Keifer Sutherland 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 was born in London while his parents were working there. His family then moved to Los Angeles, California shortly afterwards, but his parents eventually divorced in 1970. In 1975, Sutherland moved with his mother to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where he attended high school at St. Andrew's College (Aurora, Ontario), Martingrove Collegiate Institute and Malvern Collegiate Institute. As a result, he holds both Canadian and British passports.

In 1983, Sutherland moved to New York City in the pursuit of launching his acting career. After being featured in TV commercials, he drove all the way back to California to further his pursuits.

He has a twin sister named Rachel, who has had a few credits in film production but does not work as an actress.

Sutherland is an accomplished musician, but this is mainly a hobby as he considers acting his primary career. He does, however, have connections (co-owner with Jude Cole), to a record label named Ironworks (see [1]). He is also personal friends with, and was the tour manager for his labels band, Rocco DeLuca and the Burden.

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, 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 scene. 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.

As of April 2006, Kiefer Sutherland is the single highest-paid actor for a drama series after he signed a contract with FOX to continue to play Jack Bauer in the network's hit 24 for three more seasons, for an estimated $40 million.

Kiefer Sutherland won a Golden Globe in 2002 for the television series 24 and won Screen Actor Guild awards in 2004 and 2006. Sutherland has also received several Emmy nominations for the series (4 for acting, 3 for producing).

Sutherland was engaged to Julia Roberts, although in 1991 their relationship ended just five days before their planned marriage. Sutherland has been the frequent object of tabloid gossip, and has a persistent reputation as a hard drinker and carouser. Several episodes of 24 have allegedly been rewritten to work around minor injuries Sutherland sustained when partying. In an interview with the London Daily Telegraph, Sutherland said, "I can't deny half the stuff that's been written about me has been true. I've done some stupid things. You have to take responsibility, go, 'That was embarassing,' and move forward as best you can."

He has a daughter, Sarah Jude Sutherland, and 2 stepdaughters from his previous marriage to Camelia Kath.