It is with great sadness that we report (via The New York Times) that acclaimed actor and Pulitzer-winning writer Sam Shepard passed away this past Thursday, July 27, due to complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease).
Shepard was best known to movie fans for his Academy Award-nominated role portraying pilot Chuck Yeager in 1983’s The Right Stuff. He also played The Farmer in Terrence Malick’s 1978 masterpiece Days of Heaven, as well as memorable supporting roles in hit films like The Pelican Brief, Black Hawk Down, The Notebook, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Mud, August: Osage County, Midnight Special and the Netflix series Bloodline. His last film role was starring opposite Mireille Enos in this year’s thriller Never Here.
As a screenwriter, his credits included Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1970 counterculture classic Zabriskie Point and 1984’s Paris, Texas, as well as adaptations of his own plays including 1985’s Fool for Love, 1994’s Curse of the Starving Class and 1999’s Simpatico. He both wrote and directed 1988’s Far North with Jessica Lange and 1994’s Silent Tongue, featuring the final completed performance by River Phoenix. Lange and Shepard were in a nearly three-decade long relationship, and had two children together, Hannah and Samuel. He also had another son, Jesse, with his first wife actress O-lan Jones.
In addition to his film work Shepard was a legendary playwright and stage actor, garnering a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play “Buried Child.” He was also nominated for two more Pulitzers, one for “True West” and another for “Fool for Love,” both of which were produced on Broadway.
Sam Shepard. Whenever he came on-screen, you knew you were in good hands. A frame from “Days of Heaven.” May he rest in love. pic.twitter.com/DQc0fy7EqN
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) July 31, 2017
There’s a restaurant in the East Village we refer to as the Sam Shepard restaurant because we saw him there once. This will continue.
— Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) July 31, 2017
Wrote my college essay about a production of Savage Love I did in my backyard. Goodbye Sam Shepard. You left your mark. You will be missed. pic.twitter.com/Rk7NNPzzBa
— Jordan Horowitz (@jehorowitz) July 31, 2017
A hero of theatre. A hero of writing. A hero of acting. A hero of mine. Sam Shepard RIP.
— Nikolaj CosterWaldau (@nikolajcw) July 31, 2017
God no!
https://t.co/dlxDMnprTF— Ron Perlman (@perlmutations) July 31, 2017
Sam Shepard is one of the greats. These eyes saw so much, and he wrote of what he saw with fearless, timeless honesty. RIP maestro. pic.twitter.com/pIY4FWxXtZ
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) July 31, 2017
I had the honor of playing Sam Shepard’s son in one of my first films. He was a class act whose work profoundly influenced me & the world.
— Paul Wesley (@paulwesley) July 31, 2017
Just kick it in. #RIPSamShepard https://t.co/cJmhNJgy5N
— olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) July 31, 2017
Good night, Sam Shepard, who brought authenticity, vigor, complexity, and visceral emotion to both the page and the screen. pic.twitter.com/xTxeTDq7ZC
— Criterion Collection (@Criterion) July 31, 2017
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
