Sam Shepard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sam Shepard
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Shepard in 2004
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| Born |
Samuel Shepard Rogers III
November 5, 1943 Fort Sheridan, Illinois, U.S.
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| Died | July 27, 2017 (aged 73) Midway, Kentucky, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Mt. San Antonio College |
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| Years active | 1963–2017 |
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Works
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Filmography |
| Spouse(s) |
O-Lan Jones
(m. 1969; div. 1984) |
| Partner(s) | Jessica Lange (1982–2009) |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | Full list |
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Samuel Shepard Rogers III (born November 5, 1943 – died July 27, 2017) was an American actor, writer, and director. His career lasted for 50 years. He won 10 Obie Awards for his writing and directing. This is more than any other writer or director.
Shepard wrote 58 plays. He also wrote several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1983. This was for playing pilot Chuck Yeager in the film The Right Stuff.
New York magazine called Shepard "the greatest American playwright of his generation." His plays are known for their unique, poetic, and sometimes strange style. They often feature characters who feel a bit lost in American society.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Sam Shepard was born on November 5, 1943. This was in Fort Sheridan, Illinois, near Chicago. His full name was Samuel Shepard Rogers III. But people called him Steve Rogers.
His father was a teacher and farmer. He was also a bomber pilot in World War II. His mother, Jane Elaine, was a teacher from Chicago.
As a teenager, Shepard worked on a ranch. After high school in 1961, he studied animal husbandry for a short time. This was at Mt. San Antonio College. While there, he became very interested in the writer Samuel Beckett. He also liked jazz music and abstract expressionism. He soon left college to join a touring theater group.
Shepard's Career in Theater and Film
Becoming a Writer
Shepard moved to New York City in 1963. He worked as a busboy at a nightclub called the Village Gate. In 1964, the head waiter there, Ralph Cook, started an experimental theater group. It was called Theatre Genesis. Two of Shepard's first short plays, "The Rock Garden" and "Cowboys," were shown there. Around this time, Steve Rogers started using the name Sam Shepard.
In 1965, more of Shepard's short plays were produced. These included Dog and The Rocking Chair. Many of his plays were shown at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. This continued through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. His play The Unseen Hand (1969) even inspired parts of the musical The Rocky Horror Show.
Shepard won six Obie Awards between 1966 and 1968. He also started writing for films. He wrote for Me and My Brother (1968) and Zabriskie Point (1970).
His play Cowboy Mouth (1971) was a team effort with musician Patti Smith. The story was inspired by their friendship. After this, Shepard moved to London with his family. He later moved back to the United States in 1975. He lived on a ranch in California. There, he continued to write plays.
Shepard joined musician Bob Dylan on his "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour in 1975. Shepard was supposed to write a film script for the tour. But much of the film was made up on the spot. So, his script was not used much. Shepard wrote a diary about the tour called Rolling Thunder Logbook (1978). Later, Dylan and Shepard wrote a song together called "Brownsville Girl" (1986).
In 1975, Shepard became a writer-in-residence at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco. He wrote many famous plays there. This included his Family Trilogy. One play from this group, Buried Child (1978), won the Pulitzer Prize. It was also nominated for five Tony Awards. This was a big moment in his career.
Other well-known plays from this time include True West (1980) and Fool for Love (1983). Buried Child is a story about a young man visiting his grandfather's farm. His family acts like they don't know him. This play showed Shepard's skill in writing about family secrets. True West and Fool for Love were also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Shepard won a total of 10 Obie Awards for his writing and directing.
Acting on Screen
Shepard started his film acting career in Days of Heaven (1978). He played a land owner in the movie. This led to other important film roles. He played Cal in Resurrection (1980). Most famously, he played Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff (1983). This role earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
By the mid-1980s, Shepard was a busy film actor. His play Fool for Love was made into a movie in 1985. Shepard played the main role in it. He was featured on the cover of Newsweek magazine.
Shepard also taught classes about playwriting and theater. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1986. In 2000, he staged a special performance of his play The Late Henry Moss. This was to help the Magic Theatre. Famous actors like Nick Nolte and Sean Penn were in it. In 2001, Shepard played General William F. Garrison in the film Black Hawk Down.
In 2007, Shepard played the banjo on Patti Smith's cover of Nirvana's song "Smells Like Teen Spirit". This was on her album Twelve. A director named Joseph Chaikin was a big influence on Shepard's work. They worked together on many projects. Shepard said Chaikin was a very helpful mentor.
Shepard starred in the film Blackthorn in 2011. His last film role was in Never Here, which came out in 2017. Shepard also appeared in the TV series Bloodline from 2014 to 2017.
Directing His Own Work
Early in his career, Shepard did not direct his own plays. Other directors, like Ralph Cook, directed them. Later, Shepard decided he needed to direct his plays himself. He felt this was the best way to show his vision. He directed many of his own plays from then on. He rarely directed plays by other writers. He also directed two films. But film directing was not his main focus.
Personal Life
From 1969 to 1984, Sam Shepard was married to actress O-Lan Jones. They had one son, Jesse Mojo Shepard, born in 1970.
Shepard met actress Jessica Lange in 1982. They were both acting in the film Frances. They lived together from 1983 to 2009. They had two children, Hannah Jane Shepard (born 1986) and Samuel Walker Shepard (born 1987). In 2003, his elder son, Jesse, wrote a book of short stories. Shepard appeared with him at a book reading.
Shepard had a fear of flying. He said this fear inspired a character in his 1966 play Icarus's Mother. However, he did fly in a jet plane with Chuck Yeager in 1982. This was to prepare for his role in The Right Stuff.
His long friendship with Johnny Dark was shown in a 2013 documentary. It was called Shepard & Dark. A book of their letters was also published that year.
Death
Sam Shepard died on July 27, 2017. He was 73 years old. He passed away at his home in Midway, Kentucky. He died from problems related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Patti Smith wrote a tribute to him in The New Yorker. Actor Matthew McConaughey, who worked with Shepard, was sad to hear the news.
Archives
Sam Shepard's writings and papers are kept in two places. They are at the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University. They are also at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
Filmography
Awards and Nominations
See also
- List of members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Department of Literature
- List of playwrights from the United States
