Sam Shepard

For the neurosurgeon convicted and later acquitted of murdering his wife, see Sam Sheppard.

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).

Sam Shepard
Shepard in June 2004
Born	Samuel Shepard Rogers III (1943-11-05)November 5, 1943 Fort Sheridan, Illinois, U.S.
Died	July 27, 2017(2017-07-27) (aged 73) Midway, Kentucky, U.S.
Occupations	Playwright actor author screenwriter director
Years active	1963–2017
Spouse	O-Lan Jones ​ ​ (m. 1969; div. 1984)​
Partner	Jessica Lange (c. 1982; sep. 2009)
Children	3
Website	www.sam-shepard.com

Early years

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

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

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

Bibliography

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

Actor

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

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

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