Playwright, Director and Actor Sam Shepard Passes Away at 73

[ehrnst]

Source: Broadway World

BroadwayWorld has just learned that playwright, actor, author, screenwriter, and director Sam Shepard has passed away. Shepard, who had been ill with ALS for some time, died peacefully on July 30 at home in Kentucky, surrounded by his children and sisters. He was 73 years old.

Shepard is the author of forty-four plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs. Shepard received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff (1983).

Shepard received the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award as a master American dramatist in 2009. New York described him as "the greatest American playwright of his generation."

His many plays include: Cowboys, The Rock Garden, Chicago, Icarus's Mother, 4-H Club, Red Cross, La Turista, Cowboys #2, Forensic & the Navigators, The Unseen Hand, Oh! Calcutta! (contributed sketches), The Holy Ghostly, Operation Sidewinder, Mad Dog Blues, Back Bog Beast Bait, Cowboy Mouth, The Tooth of Crime, Geography of a Horse Dreamer, Action, Angel City, Suicide in B Flat, Inacoma, Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child, Tongues, True West, Savage/Love, Fool for Love, A Lie of the Mind, A Short Life of Trouble, Baby Boom, States of Shock, Simpatico, Tooth of Crime, Eyes for Consuela, The Late Henry Moss, The God of Hell, Kicking a Dead Horse, Ages of the Moon, Heartless and A Particle of Dread.

Read more: http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Playwright-Director-and-Actor-Sam-Shepard-Passes-Away-at-73-20170731

[hamsterjill]

1. Sorry to learn this.

I was familiar with his acting roles, but did not know he had been a playwright.

Wasn't he married to Jessica Lange at one point?

Sympathies to his family and friends.

[TexasBushwhacker]

23. He and Lange were together for 26 years but never married

They had a daughter and a son.

[regnaD kciN]

2. Damn...

I directed a production of Icarus's Mother in college. (I'm sure Shepard would have found it far, far from the definitive version of the play.) I always thought he was one of the more distinctive voices in American drama; as an actor, he seemed to have a way with non-showy parts (the farmer in Days of Heaven, the ghost of Hamlet's father in the 2000 film) that suggested his experience as a playwright that the performance of the non-central characters in a work can be just as crucial to its effectiveness as that of the dramatic leads.

[still_one]

3. Really sad. I heard he had ALS

[Pachamama]

13. ALS...it has take two people I knew well.

It's a brutal disease... I watched it take two men I knew well, including my dear friend David Ames. They were vibrant athletes and then in a matter of less than a year, in wheel chairs and looking 30 years older and near death.

Awful....in my opinion one of the cruelest of diseases....the mind is there and the body becomes useless and decrepit. Horrible...in the end completely unable to speak and paralyzed. Both my friends died with such dignity and grace - don't know if I ever could match it....awe inspiring...

[still_one]

14. It sure is an awful disease

[spiderpig]

21. I've known two people as well.

One was the husband of a coworker. They were always together as a couple. I had dinner at their home. When another friend and I went to the wake, we dreaded going into the house - but when we did, Peg and her children were smiling and said "He suffered enough." This was 40 years ago.

In nearly half a century have they made any progress with treatment? Stephen Hawking has survived for - what - 50 years?

Damn. Sam Shepard will always be Chuck Yeager in my mind. "Hey Ridley - ya got any Beeman's?"

[Docreed2003]

32. Watched that movie as a kid....was always one of my favorites...

I've been a fan of his ever since. Here you go:

[spiderpig]

34. Thanks for this!

The Right Stuff knocked me out when I saw it at the Grand Lake Theatre with SurroundSound, and all-around perfect filmmaking that revived the thrill and challenge of space exploration that I grew up with in the 60s.

The actors playing the original Mercury 7 were so spot-on that I remember their faces more than the astronauts they were portraying. Ed Harris/John Glenn, anyone?

[Docreed2003]

40. You're most welcome....

Like I said, I've loved that movie since I was a kid. I can only imagine how inspiring it was for someone who had experienced the space race first hand, just knowing how much it inspired me!

And yeah, Ed Harris is John Glenn, Fred Ward is Gus Grissom, and Dennis Quaid is Gordo Cooper and on and on...but Sam Shepard's portray of Yeager was, to me, the soul of the movie. For what it's worth, I had the pleasure of meeting the real Chuck Yeager as a teenager, the thrill of my life at that time....had him sign a package of Beeman, which he thought was hilarious.

[hlthe2b]

15. Oh my... That is so tragic. He was a favorite of mine. So very sorry

to hear of his passing and from such a very cruel cause.

RIP, SAM.

[shenmue]

4. Rest in peace

[yallerdawg]

5. Chuck Yeager and other movies like 'Steel Magnolias.'

Sam Shepard defined the word 'taciturn' for me. An icon!

He wrote a lot of plays, which require a lot of words. He really was an actor!

Rest in peace, Sam Shepard.

[BigmanPigman]

33. That was just on two days ago too. SO SAD!

My grandfather died of ALS and it was horrible since his brain was completely normal and alert.

[Zoonart]

6. Brilliant playwright and fine actor.

Recently enjoyed him in Bloodlines on Netflix.
RIP, Sam.

[usaf-vet]

7. Sad.... he was one of the good guys.

Loved him in the Chuck Yeager movie. R.I.P. Sir!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

8. I enjoyed him in The Right Stuff and more recently as the patriarch in Bloodline.

Talented guy.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

9. He truly had "the right stuff"!😢

[catbyte]

10. Hadn't heard he had ALS. I lost my dad to it in 2000. Worst goddamned disease I've ever seen.

It's even worse than Alzheimers. Your body dies but your mind remains sharp. Horrific. Worst time of my life. It's been 17 years and I'm still traumatized. I feel so sad for his family.

[tiredtoo]

16. My Brother is suffering from this right now.

I have driven the 100 plus miles every two- three weeks to visit him for the past year and a half. Watching him grow weaker and weaker is heartbreaking but he truly enjoys our visits and maintains as positive an attitude as possible with his illness.

[hlthe2b]

19. Oh my...

I'm truly sorry for you and your brother. My best wishes to you both.

[Aimee in OKC]

28. Some ALS research I did before my brother died...

Indicates TUDCA may help. Google TUDCA ALS nih trials . Good luck to him; my brother was diagnosed May 2015 and so quickly gone, just after Christmas. A horrible disease ...

[catbyte]

39. I'm so sorry, Aimee. They say it's a "rare" disease, but I seem to hear of a lot of people

who've come down with it. It would be wonderful if that actually helped.

Again, I'm so sorry.

[Aimee in OKC]

41. TUDCA trials ...

Too late for our loved ones but could maybe help others. They've been recruiting participants in 20 states. Clinical trials.gov NCT03127514 for drug AMX0035

Thanks for the outreached hand ... And a salute back to you.

[catbyte]

36. I'm so sorry, tiredtoo. It's good you're able to see him as much as possible.

It's also good to hear that he has a good attitude about the disease. I hope his family has a lot of support because it just devastates caregivers, too. I think it's because there's just nothing to really fight--ALS always wins in the end. Well, I'll be thinking of all of you. If it gets to be too much & you want to speak to someone who's been through it, please feel free to contact me. Take care.

[hlthe2b]

17. Heavens.. I'm sorry for the loss of your father to that horrific disease as well.

Definitely worse than Alzheimers in that respect....

[catbyte]

37. Thank you, hlthe2b.

[Happyhippychick]

22. My dad had it too. He died in 2005.

I'm never going to get over it either, breaks my heart to this day. I'm sorry for your loss.

[catbyte]

38. I'm so very sorry, Happyhippiechick. My dad died somewhat faster than

the usual ALS diagnosis. I think it's because he was always so damned strong that he was able to power through the symptoms until it was just too advanced for him to fight it. He was chopping down dead trees in the woods in December & he was dead in June. It was fast, but devastating. Being a survivor of someone with ALS is an awful club to belong to.

[Pachamama]

11. Great Actor and playwright - love him

So sad to hear he has passed away...

He will be missed, but not forgotten. His work will live on....

PS: was he still married to Jessica Lange?

[TexasBushwhacker]

24. They weren't married, but were together for 26 years

They split in 2009.

[Solly Mack]

12. :(

[niyad]

18. requiescat in pace

[mountain grammy]

20. Sad to lose that talent.. rest in peace.

[H2O Man]

25. RIP

I liked him a lot, especially in Thunderheart.

[edbermac]

26. Right Stuff, Days of Heaven, Resurrection.

RIP

[madaboutharry]

27. So sad to hear that.

I always loved his work. He possessed a great intellect. Rest In Peace.

[Duppers]

29. "Poet Laureate of America's emotional badlands"

Jack Kroll said of him. Sam had "the right stuff." And what a prolific writer!

[Paladin]

30. Fine actor, great playwright. RIP. (nt)

[sinkingfeeling]

31. Sad to lose him.

[Skittles]

35. ...

he was outstanding

[bagelsforbreakfast]

42. Lots of talent...

Was BLOODLINE his last - still delivered assuming he was sick then. (But gotta mention Lanford Wilson certainly in there for best playwright of his generation).