Playwright, Actor, Screenwriter, Director, Author. Born Samuel Shepard Rogers III, he was a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who wrote nearly 50 plays and saw his work produced across the nation. His 1979 play 'Buried Child' won the Pulitzer for drama. Among the other plays he wrote were 'Fool for Love', 'A Lie of the Mind', 'True West' and 'Angel City'. Outside of his stage work, he has worked as an actor, writer, and director in a film career that spanned 5 decades. On film, he appeared in such films as: 'Brand X' (1970), 'Days of Heaven' (1978), 'Raggedy Man' (1981), 'The Right Stuff' (1983, for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing pilot Chuck Yeager), 'Crimes of the Heart' (1986), 'Steel Magnolias' (1989), 'The Pelican Brief' (1993), 'Snow Falling on Cedars' (1999), 'Black Hawk Down' (2001), 'The Notebook' (2004), 'Brothers' (2006), 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' (2007), 'Blackthorn' (2011), 'Cold in July' (2014) and 'Midnight Special' (2016). He also co-wrote the screenplay for 'Paris, Texas' (1984). Additionally, he has written numerous books, short stories and essays. Shepard, whose last film appearance was in 2017's 'Never Here', died from complications of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Playwright, Actor, Screenwriter, Director, Author. Born Samuel Shepard Rogers III, he was a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who wrote nearly 50 plays and saw his work produced across the nation. His 1979 play 'Buried Child' won the Pulitzer for drama. Among the other plays he wrote were 'Fool for Love', 'A Lie of the Mind', 'True West' and 'Angel City'. Outside of his stage work, he has worked as an actor, writer, and director in a film career that spanned 5 decades. On film, he appeared in such films as: 'Brand X' (1970), 'Days of Heaven' (1978), 'Raggedy Man' (1981), 'The Right Stuff' (1983, for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing pilot Chuck Yeager), 'Crimes of the Heart' (1986), 'Steel Magnolias' (1989), 'The Pelican Brief' (1993), 'Snow Falling on Cedars' (1999), 'Black Hawk Down' (2001), 'The Notebook' (2004), 'Brothers' (2006), 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' (2007), 'Blackthorn' (2011), 'Cold in July' (2014) and 'Midnight Special' (2016). He also co-wrote the screenplay for 'Paris, Texas' (1984). Additionally, he has written numerous books, short stories and essays. Shepard, whose last film appearance was in 2017's 'Never Here', died from complications of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Bio by: Louis du Mort
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