The Canadian actor began his career with a number of small roles on British TV before taking on the minor role of Hospitalman Nerney in 1965 war film The Bedford Incident – setting off a trend of involvement in the genre. Sutherland came into his own as dim-witted Vernon Pinkley in 1967 film The Dirty Dozen, which saw condemned soldiers trained as a crack commando team to undertake a mission in Nazi-occupied France. The actor was praised for his portrayal, which many considered his breakout role.
However, it was his role in sitcom M*A*S*H, which followed the staff of a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War, that shot Sutherland to international stardom. His portrayal of Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce secured him roles in many other war projects, including Kelly’s Heroes in 1970. Sutherland plays Sergeant Oddball in the film which follows a group of US soldiers during the Second World War as they desert their posts to rob a bank thought to contain German gold.
In the same year, he starred in Revolution Without Me, set during the French Revolution, playing an identical twin, with the other twin played by US actor Gene Wilder. Despite playing numerous soldiers, Sutherland was a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War. In 1971, he staged a travelling roadshow opposite his Klute co-star Jane Fonda in front of US soldiers – a reaction to Bob Hope’s pro-war United Service Organisations (USO) tour.
It was turned into a documentary entitled FTA in 1972,.
