down in a Hole, in 2016, featuring songs he co-wrote with Jude Cole, and a music video for the single 'Not Enough Whiskey'. He followed this with a second album, Reckless and Me, in April 2019. He tours with The Kiefer Sutherland Band, which made its debut at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville in June 2016 and has performed internationally, including shows in Scotland and Las Vegas. Music critics have noted his authentic approach to the genre.

What is Kiefer Sutherland's upcoming project?

Kiefer Sutherland's most recent upcoming project is the film Father Joe, directed by Luc Besson. He began filming for this English-language feature at the end of 2025 and stars in the lead role alongside Al Pacino. Prior to this, he starred in Clint Eastwood's 2024 courtroom drama Juror No. 2 and the 2023 Paramount+ thriller series Rabbit Hole. He also narrated the 2023 Apple TV+ docuseries John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial and starred in the 2023 film The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, which was William Friedkin's final work.

Is Kiefer Sutherland related to Tommy Douglas?

Yes, Kiefer Sutherland is the grandson of Tommy Douglas. His maternal grandfather was the Scottish born Canadian politician and former Premier of Saskatchewan. Tommy Douglas is widely credited for bringing universal health care to Canada. Sutherland's mother is actress Shirley Douglas, who is Tommy Douglas's daughter. This family connection links him to a foundational figure in Canadian social policy.

Sources and further reading

• Kiefer Sutherland (Wikipedia)
• Kiefer Sutherland Movies & TV Shows List (rottentomatoes.com)
• Kiefer Sutherland Movies and Shows (tv.apple.com)

Checked by the Yadude Books desk. Last updated 2026-10-22.