Sam Shepard

Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was a multifaceted personality, renowned as an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author with a career spanning half a century. Having written 58 plays, numerous short stories, essays, and memoirs, Shepard's mark on the American literary and performance scene was thoroughly indented. He was the recipient of 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any writer or director, solidifying his credentials in the industry. Shepard earned considerable acclaim and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child. His talent was not just restricted to writing; as an actor, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for portraying pilot Chuck Yeager in the 1983 film The Right Stuff. In broader recognition, Shepard bagged the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award as a master American dramatist in 2009.

Shepard's plays gained significant recognition for their bleak, poetic and surrealist elements, black comedy, and characters living on the fringes of American society. His style evolved from the absurdism of his early off-off-Broadway work to the realism of later plays like Buried Child and Curse of the Starving Class. Besides his literary and performance accomplishments, Shepard worked on a ranch as a teenager, following his upbringing in southern California. He was also a part of the experimental stage company Theater Genesis, and several of his initial one-act plays debuted here. By 1965, his influence in the industry was growing steadily, and he worked on several productions at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. His personal life was also riddled with significant names, having been involved with musician Patti Smith and actress Jessica Lange.