Kiefer Sutherland Biography

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Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland (born December 21, 1966) is an English-born Canadian television and film actor.

He was born in London, England while his parents were working there, but was raised in Ontario, Canada, where he attended Martingrove Collegiate Institute, and, as a result, he holds both Canadian and British passports. He is the son of Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas, both successful actors. 

He is the grandson of Canadian statesman and inventor of Canadian medicare Tommy Douglas, who was in 2004 voted by CBC viewers as The Greatest Canadian. He has a twin sister named Rachel, who has had a few credits in film production but does not work as an actress.

Originally known for his work in films, and for being a member of the Brat Pack in the 1980s, now Sutherland is probably best known for his role as federal agent Jack Bauer on the hit U.S. television show 24. The fifth season began in January 2006. On January 28, 2006, Kiefer Sutherland won the “Best Actor in a Drama Series” award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Sutherland also lent his voice and motion design, along with various other cast members from the series, to 24: The Game. The game is based on events that occurred between the second and third seasons of the show and was released in late February 2006. There was also a graphic novel published by IDW that was released in the summer of 2004. The graphic novel is about Sutherland’s character Jack Bauer when he first joins CTU; this takes place before the first season occurs.

After the original broadcast of the November 25, 2003 episode of 24, Kiefer Sutherland broke character to address the issue of gun safety, possibly to limit the liability of Fox Network in case someone attempted to recreate the Russian roulette scenes. Sutherland gave a promotion for an organization called Americans for Gun Safety Foundation.

Sutherland broke character again on 24 during the original broadcast of the February 7, 2005 episode for a PSA addressing Arab Americans portrayed on the show. He said that Arab-Americans are united with other Americans in their stand against terrorists. This PSA was in response to a complaint and possible lawsuit by an Arab-American group.

On April 18, 2000, Sutherland was a featured speaker at the Friends of Medicare rally in Edmonton, Alberta, which sought to prevent the governing Conservative premier Ralph Klein from amending Bill 11 in a manner which protesters alleged would permit “two-tier health care” in Canada.

During the fall of 2001, Sutherland unintentionally interrupted the filming of the premiere episode of the online series The Lonely Island. In the episode “White Power”, The Dudes beat an old lady and steal her purse to facilitate their addiction to teeth whiteners. Sutherland, driving by at the time, jumped out of his car and intervened, only to discover that he was interrupting a student film. A portion of Sutherland’s appearance is displayed after the credits.

Kiefer is named after Warren Kiefer, who directed the Donald Sutherland-starring movie Castle of the Living Dead. During high school, Sutherland’s nickname was “Reefer”.

He has starred in Japanese commercials for Calorie Mate, performing a parody of his Jack Bauer character. Sutherland also provides voice-overs for the current ad campaign for the Ford Motor Company of Canada. In mid-2006, he voiced the Apple Computer advertisement announcing the inclusion of Intel chips in their Macintosh computer line.[6] He also voices the introduction to NHL games on the Versus network in the U.S. Recently, he has starred in Brazilian TV commercials for Citroën C4 sedan. He has recently done voice-over for a commercial for Bank of America’s “Keep the Change” program. He voiced Sgt. Roebuck in Treyarch’s video game Call of Duty: World at War.

Sutherland will executive produce the two-hour pilot of Phenomenon. Maggie Murphy will also be an executive producer for the show. The Sci Fi Channel ordered a script to be written. The show revolves around a mysterious young female prodigy who leads a crack team of experts in investigating odd and supernatural anomalies of nature.

Sutherland is currently the top celebrity producer of The 1 Second Film. As a big fan, he also narrated “The Feeling On Ice” documentary that was included on UK band The Feeling’s DVD Come Home. Recently he voiced a character in the movie Monsters vs. Aliens. In 2009, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Since 2001, Sutherland is most widely associated with the role of Jack Bauer, on the critically acclaimed television series 24.[2] After being nominated four times for the “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series” Primetime Emmy Award, Sutherland won the award in 2006 for his role in 24′s fifth season. His father, Donald, was also an Emmy winner; he won an Emmy award for his role in Citizen X in 1996. In the opening skit of the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards, Sutherland made an appearance as his 24 character, Jack Bauer. He was also nominated for Best actor in a Drama Television Series in the 2007 Golden Globe Awards for 24. According to his latest contract, his salary of $40 million for three seasons of the show makes him the highest-earning actor on television. Sutherland constantly emphasizes that the show is merely “entertainment.”

The Dean of the United States Military Academy, Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, visited the set of 24 in February 2007 to urge the show’s makers to reduce the number of torture scenes and Sutherland accepted an invitation from the U.S. military to tell West Point cadets that it is wrong to torture prisoners. In an interview with OK! Magazine, Howard Gordon tells that it would be an “unbearable loss” if they killed off Sutherland’s character.

On 24 March 2009, Sutherland reported to the Associated Press that he will be back for an 8th season. On 14 February 2010, Fox TV announced they were temporarily suspending production of Season 8 of 24 due to a ruptured cyst near one of Sutherland’s kidneys. According to the report, he waited a few days before going in to have “elective surgery” performed to resolve the issue. It was anticipated that he would return after a week, but a further few days was needed and Fox reported that his return to set would be March 1.

On 26 March 2010 it was announced that 24 will end at the conclusion of the 8th season, paving the way for the 24 feature film to go into production. Production is anticipated to begin at the beginning of 2011.