Legendary actor Donald Sutherland leaves behind a slate of iconic movies including “Animal House,” which cost him millions of dollars because of his pay arrangement.
Sutherland’s role in Animal House—released in 1978—is remarkable not just for his memorable turn as a college professor who smokes pot with his students. Perhaps most famously, the actor left behind a stash of green after opting for up-front pay on the movie instead of a backend profit participation deal.
“We had Belushi, but Universal still wanted another star. Now, I had been a flunky on the set of Kelly’s Heroes in Yugoslavia. And Donald Sutherland and I had gotten very friendly. I used to babysit Kiefer,” Landis told EW. “So, I called Donald, and he said, ‘I’ll do it, but I’m not going to do it for scale.
