Has Donald Sutherland taken the truth about Don't Look Now's 'frank' sex scene to his grave? As actor dies at 88, how controversial shoot with Julie Christie in cult horror film sparked rumours neither actor could shake

When Hollywood icon Donald Sutherland died at the age of 88 this week, he left behind him one of the biggest mysteries in Hollywood folklore - was the sex scene in his 1973 hit horror film Don't Look Now real? 

The M*A*S*H star, who skyrocketed into the spotlight in the late '60s, faced speculation throughout his career about whether the erotic scene with his co-star Julie Christie was immaculately choregraphed to look hyper realistic, or whether the actors had actually had an on-screen tryst in real life. 

In initial promotion for the film, directed by Nicolas Roeg, in the early 70s, it was billed as 'one of the frankest love scenes ever to be filmed'. 

The Venice-set film was shot in the days long before intimacy co-ordinators were on set, and Sutherland and Christie got used to fielding questions about one of the most controversial movie sex scenes of all time.  

Sutherland's memoir, Made Up, But Still True, is due out in November. 

Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie in Don't Look Now's controversial love scene. Initial promo for the film, directed by Nicolas Roeg, saw it dubbed 'one of the frankest love scenes ever to be filmed'.

The co-stars, pictured in 1973, remained tight-lipped about the sex scene - until 2018, when Sutherland proffered an outright denial

The film adapted Daphne du Maurier’s novella of the same name, and saw Sutherland and Christie play John and Laura, who flee to Venice after tragically losing their daughter. 

The couple meet a pair of sisters, who claim the lost girl is trying to make contact with her parents - with fleeting sighting of the red-coated child sending chills down the spines of viewers. 

In 2018, Sutherland categorically denied that the sex scene was real.

Speaking at the New York Premiere of his new film The Leisure Seeker, a then 82-year-old Sutherland said that anyone who claims otherwise was 'an idiot'.

In 2018, Donald Sutherland denied long-standing rumors that the sex scene in Don't Look Now was real, saying people who claim otherwise are 'idiots'

Sutherland said that despite the scene's erotic nature the filming was anything but, because he and co-star Julie Christie had to stop every 15 seconds to change position

He said performing the act would have been impossible since no take lasted longer than 15 seconds before the action was stopped so he and Christie could reposition. 

Sutherland told the New York Daily News that he adored the scene though because it 'reminded you of making love.'

The scene caused issues for censors both in Britain, where it received an X-rating, and in America, where it was rated R.

The creepy thriller, about a couple who lose their young daughter, but then are told by a pair of sisters that the little girl is trying to make contact with them, became a cult horror film after its release

Sutherland pic itured in a scene from the film, which was set in Venice 

The scene was entirely removed by the BBC when it first aired on British television.

Rumours that the sex was genuine have persisted for years, helped along by the likes of former Paramount executive Peter Bart, who said as much in his 2011 book.

In 2008, Michael Deeley, who oversaw the film's UK distribution, told the BBC that Christie's then-boyfriend Warren Beatty had flown to London and demanded that the sex scene be removed.

Sutherland has been protective over the film in the past, suggesting back in 2015 as rumors of a remake swirled that it would be an 'embarrassment'.

'Why do they do it?,' he said. 'It’s just people wanting profit, trying to profit off the back of [director] Nicolas Roeg, and something that’s very beautiful.

'It’s shameful. They should be ashamed of themselves.'

And Christie? She has gone on record saying it was nothing more than 'pretend sex'. 

In a 2015 interview with BBC Radio 4, the now 84-year-old actor said: 'It was just flesh squirming and rolling and touching, and God I thought it was absolutely lovely. I loved the squirming bits and all those things you don’t see.'

Sutherland is survived by Keith and his twin sister Rachel from his marriage to ex-wife Shirley Douglas

The veteran Canadian actor's death from a long illness was announced by his movie star son Kiefer Sutherland Thursday.

Sutherland's career spanned over 60 years. He saw a resurgence in popularity with a younger audience in recent years thanks to his role as the evil President Snow in The Hunger Games franchise.

The Emmy and Golden Globe winner made a name for himself long before that, appearing on M*A*S*H, Klute and in Don't Look Now.

Before transitioning into a long career as a respected character actor, Sutherland epitomized the unpredictable, anti-establishment cinema of the 1970s.

Donald Sutherland died aged 88 this week, his actor son Kiefer has announced. He is seen in 2019

The tall and gaunt actor with a grin that could be sweet or diabolical was also known as the hippie tank commander in Kelly’s Heroes and the stoned professor in Animal House.

Over the decades, Sutherland showed his range in more buttoned-down — but still eccentric — parts in Robert Redford’s Ordinary People and Oliver Stone’s JFK.

In 2022, he appeared on what would be his last projects, Lawmen: Bass Reeves and Swimming With Sharks.

Sutherland was set to star in upcoming apocalyptic flick Heart Land, which is in pre-production.