Kiefer Sutherland.

Kiefer Sutherland — Actor

Born 21 Dec 1966 Paddington, United Kingdom

Citizenship Canada

Age 59 yr Today

15 min read

Reading time

2,821

Words

Jun 21, 2026

Published

143

Film credits

10

Awards

TL;DR

Kiefer Sutherland shot to global fame as Jack Bauer on Fox’s real-time drama 24, earning a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Series in 2006. Born in 1966 to Canadian acting royalty, he made his film debut in 1983 and earned a Genie nomination for The Bay Boy in 1984. His career spans blockbusters like A Few Good Men 1992 and Dark City 1998, and he has set records for on-screen time and salary in television.

Identity & family.

KIN · 9

Names, aliases, and relatives of Kiefer Sutherland — birth name, kin, and personal ties.

Aliases Keifer Sutherland

PARENTS: Shirley Douglas Donald Sutherland
SPOUSES: Kelly Winn Camelia Lynne
CHILDREN: Sarah Sutherland
SIBLINGS: Angus Sutherland Rachel Sutherland Rossif Sutherland Regg Sutherland

At a glance.

STATS

Kiefer Sutherland by the numbers — life, work, and family.

59 Age

143 Film credits

10 Awards

2 Marriages

1 Child

Who is Kiefer Sutherland?

BIOGRAPHY

Kiefer Sutherland — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.

Early life

Kiefer Sutherland was born on December 21, 1966 in Paddington, London to Canadian actors Shirley Douglas and Donald Sutherland. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to California. His maternal grandfather, Tommy Douglas, was a prominent Canadian politician who served as Premier of Saskatchewan for 17 years and as leader of the national NDP party.

When Kiefer was eight years old, he moved to Canada, where he spent the next eight years. He attended a staggering seven different schools in ten years, including Harbord Collegiate Institute, St. Andrew’s College, and others, reflecting a peripatetic childhood shaped by his parents’ acting careers. That unsettled early life seeded a resilience that would later define his most famous character.

Career

Kiefer Sutherland’s first film role came in the comedy drama Max Dugan Returns 1983. His first major role was in the Canadian drama The Bay Boy 1984, which earned him a Genie Award nomination for Best Actor. Following that success, he moved to Los Angeles and landed television appearances, including an episode of Amazing Stories in 1985 and the telefilm Trapped in Silence 1986.

In 1992, Sutherland starred opposite Ray Liotta and Forest Whitaker in Article 99 and in the military drama A Few Good Men with Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise. He later co-starred in The Vanishing 1993 and Dark City 1998, directed by Alex Proyas, a special presentation at the Cannes Film Festival. He also directed and starred in Truth or Consequences, N.M. 1997.

His defining role came in 2001 when he began playing counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer on Fox’s 24. The series, which takes place in real time, earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Series, multiple Emmy nominations, and a historic $40 million contract for three additional seasons after Season 5. Sutherland has also appeared in films like Phone Booth 2002 and Mirrors 2008, and served as executive producer on several projects.

Personal life

Kiefer Sutherland married Camelia Lynne in 1987 and divorced in 1990. He married Kelly Winn in 1996, and they divorced in 2004. He has a daughter, Sarah Sutherland, who is an actress and producer. Sutherland was famously engaged to Julia Roberts in 1991, but Roberts called off the wedding days before, leaving with his friend Jason Patric. The two later reconciled and co-starred in the Broadway revival of That Championship Season in 2011.

In the late 1990s, Sutherland briefly pursued rodeo, winning competitions in Phoenix and Albuquerque. He served a 48-day jail sentence for DUI in 2007. He is an avid ice hockey player and owns a collection of vintage guitars. He was roommates with Robert Downey Jr. for three years early in his Hollywood career.

Legacy

Kiefer Sutherland’s portrayal of Jack Bauer on 24 revolutionized real-time television storytelling and set a new standard for action-drama series. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008 and inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2005. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his work on the show. Beyond acting, he co-founded Ironworks Studio with musician Jude Cole and has directed multiple episodes of television. Above all, Sutherland is remembered as the intense, unflinching Jack Bauer, a character that defined a decade of television and made him one of the highest-paid actors in the medium.

Filmography.

FILMS · 143

Browse the complete filmography of Kiefer Sutherland — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.

TV

The Simpsons

1989
TV

Family Guy

1999
TV

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

2014
Movie

Brothers Under Fire

2026
TV

The Daily Show

1996
TV

Late Night with Seth Meyers

2014
TV

Saturday Night Live

1975
TV

American Idol

2002
TV

Top Gear

2002
TV

Wogan

1982
TV

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

2014
TV

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

2003
TV

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

2003
TV

Designated Survivor

2016

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Awards & honors.

AWARDS · 8

Every award, honor, and recognition received by Kiefer Sutherland — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.

Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series
Canada's Walk of Fame
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama
Primetime Emmy Award

Notable quotes.

QUOTES · 12

A wall of memorable lines from Kiefer Sutherland — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.

When You’re a Young Actor You Like to Go for Characters with a Bit of Flair, so in Many Films I Ended up Playing the Weirdos. but I Can Assure You I’m Not a Psycho or a Criminal or a Bully.
There Are Two Kinds of Event in Rodeo and Bull Riding’s One of the Roughstock Events. I Was into Immobilising Cows Myself.
On His 1990S Career: You Could Say I Was Not on Everybody’s First List to Do the Bigger Films. Luckily, Other Opportunities Have Come Along.
If the Acting Thing Hadn’t Worked Out for Me, I’d Be Laying Phone Cable in Northern Ontario.
You Can’t Ask the Press to Service You with Everything That They Have and Not Expect Some of the Other Stuff in Return If You’re Going to Live Your Life Like I Have, He Says. I’ve Done Enough Stupid Things That I Might as Well Walk up to Them and Say, Here, If I Were You, I’d Write It Like This… in All Fairness, the Press Has Been Pretty Nice to Me; Even in Having a Go at Me, It’s Done with a Kind of Humor. Only Once or Twice Have I Seen Something That Made Me Think, Wow, That Person Really Doesn’t Like Me Where It’s Been Malicious as Opposed to What an Idiot.
You Know, Gauguin Is One of My Favorite Painters, Not Because I Think He Was a Great Painter but Because He Was a Great Artist, His Passion and Belief in What He Was Doing; He Gave up Everything to Follow His Passion. I Have so Much Respect for That Because I Don’t Have That Kind of Courage.
I Like Chatting with People. If People Ask Me a Direct Question, I Give Them a Direct Answer and I Feel I’ve Always Done That with the Press.
When Asked What Attracted Him to Film Acting: I Got into It for the Girls.
I Think That the Day You’ve Figured Out the Difference Between Women and Men Is the Day That You’re No Longer Attracted to Women. It’s the Difference That Is so Fantastic and Frustrating and Angering and Really Sexy.
My Mother’s Five Foot Two And, I’ll Be Honest with You, She’s the Only Person I’m Scared Of.
There Are Two Things That Jack Bauer Never Does. Show Mercy and Go to the Bathroom.
I’ve Had Some Amazing People in My Life. Look at My Father. He Came from a Small Fishing Village of Five Hundred People And, at Six Foot Four with Giant Ears and a Kind of Very Odd Expression, Thought He Could Be a Movie Star. so Go Figure, You Know?

Did you know?

FACTS · 50

Little-known facts about Kiefer Sutherland — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.

For three years during the 1980s, Kiefer Sutherland roomed with Robert Downey Jr. in Hollywood.
When Jack Bauer got a new tattoo for Season 3 of 24, Kiefer had a real tattoo inked on his arm instead of using makeup.
By the end of Season 5 of 24, Kiefer had spent more on-screen time as Jack Bauer than all his previous roles combined, and received more nominations for the series than for his entire film career.
For the last five years of 24, Kiefer spent 15 hours a day, six days a week on set.
He considers his father, Donald Sutherland, one of the greatest actors of all time.
During the fourth season of 24, he recorded a PSA telling viewers that the terrorist storylines were fictional and not exploiting 9/11.
While filming Stand by Me 1986, he stayed in character off-camera by often picking on his younger co-stars.
On January 23, 2005, he became the first guest on Inside the Actors Studio to be the child of a previous guest his father appeared in 1998.
His vintage guitar collection includes a 1959 Les Paul, a 1967 Telecaster, a 1968 ES335, and about fifty-five more.
He was awarded a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto in 2005.
He is seven minutes older than his twin sister Rachel Sutherland.
In the late 1990s, he traveled with the rodeo circuit and won rodeos in Phoenix and Albuquerque.
He was Gary Oldman’s passenger when Oldman was arrested for drunk driving in 1991.
He is a huge fan of the rock band Queen.
His first marriage partly ended because of his friendship with Jason Patric and other Brat Pack members; irony later saw him and Patric co-star in a Broadway revival in 2011.
At 5’9, he is short compared to his father’s side; his father is 6’4 and half-brothers are well over 6 feet.
His grandfather Tommy Douglas was voted The Greatest Canadian by CBC viewers.
He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 9, 2008 at 7024 Hollywood Boulevard.
He signed a $40 million contract for three more seasons of 24 after Season 5, making him the highest-paid actor on a TV drama.
His first name is German for pine or jaw.
His twin sister Rachel works as a television post-production supervisor in Toronto.
Both he and his father have played artist Paul Gauguin.
He plays ice hockey on a celebrity team.
He was engaged to Julia Roberts.
He is the son of actor Donald Sutherland and actress Shirley Douglas.
He earned first place in the U.S. Team Roping Championships.
He attended the funeral of Brandon Lee, who was accidentally killed on The Crow; coincidentally, Michael Massee, who fired the fatal shot, later played a villain on 24.
His grandfather Tommy Douglas was the first socialist Premier of North America and the father of Canada’s public healthcare system.
He was sentenced to 48 days in jail for DUI on December 5, 2007 and began serving immediately.
He attended seven different schools in ten years.
He owns Ironworks Studio with Jude Cole and a collection of about 50 vintage guitars.
He has a 1967 Chevy Chevelle that he is personally attached to.
When starting rodeo, he bought all necessary equipment: horses, bulls, tractors, and a 900-acre Montana ranch, which he sold after quitting.
He is close friends with hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.
For his role in The Wild 2006, he practiced lion roars in his car while driving, unaware of a watching woman.
He moved to the U.S. after doing a jeans commercial in New York in 1983, earning enough for a car to drive to California.
He is on screen for less than three minutes in Taking Lives 2004, despite top billing with Ethan Hawke and Angelina Jolie.
His daughter Sarah Sutherland teases him for being computer illiterate.
He ranked #68 on Forbes The Celebrity 100 in 2006 with $23 million earnings.
He moved to Canada at age eight and lived there for eight years.
In Article 99 1992, he wears glasses and a fishing bucket hat as a nod to his father’s look in MASH.
His ancestry is Scottish, with some English, Irish, and German.
His role as Jack Bauer on 24 is his first regular television series role.
He has three half-brothers: Roeg, Rossif, and Angus Sutherland.
He owns recording studio/music label Ironworks with best friend Jude Cole.
Though on screen for less than three minutes in Phone Booth 2002, he received second billing behind Colin Farrell.
Within the same year, he played the Caller in Phone Booth and Jack Bauer on 24; both were Fox projects in real time and both were delayed by real events 9/11 and D.C. sniper.
He was originally slated to play his grandfather Tommy Douglas in Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story 2006 but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with Season 4 of 24.
He broke three fingers in his first rodeo.
His vampire likeness from The Lost Boys 1987 appears on the cover of The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead; inside his name is misspelled as Keifer.

You wanted to know.

FAQ · 29

Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Kiefer Sutherland.

When was Kiefer Sutherland born?

Kiefer Sutherland was born on December 21, 1966. He is currently 59 years old.
Where was Kiefer Sutherland born?

He was born in Paddington, London, England, UK. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to California.
How old is Kiefer Sutherland?

As of 2025, Kiefer Sutherland is 59 years old. He was born on December 21, 1966.
What does Kiefer Sutherland do for a living?

Kiefer Sutherland is an actor and producer. He is best known for his role as Jack Bauer on the television series 24.
What nationality is Kiefer Sutherland?

Kiefer Sutherland is Canadian. Though born in London, England, both of his parents were Canadian, and he holds Canadian citizenship.
Who are Kiefer Sutherland's parents?

His parents are actors Shirley Douglas and Donald Sutherland. Both are Canadian, and his mother is the daughter of former Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas.
Who is Kiefer Sutherland married to?

Kiefer Sutherland has been married twice: to Camelia Lynne from 1987 to 1990, and to Kelly Winn from 1996 to 2004. He is currently not married.
Does Kiefer Sutherland have children?

Yes, he has one daughter named Sarah Sutherland, born in 1988. She is an actress and producer.
Does Kiefer Sutherland have any siblings?

Yes, he has four siblings: twin sister Rachel Sutherland, and half-brothers Roeg, Rossif, and Angus Sutherland. He also has a half-sister named Regg, though not explicitly mentioned in all sources.
Where did Kiefer Sutherland go to school?

He attended nine different schools in Canada and the U.S., including Harbord Collegiate Institute, St. Andrew’s College, and Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School, among others.
What awards has Kiefer Sutherland won?

He has won multiple awards including a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Series, a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Satellite Awards. He also has stars on Canada’s Walk of Fame 2005 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame 2008.
What is Kiefer Sutherland best known for?

He is best known for playing Jack Bauer on the Fox series 24 2001-2014. The role earned him critical acclaim and a Golden Globe.
What is Kiefer Sutherland's Instagram?

His official Instagram handle is @kiefersutherland. He also has a Twitter account @RealKiefer and a Facebook page under his name.
How tall is Kiefer Sutherland?

Kiefer Sutherland stands 5 feet 9 inches 1.74 m tall. He is notably shorter than his father Donald Sutherland, who is 6 feet 4 inches.
Why is Kiefer Sutherland sometimes called Keifer?

Keifer is a common misspelling of his name. For example, in J. Gordon Melton’s book The Vampire Book, his vampire likeness from The Lost Boys 1987 is captioned with the misspelling Keifer.
What is Kiefer Sutherland's birth name?

His full birth name is Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland. He goes by Kiefer professionally.
Did Kiefer Sutherland win an Emmy for 24?

Yes, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Jack Bauer. He also won an Emmy as a producer of 24 for Outstanding Drama Series.
Has Kiefer Sutherland ever been on Broadway?

Yes, he made his Broadway debut in 2011 in That Championship Season, a play by Jason Miller. He co-starred with his former friend Jason Patric, whom he had a falling out with years earlier.
What was Kiefer Sutherland's first film role?

His first film role was in the comedy drama Max Dugan Returns 1983. He played a small part at age 16.
What was Kiefer Sutherland's first major film role?

His first major role was in the Canadian drama The Bay Boy 1984, which earned him a Genie Award nomination for Best Actor.
Did Kiefer Sutherland ever compete in rodeo?

Yes, in the late 1990s he traveled with the rodeo circuit and won competitions in Phoenix and Albuquerque. He also broke three fingers in his first rodeo.
Did Kiefer Sutherland go to jail?

Yes, he was sentenced to 48 days in jail on December 5, 2007 for a DUI. He began serving his sentence immediately.
What is Kiefer Sutherland's net worth?

While not officially confirmed, his earnings from 24 included a $40 million contract for three seasons, suggesting a substantial net worth. Forbes ranked him #68 on the Celebrity 100 in 2006 with $23 million in earnings.
Is Kiefer Sutherland related to Tommy Douglas?

Yes, Tommy Douglas was his maternal grandfather. Douglas was the Premier of Saskatchewan for 17 years and is known as the father of Canada’s public healthcare system.
What kind of music does Kiefer Sutherland make?

He owns Ironworks Studio with Jude Cole and has a passion for vintage guitars. He has performed in studio sessions and live shows, but has not released a solo album.
Does Kiefer Sutherland have any tattoos?

Yes, he got a real tattoo on his arm for Season 3 of 24 when his character Jack Bauer got a new tattoo. It saved time in makeup.
How many siblings does Kiefer Sutherland have?

He has a twin sister, Rachel Sutherland, and three half-brothers: Roeg, Rossif, and Angus Sutherland. His half-sister Regg is also mentioned in some sources.
What is Kiefer Sutherland's connection to The Lost Boys?

He played David in the 1987 vampire film The Lost Boys. His vampire likeness from the film appears on the cover of The Vampire Book.
Was Kiefer Sutherland engaged to Julia Roberts?

Yes, he was engaged to Julia Roberts in 1991. She called off the wedding three days before it was scheduled, leaving with his friend Jason Patric.

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Audited & updated by

Sophia has 4 years of editorial experience and a habit of becoming the person any team leans on when they need to know where something stands. At Famousy, she manages the content pipeline, coordinates reviews, and handles the detail work that keeps a large editorial operation from falling apart. She reads a lot of profiles in the process and she's developed a sharp instinct for when something doesn't feel right. She flags it. It usually is.

Published on June 21, 2026

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