Sam Shepard, Acclaimed Writer and Actor, Dies at 73

It is with great sadness that we report (via The New York Times) that acclaimed actor and Pulitzer-winning writer Sam Shepard passed away this past Thursday, July 27, due to complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Shepard was best known to movie fans for his Academy Award-nominated role portraying pilot Chuck Yeager in 1983’s The Right Stuff. He also played The Farmer in Terrence Malick’s 1978 masterpiece Days of Heaven, as well as memorable supporting roles in hit films like The Pelican BriefBlack Hawk DownThe NotebookThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert FordMudAugust: Osage CountyMidnight Special and the Netflix series Bloodline. His last film role was starring opposite Mireille Enos in this year’s thriller Never Here.

As a screenwriter, his credits included Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1970 counterculture classic Zabriskie Point and 1984’s Paris, Texas, as well as adaptations of his own plays including 1985’s Fool for Love, 1994’s Curse of the Starving Class and 1999’s Simpatico. He both wrote and directed 1988’s Far North with Jessica Lange and 1994’s Silent Tongue, featuring the final completed performance by River Phoenix. Lange and Shepard were in a nearly three-decade long relationship, and had two children together, Hannah and Samuel. He also had another son, Jesse, with his first wife actress O-lan Jones.

In addition to his film work Shepard was a legendary playwright and stage actor, garnering a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play “Buried Child.” He was also nominated for two more Pulitzers, one for “True West” and another for “Fool for Love,” both of which were produced on Broadway.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

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