Samuel Shepard Rogers III was an American actor, playwright, author, director and screenwriter whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any writer or director. He wrote 58 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 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager in the 1983 film The Right Stuff. He received the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award as a master American dramatist in 2009. New York magazine described Shepard as "the greatest American playwright of his generation."
Sam Shepard was born on November 5, 1943, in the Chicago suburb of Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He was named Samuel Shepard Rogers III after his father, Samuel Shepard Rogers Jr. (1917–1984), but was called Steve Rogers.
His father was a teacher and farmer who served in the United States Army Air Forces as a bomber pilot during World War II. Shepard characterized his father as "a drinking man, a dedicated alcoholic". His mother, Jane Elaine (née Schook; 1917–1994), was a teacher and a native of Chicago.
Shepard grew up in southern California. He worked on a ranch as a teenager. After graduating from Duarte High School in Duarte, California, in 1961, he briefly studied animal husbandry at nearby Mt. San Antonio College. While at college, Shepard became enamored of Samuel Beckett, jazz, and abstract expressionism. He dropped out to join the Bishop's Company, a touring repertory group.
| Date of Birth | 5th November 1943 |
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| Date of Death | 27th July 2017 |
| Age at Death | 73 Years |
| Zodiac Sign | Scorpio |
| Country | United States of America |
| Current City | Fort Sheridan |
| Birth Place | Fort Sheridan |
| Nationality | United States of America |
| Citizenship | United States of America |
| Spouses | O-Lan Jones |
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| Education |
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| Mt. San Antonio College, Duarte High School |
| Occupation | actor, film director, screenwriter, dramaturge, playwright, stage actor, film actor, theatrical director, autobiographer, percussionist, musician |
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| Awards |
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Movies / Shows by Sam Shepard
In Dubious Battle
California Typewriter
Midnight Special
Ithaca
Cold in July
August: Osage County
Savannah
Out of the Furnace
Mud
Killing Them Softly
Darling Companion
Inhale
