Sam Shepard

For the osteopath accused in a notable murder trial, see "Sam Sheppard".

Sam Shepard (born November 5, 1943) is an American playwright, writer and actor.

He was born Samuel Shepard Rogers IV in Fort Sheridan, Illinois. His many works are known for being frank and often absurd, and for having an authentic sense of the style and sensibility of the gritty modern American west. Shepard is also a respected actor of stage and motion pictures.

His play Buried Child received a Pulitzer Prize in 1979; other notable work includes Curse of the Starving Class in 1978, True West in 1980 and A Lie of the Mind in 1985. He also continued with his collaboration with Bob Dylan that started with the surrealist film Renaldo & Clara on an epic, 11 minute song entitled "Brownsville Girl", included on the 1986 Knocked Out Loaded album and later compilations.

In 1986, Shepard was elected to The American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Shepard was previously married to actress O-Lan Jones (born O-Lan Barna) from 1969 to 1984, by whom he has one son, Jesse.

He met Oscar-winning actress Jessica Lange on the set of a movie they both starred in, Frances. He moved in with her in 1983, and currently lives with her and their two children in Manhattan.

Although considered to be somewhat reclusive, Shepard actually has a pretty healthy social life and his involvement in acting and writing ensure that this is not likely to change.

Shepard as Playwright

1964 Cowboys
1964 The Rock Garden
1965 Chicago
1965 Icarus's Mother
1965 4-H Club
1966 Red Cross (disambiguation)
1967 La Turista
1967 Cowboys #2
1967 Forensic & the Navigators
1969 The Unseen Hand
1969 Oh! Calcutta! (contributed sketches)
1970 The Holy Ghostly
1970 Operation Sidewinder
1971 Mad Dog Blues
1971 Back Bog Beast Bait
1971 Cowboy Mouth (co-written with Patti Smith)
1972 The Tooth of Crime
1978 Curse of the Starving Class
1978 Tongues
1977 Buried Child
1980 True West
1983 Fool for Love
1985 A Lie of the Mind
1993 Simpatico
1995 Buried Child Revised
2000 The Late Henry Moss
2004 The God of Hell

Shepard in Film

Shepard as an Actor

1970 Brand X
1978 Renaldo and Clara - Rodeo
1978 Days of Heaven - The Farmer
1980 Resurrection - Cal Carpenter
1982 Frances - Harry York
1983 The Right Stuff - Chuck Yeager
1984 Paris, Texas
1986 Crimes of the Heart - Doc Porter
1987 Baby Boom - Dr. Jeff Cooper
1989 Steel Magnolias - Spud Jones
1991 The Voyager - Walter Faber
1992 Thunderheart - Frank Coutelle
1993 The Pelican Brief - Professor Thomas Callahan
2000 Hamlet - The Ghost
2001 Black Hawk Down - Maj. Gen. William F. Garrison
2001 Kurosawa - Narrator
2001 Swordfish - Senator James Reisman
2001 The Pledge - Eric Pollack
2004 The Notebook - Frank Calhoun
2005 Don't Come Knocking - Howard
2005 Bandidas (post-production)
2005 Stealth - Capt. George Cummings
2006 The Return
2006 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (post-production)
2006 Poseidon

Shepard as a Screenwriter

Shepard In Print

Seven Plays, Dial Press, 1984, 368 pages, ISBN 0553346113
Fool For Love and Other Plays, Bantam, 1984, 320 pages, ISBN 0553345907
The Unseen Hand: and Other Plays, Vintage, 1996, 400 pages, ISBN 0679767894

Cruising Paradise, Vintage, 1997, 255 pages, ISBN 0679742174
Great Dream Of Heaven Vintage, 2003, 160 pages, ISBN 0375704523

Rolling Thunder Logbook, Da Capo, 2004 reissue, 176 pages, ISBN 0306813718
Motel Chronicles, City Lights, 1983, ISBN 0872861430

Awards & Honors

In 1986, Shepard was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and, in 1992, he received the Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy.

In 1994 he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame. Of his 45+ plays, 11 of them have won Obie Awards. He was nominated for two Tony Awards for Buried Child in 1996, and for True West in 2000.

External links