His father, Al Sutherland, was a theatre manager and producer and his mother, Julie Ring, was a vaudeville performer.

[1][2][3] Sutherland acted in 37 known films early in his career, beginning as a Keystone Cop in Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), which starred Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand, and Marie Dressler.

His breakout film was Behind the Front (1926), which made stars of leads Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton and established Sutherland as a comedic director.

On the other hand, he became close friends with the more famously acerbic W.C. Fields, with whom he established a lifelong friendship,[5] though by at least one account they got off to a rocky start.

Other notable films include Palmy Days, International House, Too Much Harmony, The Flying Deuces, The Navy Comes Through, Dixie, and Follow the Boys.