Business Standard

Sam Shepard, Pulitzer-winning playwright and actor, dies at 73

Shepard was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in 1983's astronaut drama 'The Right Stuff'

Sam Shepard, Pulitzer-winning playwright, is dead at 73

Actor Sam Shepard talks about Discovery Channel's "Klondike" during the Winter 2014 TCA presentations in Pasadena, California, January 9, 2014. File Photo: Reuters

AP New York
Sam Shepard, the Pulitzer Prize- winning playwright, Oscar-nominated actor and celebrated author whose plays chronicled the explosive fault lines of family and masculinity in the American West, has died. He was 73.

Family spokesman Chris Boneau said today that Shepard died Thursday at his home in Kentucky from complications related to Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The taciturn Shepard, who grew up on a California ranch, was a man of few words who nevertheless produced 44 plays and numerous books, memoirs and short stories. His 1979 play "Buried Child" won the Pulitzer for drama.

His Western drawl and laconic presence made him a reluctant movie star, too. He appeared in dozens of films, and was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in 1983's astronaut drama "The Right Stuff."
 
Shepard recently starred in the first season of the Netflix series "Bloodline" as the patriarch of a prominent Florida Keys family who try to keep a web of secrets from destroying their lives.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Aug 01 2017 | 5:02 AM IST

Explore News