Sam Shepard

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Sam Shepard
Shepard in June 2004
Born
Samuel Shepard Rogers III

(1943-11-05)November 5, 1943
DiedJuly 27, 2017(2017-07-27) (aged 73)
Occupations
  • Playwright
  • actor
  • author
  • screenwriter
  • director
Years active1963–2017
Spouse(s)
O-Lan Jones
(m. 1969; div. 1984)
PartnerJessica Lange (c. 1982; sep. 2009)
Children3
Websitewww.sam-shepard.com

Samuel Shepard Rogers III[1] (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, and television and movie director. He is the author of several books. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child. Shepard was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff (1983).

Early years[change | change source]

Born Samuel Shepard Rogers IV in Fort Sheridan, Illinois, he worked on a ranch as a teenager. His father, Samuel Shepard Rogers, Jr., was a teacher and farmer. His father was in the United States Army Air Forces as a bomber pilot during World War II. His mother, Jane Elaine (née Schook), was a teacher and from Chicago, Illinois.[2][3] After high school, Shepard went to college for a little while. He quit to join a travelling theater group. He was also a drummer for the different late-1960s rock band The Holy Modal Rounders. The band was in the movie Easy Rider (1969).

Awards and honors[change | change source]

Year Nominated work(s) Category Result
1966 Chicago, Icarus's Mother, Red Cross Obie Award for Best Distinguished Play(s) Won
1967 La Turista Won
1968 Forensic and the Navigator, Melodrama Play Won
1973 The Tooth of Crime Won
1975 Action Obie Award for Best Playwriting Won
1977 Curse of the Starving Class Obie Award for Best New American Play Won
1979 Buried Child Obie Award for Best Playwriting Won
Pulitzer Prize for Drama Won
1980 Himself Obie Award for Sustained Achievement Won
1984 Fool for Love Obie Award for Best New American Play Won
Obie Award for Best Direction Won
The Right Stuff Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated
1985 Paris, Texas BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
1986 A Lie of the Mind Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play Won
New York Drama Critics' Circle for Best Play Won
Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play Won
1992 Himself American Academy of Arts and Letters – Gold Medal for Drama Won
1994 American Theatre Hall of Fame Inducted
1996 Buried Child Tony Award for Best Play Nominated
1997 Hallmark Hall of Fame: "Lily Dale" Lone Star Film & Television Award for Best TV Supporting Actor Nominated
1999 Dash and Lilly Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated
2000 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Film Nominated
True West Tony Award for Best Play Nominated
2001 Black Hawk Down Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated
2008 Ruffian SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries Nominated

Death[change | change source]

Shepard died on July 27, 2017 at his home in Midway, Kentucky from complications of ALS, aged 73.[4]

Bibliography[change | change source]

Bibliography
Year Title Notes
1964 Cowboys
The Rock Garden
1965 Chicago
Icarus's Mother
4-H Club
1966 Red Cross
1967 La Turista
Cowboys #2
Forensic & the Navigators
1969 The Unseen Hand
Oh! Calcutta! contributed sketches
1970 The Holy Ghostly
Operation Sidewinder
1971 Mad Dog Blues
Back Bog Beast Bait
Cowboy Mouth with Patti Smith
1972 The Tooth of Crime
1974 Geography of a Horse Dreamer
1975 Action
1976 Suicide in B Flat
Angel City
1977 Inacoma
1978 Buried Child
Curse of the Starving Class
Tongues with Joseph Chaikin
1980 True West
1981 Savage Love with Joseph Chaikin
1983 Fool for Love
1985 A Lie of the Mind
1987 A Short Life of Trouble
1991 States of Shock
1993 Simpatico
1994 Safe Passage
1998 Eyes for Consuela
2000 The Late Henry Moss
2004 The God of Hell
2007 Kicking a Dead Horse
2009 Ages of the Moon

Filmography[change | change source]

Actor[change | change source]

As actor
Year Title Role
1963 Apples In the Tree
1965 Rusakai
1970 Brand X
1978 Renaldo and Clara Rodeo
Days of Heaven The Farmer
1980 Resurrection Cal Carpenter
1981 Raggedy Man Bailey
1982 Frances Harry York
1983 The Right Stuff Chuck Yeager
1984 Paris, Texas unconfirmed
Country Gil Ivy
1986 Crimes of the Heart Doc Porter
1987 Baby Boom Dr. Jeff Cooper
1989 Steel Magnolias Spud Jones
1990 Bright Angel Jack
1991 Voyager Walter Faber
1992 Thunderheart Frank Coutelle
1993 The Pelican Brief Professor Thomas Callahan
1994 Safe Passage Patrick Singer
1995 Streets of Laredo Pea Eye Parker
1999 Snow Falling on Cedars Arthur Chambers
Purgatory Sheriff Forrest/Wild Bill Hickock
2000 Hamlet The Ghost
All the Pretty Horses J.C. Franklin
2001 Black Hawk Down Maj. Gen. William F. Garrison
After the Harvest Caleb Gare
Kurosawa Narrator
Shot in the Heart Frank Gilmore
Swordfish Senator James Reisman
The Pledge Eric Pollack
2003 Blind Horizon Sheriff Jack Kolb
2004 The Notebook Frank Calhoun
2005 Don't Come Knocking Howard
Bandidas Bill Buck
Stealth Capt. George Cummings
2006 Walker Payne Syrus
The Return Ed Mills
Charlotte's Web (Narrator)
2007 Ruffian Frank Whiteley
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Frank James
2008 The Accidental Husband Wilder
Felon Gordon Camrose
2009 Brothers Hank Cahill
2010 Inhale James Harrison
Fair Game Sam Plame
2011 Blackthorn Butch Cassidy
2012 Safe House Harlan Whitford
Killing Them Softly TBA

Screenwriter[change | change source]

As screenwriter
Year Title Director
1968 Me and My Brother Robert Frank
1970 Zabriskie Point Michelangelo Antonioni
1984 Paris, Texas Wim Wenders
1985 Fool for Love Robert Altman
1988 Far North Himself
1994 Silent Tongue
2005 Don't Come Knocking Wim Wenders

Director[change | change source]

As director
Year Title Notes
1988 Far North also screenplay
1994 Silent Tongue

References[change | change source]

  1. Shewey, Don (1997). Sam Shepard. Perseus Books Group. ISBN 978-0-306-80770-1. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  2. "Sam Shepard Biography". filmreference. 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
  3. Petri Liukkonen; Ari Pesonen (2008). "Sam Shepard". Pegasos. Archived from the original on December 5, 2006. Retrieved February 16, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Playwright, Director and Actor Sam Shepard Passes Away at 73

Other websites[change | change source]