Sam Shepard
Encyclopedia
Sam Shepard is an American playwright
, actor, and television
and film director
. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
in 1979 for his play Buried Child
. Shepard was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager
in The Right Stuff (1983).
, Illinois
, he worked on a ranch as a teenager. His father, Samuel Shepard Rogers, Jr., was a teacher and farmer who served in the United States Army Air Forces
as a bomber
pilot
during World War II
. His mother, Jane Elaine (née Schook), was a teacher and a native of Chicago
, Illinois. After high school, Shepard briefly attended college, but dropped out to join a travelling theater group. He was also a drummer for the eccentric late-1960s rock band The Holy Modal Rounders, featured in the movie Easy Rider
(1969).
scene beginning at the age of nineteen. Although his plays were staged at several Off-Off-Broadway venues, he was most closely connected with Theatre Genesis, housed at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery in Manhattan's East Village
. Most of his writing was for the stage, but he had early screen-writing credits for Me and My Brother
(1968) and Antonioni's Zabriskie Point
(1970). His early science-fiction play, The Unseen Hand, influenced Richard O'Brien
's stage musical
Rocky Horror Show. After three years of living in England, in 1976 Shepard relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in California and was named playwright-in-residence
at the Magic Theatre
in San Francisco where many of his works received their premier productions. Notable work includes Buried Child
(1978), Curse of the Starving Class
(1978), True West
(1980) and A Lie of the Mind
(1985). He also continued with his collaboration with Bob Dylan
that started with the surrealist film Renaldo and Clara
(1978) and co-wrote with Dylan an epic, 11-minute song entitled "Brownsville Girl
", included on Dylan's Knocked Out Loaded
(1986) album and later compilations.
Shepard began his acting career in earnest when he was cast as the handsome land baron in Terrence Malick
's Days of Heaven
(1978), opposite Richard Gere
and Brooke Adams. This led to other important films and roles, most notably his portrayal of Chuck Yeager
in The Right Stuff (1983), earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor
. By 1986, one of his plays, Fool for Love
, was being made into a film directed by Robert Altman
; his play A Lie of the Mind
was Off-Broadway with an all-star cast including Harvey Keitel
and Geraldine Page
; he was living with Jessica Lange
; and he was working steadily as a film actor—all of which put him on the cover of Newsweek
magazine.
Throughout the years, Shepard has done a considerable amount of teaching on writing plays and other aspects of theatre. His classes and seminars have occurred at various theatre workshops, festivals, and universities. During the 1970s he served a stint as a Regents Professor at the University of California, Davis.
Shepard was elected to The American Academy of Arts and Letters
in 1986. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1986.
In 2000, Shepard decided to repay a debt of gratitude to the Magic Theatre by staging his play The Late Henry Moss as a benefit in San Francisco. The cast included Nick Nolte
, Sean Penn
, Woody Harrelson
, and Cheech Marin
. The limited, three-month run was sold out.
In 2001, Shepard had a notable role of General William F. Garrison
in the box office hit and cult classic movie Black Hawk Down. Although he was cast in a supporting role, it reinvigorated interest in Shepard among the public and critics alike.
He performed Spalding Gray
's final monologue Life Interrupted for its audio release through Macmillan Audio in 2006.
In 2007, Shepard was featured playing banjo
on Patti Smith
's cover of Nirvana
's song, "Smells Like Teen Spirit
", on her album Twelve
.
Although many artists have had an influence on Shepard's work, one of the most significant has been actor-director Joseph Chaikin
, a veteran of the Living Theatre and founder of a group called the Open Theatre. The two have often worked together on various projects, and Shepard acknowledges that Chaikin has been a valuable mentor.
A revival of A Lie of the Mind in New York
was staged at the same time as his 2010 play, Ages of the Moon, also opened there. Reflecting on the two plays, Shephard said that the older, longer play feels to him "awkward ...[, a]ll of the characters are in a fractured place, broken into pieces, and the pieces don’t really fit together," while the newer play "is like a Porsche
. ... It’s sleek, it does exactly what you want it to do, and it can speed up but also shows off great brakes." The revival and new play also coincided with the publication of the collection Day out of Days: Stories (book title echoing a film-making term
), also by Shepard. The book includes "short stories, poems and narrative sketches ... that developed from dozens of leather-bound notebooks [Shepard] has carried with him over the years."
In 2011 Shepard will star in Blackthorn, in theaters Oct 7th.
(1982), among other plays. During the 1970s, though, Shepard decided that his vision of his plays required that he should direct them himself. He has since directed many of his own plays, but with a few rare exceptions, he has not directed plays by other playwrights. He has also directed two films but apparently does not see film direction as a major interest.
musician Charles Mingus
. Then he lived with actress Joyce Aaron. He later married actress O-Lan Jones
(born O-Lan Johnson, alias O-Lan Johnson Dark, alias O-Lan Barna) from 1969 to 1984, with whom he has one son, Jesse Mojo Shepard (born 1970). After the end of his relationship with the singer and musician Patti Smith
, Shepard met Academy-Award-winning actress Jessica Lange
on the set of a film they were both acting in, Frances
. He moved in with her in 1983, and they have been together ever since. They have two children, Hannah Jane (born 1985) and Samuel Walker Shepard (born 1987). In 2005 Jesse Shepard wrote a book of short stories which was published in San Francisco, and his father appeared together with him at a reading to introduce the book.
Although he played the legendary test pilot Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff, and went through an airliner crash in the film Voyager (1992), Shepard is known for his aversion to flying. According to one account, he vowed never to fly again after a very rocky trip on an airliner coming back from Mexico in the 1960s. However, he allowed the real Chuck Yeager to take him up in a jet plane in 1982 when he was preparing for his role as Yeager in The Right Stuff.
In the early morning hours of January 3, 2009, Shepard was arrested and charged with speeding and drunken driving in Normal, Illinois
; his blood alcohol content
was allegedly 0.175. Shepard was taken to the McLean County Jail, in Bloomington, IL, and posted bond after processing. He pleaded guilty to both charges on February 11, 2009 and was sentenced to 24 months probation, alcohol education classes, and 100 hours of community service.
of Southwestern Writers, Texas State University, were donated by the author and comprise some 26 boxes of material.
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, actor, and television
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
in 1979 for his play Buried Child
Buried Child
Buried Child is a play by Sam Shepard first presented in 1978. It won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and launched Shepard to national fame as a playwright...
. Shepard was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager
Chuck Yeager
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound...
in The Right Stuff (1983).
Early years
Born Samuel Shepard Rogers IV in Fort SheridanFort Sheridan, Illinois
Fort Sheridan is a residential neighborhood spread among Lake Forest, Highwood, and Highland Park in Lake County, Illinois, United States. It was originally established as a United States Army Post named after Civil War Cavalry General Philip Sheridan, to honor his services to Chicago...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, he worked on a ranch as a teenager. His father, Samuel Shepard Rogers, Jr., was a teacher and farmer who served in the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
as a bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His mother, Jane Elaine (née Schook), was a teacher and a native of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois. After high school, Shepard briefly attended college, but dropped out to join a travelling theater group. He was also a drummer for the eccentric late-1960s rock band The Holy Modal Rounders, featured in the movie Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
(1969).
Career
Shepard became involved in New York City's Off-Off-Broadway theaterOff-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...
scene beginning at the age of nineteen. Although his plays were staged at several Off-Off-Broadway venues, he was most closely connected with Theatre Genesis, housed at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery in Manhattan's East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
. Most of his writing was for the stage, but he had early screen-writing credits for Me and My Brother
Me and My Brother (film)
Me and My Brother is a 1969 independent film directed by Robert Frank. The film stars Julius Orlovsky, Peter Orlovsky, John Coe, Seth Allen and Christopher Walken. It is Sam Shepard's film debut. The film tells a story of Julius and Peter Orlovsky...
(1968) and Antonioni's Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point (film)
Zabriskie Point is a 1970 film by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, widely noted at the time for its setting in the late 1960s counterculture of the United States...
(1970). His early science-fiction play, The Unseen Hand, influenced Richard O'Brien
Richard O'Brien
Richard Timothy Smith , better known under his stage name Richard O'Brien, is an English writer, actor, television presenter and theatre performer. He is perhaps best known for writing the cult musical The Rocky Horror Show and for his role in presenting the popular TV show The Crystal Maze...
's stage musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Rocky Horror Show. After three years of living in England, in 1976 Shepard relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in California and was named playwright-in-residence
Artist in residence
Artist-in-residence programs and other residency opportunities allow visiting artists to stay and work so that they may apply singular focus to their art practice....
at the Magic Theatre
Magic Theatre
The Magic Theatre is a theatre company founded in 1967, presently based at the historic Fort Mason Center on San Francisco's northern waterfront...
in San Francisco where many of his works received their premier productions. Notable work includes Buried Child
Buried Child
Buried Child is a play by Sam Shepard first presented in 1978. It won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and launched Shepard to national fame as a playwright...
(1978), Curse of the Starving Class
Curse of the Starving Class
Curse of the Starving Class is a play by Sam Shepard which, along with Buried Child, A Lie of the Mind and True West, comprises the playwright's family tragedies.-Production history:...
(1978), True West
True West (play)
True West is a play by American playwright Sam Shepard. Like most of his works it is inspired by myths of American life and popular culture. The play is a more traditional narrative than most of the plays that Shepard has written.-Plot:...
(1980) and A Lie of the Mind
A Lie of the Mind
A Lie of the Mind is a play written by Sam Shepard, first staged at the off-Broadway Promenade Theater on 5 December 1985. The play was directed by Shepard himself with stars Harvey Keitel as Jake, Amanda Plummer as Beth, Aidan Quinn as Frankie, Geraldine Page as Lorraine, and Will Patton as Mike...
(1985). He also continued with his collaboration with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
that started with the surrealist film Renaldo and Clara
Renaldo and Clara
Renaldo and Clara is a surrealist movie, directed by and starring Bob Dylan. Filmed in 1975, during Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour, it was released in 1978...
(1978) and co-wrote with Dylan an epic, 11-minute song entitled "Brownsville Girl
Brownsville Girl
"Brownsville Girl" is a song from Bob Dylan's 1986 album, Knocked Out Loaded. It is notable for its eleven-minute and 5 second length and for being co-written by playwright Sam Shepard...
", included on Dylan's Knocked Out Loaded
Knocked Out Loaded
Knocked Out Loaded is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 24th studio album, released by Columbia Records in July 1986.The album was received poorly upon release, and is still considered by some critics to be one of Dylan's least-engaging efforts...
(1986) album and later compilations.
Shepard began his acting career in earnest when he was cast as the handsome land baron in Terrence Malick
Terrence Malick
Terrence Frederick Malick is a U.S. film director, screenwriter, and producer. In a career spanning almost four decades, Malick has directed five feature films....
's Days of Heaven
Days of Heaven
Days of Heaven is a 1978 American romantic drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard and Linda Manz. Set in the early 20th century, it tells the story of two poor lovers, Bill and Abby, as they travel to the Texas Panhandle to harvest...
(1978), opposite Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
and Brooke Adams. This led to other important films and roles, most notably his portrayal of Chuck Yeager
Chuck Yeager
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound...
in The Right Stuff (1983), earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
. By 1986, one of his plays, Fool for Love
Fool for Love (play)
Fool for Love is a play written by American playwright/actor Sam Shepard.-Plot:The "fools" in the play are battling lovers at a Mojave Desert motel. May is hiding out at said motel when an old childhood friend and old flame, Eddie. Eddie tries to convince May to come back home with him and live in...
, was being made into a film directed by Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
; his play A Lie of the Mind
A Lie of the Mind
A Lie of the Mind is a play written by Sam Shepard, first staged at the off-Broadway Promenade Theater on 5 December 1985. The play was directed by Shepard himself with stars Harvey Keitel as Jake, Amanda Plummer as Beth, Aidan Quinn as Frankie, Geraldine Page as Lorraine, and Will Patton as Mike...
was Off-Broadway with an all-star cast including Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
and Geraldine Page
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Sue Page was an American actress. Although she starred in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater...
; he was living with Jessica Lange
Jessica Lange
Jessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. The recipient of several awards, including two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and one Emmy, Lange is regarded as one of the première female actors of her generation.Lange was discovered by producer...
; and he was working steadily as a film actor—all of which put him on the cover of Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine.
Throughout the years, Shepard has done a considerable amount of teaching on writing plays and other aspects of theatre. His classes and seminars have occurred at various theatre workshops, festivals, and universities. During the 1970s he served a stint as a Regents Professor at the University of California, Davis.
Shepard was elected to The American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters
The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 250-member honor society; its goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Located in Washington Heights, a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan in New York, it shares Audubon Terrace, its Beaux Arts campus on...
in 1986. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1986.
In 2000, Shepard decided to repay a debt of gratitude to the Magic Theatre by staging his play The Late Henry Moss as a benefit in San Francisco. The cast included Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
, Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
, Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
, and Cheech Marin
Cheech Marin
Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin is an American comedian, actor and writer who gained recognition as part of the comedy act Cheech & Chong during the 1970s and early 1980s, and as Don Johnson's partner, Insp. Joe Dominguez on Nash Bridges...
. The limited, three-month run was sold out.
In 2001, Shepard had a notable role of General William F. Garrison
William F. Garrison
William F. Garrison is a retired Major General of the United States Army who was the commander of Operation Gothic Serpent, the military operation launched in 1993 to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid...
in the box office hit and cult classic movie Black Hawk Down. Although he was cast in a supporting role, it reinvigorated interest in Shepard among the public and critics alike.
He performed Spalding Gray
Spalding Gray
Spalding Rockwell Gray was an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, performance artist and monologuist...
's final monologue Life Interrupted for its audio release through Macmillan Audio in 2006.
In 2007, Shepard was featured playing banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
on Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
's cover of Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
's song, "Smells Like Teen Spirit
Smells Like Teen Spirit
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, Nevermind , released on DGC Records...
", on her album Twelve
Twelve (Patti Smith album)
Twelve is an album by Patti Smith, released April 17, 2007 on Columbia Records. As the title suggests, the album contains twelve tracks, all of which are cover versions. It debuted on Billboard 200 at number 60, with 11,000 copies sold in its first week...
.
Although many artists have had an influence on Shepard's work, one of the most significant has been actor-director Joseph Chaikin
Joseph Chaikin
Joseph Chaikin was an American theatre director, playwright, and pedagogue.-Early years:The youngest of five children, Chaikin was born to a poor Jewish family living in the Borough Park residential area of Brooklyn. At the age of six, he was struck with rheumatic fever, and he continued to...
, a veteran of the Living Theatre and founder of a group called the Open Theatre. The two have often worked together on various projects, and Shepard acknowledges that Chaikin has been a valuable mentor.
A revival of A Lie of the Mind in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
was staged at the same time as his 2010 play, Ages of the Moon, also opened there. Reflecting on the two plays, Shephard said that the older, longer play feels to him "awkward ...[, a]ll of the characters are in a fractured place, broken into pieces, and the pieces don’t really fit together," while the newer play "is like a Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
. ... It’s sleek, it does exactly what you want it to do, and it can speed up but also shows off great brakes." The revival and new play also coincided with the publication of the collection Day out of Days: Stories (book title echoing a film-making term
Day Out of Days
The Day Out of Days is a chart used by filmmakers to tally the number of paid days for each cast member. The chart must be prepared after the shooting schedule. Once it has been completed, work can begin on a budget....
), also by Shepard. The book includes "short stories, poems and narrative sketches ... that developed from dozens of leather-bound notebooks [Shepard] has carried with him over the years."
In 2011 Shepard will star in Blackthorn, in theaters Oct 7th.
Directing
At the beginning of his playwriting career, Shepard did not direct his own plays. His earliest plays were directed by a number of different directors but most frequently by Ralph Cook, the founder of Theatre Genesis. Later, while living at the Flying Y Ranch in Mill Valley, just north of San Francisco, Shepard formed a successful playwright-director relationship with Robert Woodruff, who directed the premiere of Buried ChildBuried Child
Buried Child is a play by Sam Shepard first presented in 1978. It won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and launched Shepard to national fame as a playwright...
(1982), among other plays. During the 1970s, though, Shepard decided that his vision of his plays required that he should direct them himself. He has since directed many of his own plays, but with a few rare exceptions, he has not directed plays by other playwrights. He has also directed two films but apparently does not see film direction as a major interest.
Personal life
When Shepard first arrived in New York, he roomed with Charlie Mingus, Jr., a friend of his from high school and son of famous jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
. Then he lived with actress Joyce Aaron. He later married actress O-Lan Jones
O-Lan Jones
O-Lan Jones is an American actress. Her name came from the novel The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.-Selected Filmography:-References:...
(born O-Lan Johnson, alias O-Lan Johnson Dark, alias O-Lan Barna) from 1969 to 1984, with whom he has one son, Jesse Mojo Shepard (born 1970). After the end of his relationship with the singer and musician Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, Shepard met Academy-Award-winning actress Jessica Lange
Jessica Lange
Jessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. The recipient of several awards, including two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and one Emmy, Lange is regarded as one of the première female actors of her generation.Lange was discovered by producer...
on the set of a film they were both acting in, Frances
Frances
Frances is a 1982 American drama film starring Jessica Lange, Kim Stanley, and Sam Shepard. When it was released this film was advertised as a purportedly true account of actress Frances Farmer's life but the script was largely fictional and sensationalized...
. He moved in with her in 1983, and they have been together ever since. They have two children, Hannah Jane (born 1985) and Samuel Walker Shepard (born 1987). In 2005 Jesse Shepard wrote a book of short stories which was published in San Francisco, and his father appeared together with him at a reading to introduce the book.
Although he played the legendary test pilot Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff, and went through an airliner crash in the film Voyager (1992), Shepard is known for his aversion to flying. According to one account, he vowed never to fly again after a very rocky trip on an airliner coming back from Mexico in the 1960s. However, he allowed the real Chuck Yeager to take him up in a jet plane in 1982 when he was preparing for his role as Yeager in The Right Stuff.
In the early morning hours of January 3, 2009, Shepard was arrested and charged with speeding and drunken driving in Normal, Illinois
Normal, Illinois
Normal is an incorporated town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. It had a population of 52,497 as of the 2010 census. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...
; his blood alcohol content
Blood alcohol content
Blood alcohol content , also called blood alcohol concentration, blood ethanol concentration, or blood alcohol level is most commonly used as a metric of alcohol intoxication for legal or medical purposes....
was allegedly 0.175. Shepard was taken to the McLean County Jail, in Bloomington, IL, and posted bond after processing. He pleaded guilty to both charges on February 11, 2009 and was sentenced to 24 months probation, alcohol education classes, and 100 hours of community service.
Awards and honors
| Year | Nominated work(s) | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Chicago, Icarus's Mother Icarus's Mother Icarus's Mother, a one-act play by Sam Shepard, was first staged at the Caffe Cino in 1965. It was directed by Michael Smith, a drama critic, and had a cast which included John Coe, a veteran of the Living Theatre. Unlike most of Shepard's early one-acts, the production was notably unsuccessful. A... , Red Cross |
Obie Award Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City... for Best Distinguished Play(s) |
|
| 1967 | La Turista La Turista La Turista is a play by the American playwright Sam Shepard, first performed in New York in 1967. The title refers to the most common illness among tourists. The two main characters are Salem and Kent, which are also the name of cigarettes. It is a two act dramatic play. The first act takes place... |
||
| 1968 | Forensic and the Navigator, Melodrama Play | ||
| 1973 | The Tooth of Crime | ||
| 1975 | Action | Obie Award for Best Playwriting | |
| 1977 | Curse of the Starving Class | Obie Award for Best New American Play | |
| 1979 | Buried Child Buried Child Buried Child is a play by Sam Shepard first presented in 1978. It won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and launched Shepard to national fame as a playwright... |
Obie Award for Best Playwriting | |
| Pulitzer Prize for Drama Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year... |
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| 1980 | Himself | Obie Award for Sustained Achievement | |
| 1984 | Fool for Love Fool for Love (play) Fool for Love is a play written by American playwright/actor Sam Shepard.-Plot:The "fools" in the play are battling lovers at a Mojave Desert motel. May is hiding out at said motel when an old childhood friend and old flame, Eddie. Eddie tries to convince May to come back home with him and live in... |
Obie Award for Best New American Play | |
| Obie Award for Best Direction | |||
| The Right Stuff | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... |
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| 1985 | Paris, Texas Paris, Texas (film) Paris, Texas is a 1984 drama film directed by Wim Wenders. The screenplay is by L.M. Kit Carson and playwright Sam Shepard, and the distinctive musical score was composed by Ry Cooder. The cinematography is by Robby Müller.... |
BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for Best Adapted Screenplay has been presented to its winners since 1968:-1980s:1983: Heat and Dust – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala*Betrayal – Harold Pinter... |
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| 1986 | A Lie of the Mind A Lie of the Mind A Lie of the Mind is a play written by Sam Shepard, first staged at the off-Broadway Promenade Theater on 5 December 1985. The play was directed by Shepard himself with stars Harvey Keitel as Jake, Amanda Plummer as Beth, Aidan Quinn as Frankie, Geraldine Page as Lorraine, and Will Patton as Mike... |
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play This is a list of winners of the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play initially introduced in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre.-1950s:Vernon Rice Award for Best Production... |
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| New York Drama Critics' Circle for Best Play | |||
| Outer Critics Circle Award Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets... for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play |
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| 1992 | Himself | American Academy of Arts and Letters - Gold Medal for Drama | |
| 1994 | American Theatre Hall of Fame American Theatre Hall of Fame The American Theatre Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the Executive Committee. In an announcement at a luncheon meeting on March 1972, he said that the new Theater Hall of Fame would be located in the Uris Theatre . James M... |
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| 1996 | Buried Child Buried Child Buried Child is a play by Sam Shepard first presented in 1978. It won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and launched Shepard to national fame as a playwright... |
Tony Award for Best Play Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theatre, including musical theatre, honoring productions on Broadway in New York. It currently takes place in mid-June each year.There was no award in the Tony's first year... |
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| 1997 | Hallmark Hall of Fame Hallmark Hall of Fame Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011... : "Lily Dale" |
Lone Star Film & Television Award for Best TV Supporting Actor | |
| 1999 | Dash and Lilly Dash and Lilly Dash and Lilly is a 1999 Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated television film directed by Kathy Bates and written by Jerrold L. Ludwig.-Plot:... |
Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | |
| 2000 | Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Film | ||
| True West True West (play) True West is a play by American playwright Sam Shepard. Like most of his works it is inspired by myths of American life and popular culture. The play is a more traditional narrative than most of the plays that Shepard has written.-Plot:... |
Tony Award for Best Play 54th Tony Awards The 54th Annual Tony Awards was held at Radio City Music Hall on June 4, 2000 and broadcast by CBS. "The First Ten" awards ceremony was telecast on PBS television. The event was hosted by Rosie O’Donnell, with special guest Nathan Lane... |
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| 2002 | Black Hawk Down | Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Acting Ensemble Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2002 The 3rd Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards honoring the best filmmaking of 2002, were announced on January 7, 2003.-Best Acting Ensemble:The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers*Adaptation.*Chicago... |
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| 2008 | Ruffian Ruffian (film) Ruffian is an American made-for-television movie that tells the story of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame Champion thoroughbred filly Ruffian who went undefeated until her death after breaking down in a nationally televised match race at Belmont Park on July 6, 1975 against the Kentucky Derby winner,... |
SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries |
Archives
The Sam Shepard papers at the Wittliff collectionsWittliff collections
The Wittliff Collections, located on the seventh floor of the Albert B. Alkek Library at Texas State University, was founded by William D. Wittliff in 1987...
of Southwestern Writers, Texas State University, were donated by the author and comprise some 26 boxes of material.
Collections
| Collections | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1973 | Hawk Moon | PAJ Books, ISBN 0-933826-23-0 |
| 1983 | Motel Chronicles | City Lights, ISBN 0-87286-143-0 |
| 1984 | Seven Plays | Dial Press Dial Press The Dial Press was a publishing house founded in 1923 by Lincoln MacVeagh.Dial Press shared a building with The Dial and Scofield Thayer worked with both. The first imprint was issued in 1924. Authors included Elizabeth Bowen, W.R... , 368 pages, ISBN 0-553-34611-3 |
| Fool For Love and Other Plays | Bantam, 320 pages, ISBN 0-553-34590-7 | |
| 1996 | The Unseen Hand: and Other Plays | Vintage, 400 pages, ISBN 0-679-76789-4 |
| 1997 | Cruising Paradise | Vintage, 255 pages, ISBN 0-679-74217-4 |
| 2003 | Great Dream Of Heaven | Vintage, 160 pages, ISBN 0-375-70452-3 |
| 2004 | Rolling Thunder Logbook | Da Capo, 176 pages, reissue, ISBN 0-306-81371-8 |
| 2010 | Day out of Days: Stories | Knopf, 304 pages, ISBN 978-0-307-26540-1 |
Actor
| As actor | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role |
| 1963 | Apples In the Tree | |
| 1965 | Rusakai | |
| 1970 | Brand X | |
| 1978 | Renaldo and Clara Renaldo and Clara Renaldo and Clara is a surrealist movie, directed by and starring Bob Dylan. Filmed in 1975, during Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour, it was released in 1978... |
Rodeo |
| Days of Heaven Days of Heaven Days of Heaven is a 1978 American romantic drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard and Linda Manz. Set in the early 20th century, it tells the story of two poor lovers, Bill and Abby, as they travel to the Texas Panhandle to harvest... |
The Farmer | |
| 1980 | Resurrection Resurrection (1980 film) Resurrection is a 1980 film which tells the story of a woman who survives the car accident which kills her husband, but discovers that she has the power to heal other people... |
Cal Carpenter |
| 1981 | Raggedy Man Raggedy Man Raggedy Man is a 1981 film starring Sam Shepard and Sissy Spacek. Itwas filmed in Lockhart, Texas. The story is about people in the small Texas town of Gregory during World War II.... |
Bailey |
| 1982 | Frances Frances Frances is a 1982 American drama film starring Jessica Lange, Kim Stanley, and Sam Shepard. When it was released this film was advertised as a purportedly true account of actress Frances Farmer's life but the script was largely fictional and sensationalized... |
Harry York |
| 1983 | The Right Stuff | Chuck Yeager |
| 1984 | Paris, Texas Paris, Texas (film) Paris, Texas is a 1984 drama film directed by Wim Wenders. The screenplay is by L.M. Kit Carson and playwright Sam Shepard, and the distinctive musical score was composed by Ry Cooder. The cinematography is by Robby Müller.... |
unconfirmed |
| Country Country (film) Country is a 1984 American film which follows the trials and tribulations of a rural family as they struggle to hold onto their farm during the trying economic times experienced by family farms in 1980s America. The film was written by William D. Wittliff and stars real-life couple Jessica Lange... |
Gil Ivy | |
| 1986 | Crimes of the Heart Crimes of the Heart (film) Crimes of the Heart is a 1986 American black comedy film directed by Bruce Beresford. The screenplay by Beth Henley is adapted from her Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name.-Plot:... |
Doc Porter |
| 1987 | Baby Boom Baby Boom (film) Baby Boom is a 1987 comedy film starring Diane Keaton. The film also launched a subsequent television show starring Kate Jackson, running from 1988 to 1989. The original music score was composed by Bill Conti and the cinematography was by William A. Fraker.... |
Dr. Jeff Cooper |
| 1989 | Steel Magnolias Steel Magnolias Steel Magnolias is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross that stars Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah and Julia Roberts.... |
Spud Jones |
| 1990 | Bright Angel Bright Angel Bright Angel is a 1990 film directed by Michael Fields. Although it received some critical acclaim, the film earned only $158,243 at the domestic box office.-Plot:... |
Jack |
| 1991 | Voyager | Walter Faber |
| 1992 | Thunderheart Thunderheart Thunderheart is a 1992 American contemporary western mystery film directed by Michael Apted from an original screenplay by John Fusco. The film is a loosely based fictional portrayal of events relating to the Wounded Knee incident in 1973... |
Frank Coutelle |
| 1993 | The Pelican Brief The Pelican Brief (film) The Pelican Brief is a 1993 legal crime thriller based on the novel of the same name by John Grisham. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film stars Julia Roberts in the role of young law student Darby Shaw and Denzel Washington as Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham... |
Professor Thomas Callahan |
| 1994 | Safe Passage Safe Passage (film) Safe Passage is a 1994 English language drama film starring Susan Sarandon, and featuring Nick Stahl, Sam Shepard, Sean Astin and Jason London... |
Patrick Singer |
| 1995 | Streets of Laredo Streets of Laredo (film) Streets of Laredo is a 1949 western film starring William Holden, Macdonald Carey and William Bendix as three outlaws who rescue a young girl, played by Mona Freeman... |
Pea Eye Parker |
| 1999 | Snow Falling on Cedars Snow Falling on Cedars (film) Snow Falling on Cedars is a film directed by Scott Hicks. It is based on David Guterson's novel of the same title. It was released in 1999 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.-Plot:... |
Arthur Chambers |
| Purgatory | Sheriff Forrest/Wild Bill Hickock | |
| 2000 | Hamlet Hamlet (2000 film) Hamlet is a 2000 American film written and directed by Michael Almereyda, set in contemporary New York City, and based on the Shakespeare play of the same name... |
The Ghost |
| All the Pretty Horses All the Pretty Horses (film) All the Pretty Horses is a 2000 American romance western film, directed by Billy Bob Thornton and based on the novel of the same title by author Cormac McCarthy. It stars Matt Damon and Penélope Cruz... |
J.C. Franklin | |
| 2001 | Black Hawk Down | Maj. Gen. Major General Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general... William F. Garrison William F. Garrison William F. Garrison is a retired Major General of the United States Army who was the commander of Operation Gothic Serpent, the military operation launched in 1993 to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid... |
| After the Harvest | Caleb Gare | |
| Kurosawa | Narrator | |
| Shot in the Heart Shot in the Heart Shot in the Heart is a memoir written by Mikal Gilmore, then a senior contributing editor at Rolling Stone, about his tumultuous childhood in a dysfunctional family, and his brother Gary Gilmore's eventual execution by firing squad in 1977 for a convenience store murder he committed in Provo,... |
Frank Gilmore | |
| Swordfish Swordfish (film) Swordfish is a 2001 crime-thriller film, directed by Dominic Sena and starring John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle and Vinnie Jones. The film is an action thriller that was also notable for Halle Berry's first topless scene... |
Senator James Reisman | |
| The Pledge The Pledge (film) The Pledge is a 2001 American mystery film directed by Sean Penn. It is based on the 1958 novella Das Versprechen: Requiem auf den Kriminalroman , by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt... |
Eric Pollack | |
| 2003 | Blind Horizon | Sheriff Jack Kolb |
| 2004 | The Notebook The Notebook (film) The Notebook is a 2004 romance film directed by Nick Cassavetes, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love during the early 1940s... |
Frank Calhoun |
| 2005 | Don't Come Knocking Don't Come Knocking Don't Come Knocking is a 2005 film, a comedy-drama road movie directed by German director Wim Wenders and written by Wenders and actor/playwright Sam Shepard. The two had previously collaborated on the film Paris, Texas... |
Howard |
| Bandidas Bandidas Bandidas is a 2006 French/Mexican/American Western comedy film starring Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz directed by Norwegian directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg and produced and written by Luc Besson... |
Bill Buck | |
| Stealth Stealth (film) Stealth is a 2005 American science fiction action film starring Jessica Biel, Josh Lucas, Jamie Foxx, and Sam Shepard. The film was directed by Rob Cohen, director of The Fast and the Furious and xXx.... |
Capt. George Cummings | |
| 2006 | Walker Payne Walker Payne Walker Payne is a 2006 film directed and co-written by Matt Williams. It features Jason Patric, Drea de Matteo, KaDee Strickland, Sam Shepard and Bruce Dern. It was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2006.-References:... |
Syrus |
| The Return The Return (2006 film) The Return is a 2006 psychological thriller directed by Asif Kapadia. The film stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kate Beahan, Peter O'Brien, and Sam Shepard... |
Ed Mills | |
| Charlotte's Web Charlotte's Web (2006 film) Charlotte's Web is a 2006 American live-action/computer-animated feature film, based on the popular book of the same name by E. B. White. It is directed by Gary Winick and produced by Paramount Pictures, Walden Media, The K Entertainment Company, and Nickelodeon Movies... |
(Narrator) | |
| 2007 | Ruffian Ruffian (film) Ruffian is an American made-for-television movie that tells the story of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame Champion thoroughbred filly Ruffian who went undefeated until her death after breaking down in a nationally televised match race at Belmont Park on July 6, 1975 against the Kentucky Derby winner,... |
Frank Whiteley Frank Y. Whiteley, Jr. Frank Yewell Whiteley, Jr. was a Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.Born and raised on a farm in Centreville, Maryland, Whiteley grew up around horses and from a very early age was intent on racing them. Developing his skills, by age twenty-one he had embarked on a professional training... |
| The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 American Western drama film. The film is directed by Andrew Dominik, with Brad Pitt portraying Jesse James and Casey Affleck as his killer, Robert Ford.Filming took place in rural Alberta and Winnipeg, Manitoba... |
Frank James Frank James Alexander Franklin "Frank" James was a famous American outlaw. He was the older brother of outlaw Jesse James.-Childhood:... |
|
| 2008 | The Accidental Husband The Accidental Husband The Accidental Husband is a 2008 American/Irish romantic comedy film directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Uma Thurman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Colin Firth, Isabella Rossellini, and Sam Shepard. The film is written by Mimi Hare, Clare Naylor and Bonnie Sikowitz, and is produced by Jennifer Todd,... |
Wilder |
| Felon Felon (film) Felon is a 2008 American drama film about a family man who ends up in state prison after he kills an intruder. The film was written and directed by Ric Roman Waugh, and stars Stephen Dorff, Val Kilmer and Harold Perrineau... |
Gordon Camrose | |
| 2009 | Brothers | Hank Cahill |
| 2010 | Inhale | James Harrison |
| Fair Game Fair Game (2010 film) Fair Game is a 2010 biographical film drama directed by Doug Liman and starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. It is based on Valerie Plame's memoir, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House which details the scandalous events that took place in mid 2003, implicating senior White... |
Sam Plame | |
| 2011 | Blackthorn Blackthorn (film) Blackthorn is an 2011 Western film directed by Mateo Gil and starring Sam Shepard, Eduardo Noriega and Stephen Rea.The film was released on iTunes on September 2, 2011 and was released theatrically on October 7th, 2011.-Plot:... |
Butch Cassidy Butch Cassidy Robert LeRoy Parker , better known as Butch Cassidy, was a notorious American train robber, bank robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang in the American Old West... |
Screenwriter
| As screenwriter | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Director |
| 1968 | Me and My Brother Me and My Brother (film) Me and My Brother is a 1969 independent film directed by Robert Frank. The film stars Julius Orlovsky, Peter Orlovsky, John Coe, Seth Allen and Christopher Walken. It is Sam Shepard's film debut. The film tells a story of Julius and Peter Orlovsky... |
Robert Frank Robert Frank Robert Frank , born in Zürich, Switzerland, is an important figure in American photography and film. His most notable work, the 1958 photobook titled The Americans, was influential, and earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and skeptical outsider's view of American... |
| 1970 | Zabriskie Point Zabriskie Point (film) Zabriskie Point is a 1970 film by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, widely noted at the time for its setting in the late 1960s counterculture of the United States... |
Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor and short story writer.- Personal life :... |
| 1984 | Paris, Texas Paris, Texas (film) Paris, Texas is a 1984 drama film directed by Wim Wenders. The screenplay is by L.M. Kit Carson and playwright Sam Shepard, and the distinctive musical score was composed by Ry Cooder. The cinematography is by Robby Müller.... |
Wim Wenders Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf... |
| 1985 | Fool for Love Fool for Love (film) Fool for Love is a 1985 film directed by Robert Altman. The film stars Sam Shepard, who also wrote the screenplay. It was entered into the 1986 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:... |
Robert Altman Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and... |
| 1988 | Far North | Himself |
| 1994 | Silent Tongue Silent Tongue Silent Tongue is a Western written and directed by Sam Shepard. It was filmed in Spring 1992, but not released until 1994. It was filmed near Roswell, New Mexico and features Richard Harris, Sheila Tousey, Alan Bates, Dermot Mulroney and River Phoenix.... |
|
| 2005 | Don't Come Knocking Don't Come Knocking Don't Come Knocking is a 2005 film, a comedy-drama road movie directed by German director Wim Wenders and written by Wenders and actor/playwright Sam Shepard. The two had previously collaborated on the film Paris, Texas... |
Wim Wenders |
Director
| As director | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1988 | Far North Far North (1988 film) Far North is a 1988 drama film written and directed by Sam Shepard and starring Jessica Lange and Charles Durning and Patricia Arquette.... |
also screenplay |
| 1994 | Silent Tongue Silent Tongue Silent Tongue is a Western written and directed by Sam Shepard. It was filmed in Spring 1992, but not released until 1994. It was filmed near Roswell, New Mexico and features Richard Harris, Sheila Tousey, Alan Bates, Dermot Mulroney and River Phoenix.... |
|
External links
- Sam Shepard at The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- The Sam Shepard Web Site
- Blackthorn website
- Sam-Shepard.com
- "Brownsville Girl", by Bob Dylan and Sam Shepard
- The Wittliff Collections of Southwestern Writers, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
- "Sam Shepard" by Vivian M. Patraka and Mark Siegel in the Western Writers Series Digital Editions at Boise State University
- "Sam Shepard opens up"