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Sam Shepard
<html> <head> <title>Sam Shepard</title> <meta name="googlebot" content="noodp"> <meta name="robots" content="noodp"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="/silly-nndb-icon.png" /><style type="text/css"> <!-- .fotmbar { color: #FFFFFF; text-decoration: none} .fotmbar:hover { color: #FFFFFF; text-decoration: underline} .newslink { color: #000000; text-decoration: none} .newslink:hover { color: #000000; text-decoration: none} .proflink { color: #000000; text-decoration: none} .proflink:hover { color: blue; text-decoration: underline} .b1f, .b2f, .b3f, .b4f {font-size:1px; overflow:hidden; display:block;} .b1f {height:1px; background:#e6e6e6; margin:0 5px;} .b2f {height:1px; background:#e6e6e6; margin:0 3px;} .b3f {height:1px; background:#e6e6e6; margin:0 2px;} .b4f {height:2px; background:#e6e6e6; margin:0 1px;} .contentf {background: #e6e6e6; padding: 2px; } .contentf div {margin-left: 5px;} --> </style></head> <body bgcolor=#ffffff> <center> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td valign=top><table width=550 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td bgcolor=white><table width="100%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" background="/nndb.gif"> <tr> <td rowspan="2" align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.nndb.com/"><img src="/title.gif" width="260" height="50" border=0 alt="NNDB"></a></td> <td><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6"> <tr align="center"> <td width="25%" nowrap><b><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This is a beta version of NNDB</font></b></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="right" valign="middle"><b><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <form action="http://search.nndb.com/search/nndb.cgi" method="get"> <input type="hidden" name="nndb" value="1"></input> <nobr>Search: <select name="omenu"> <option value="unspecified" selected>All Names</option> <option value="living">Living people</option> <option value="dead">Dead people</option> <option value="bands">Band Names</option> <option value="books">Book Titles</option> <option value="movies">Movie Titles</option> <option value="fulltext">Full Text</option> </select> for <input name="query" value="" size=24 maxlength=96> <input type=submit value="Search"> </font></b></nobr></form></td> </tr> </table> <!-- COPYRIGHT (C) 2008 SOYLENT COMMUNICATIONS --> <!-- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED --> <!-- NO PART OF THIS WEBSITE MAY BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION --> <!-- OF SOYLENT COMMUNICATIONS (ON THE WEB, IN PRINT, OR OTHERWISE) --> <!-- --> <!-- SOYLENT COMMUNICATIONS --> <!-- PO BOX 4436, MOUNTAIN VIEW CA 94040 USA --> </td></tr><tr><td bgcolor=red height=2></td></tr><map name=fool><area coords="102,0,240,14" href="/people/502/000024430/bibliography/" alt="bibliography"></map><tr bgcolor=F0F0F0><td bgcolor=F0F0F0 style="padding: 0px 15px 15px 15px;"><img src="/red-profile-2.gif" align="right" height=15 width=240 border=0 usemap=#fool><br clear="all"><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width=100%><tr><td bgcolor=F0F0F0><font size=+3 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Sam Shepard</b></font><p><img src="sam_shepard.jpg" height=272 width=200 align=right hspace=10 vspace=10 alt="Sam Shepard"><b>AKA</b> Samuel Shepard Rogers III<p><b>Born:</b> <a href="/lists/827/000106509/" class=proflink>5-Nov</a>-<a href="/lists/942/000105627/" class=proflink>1943</a><br><b>Birthplace:</b> Fort Sheridan, IL<br><b>Died:</b> <a href="/lists/095/000106774/" class=proflink>27-Jul</a>-<a href="/lists/858/000402649/" class=proflink>2017</a><br><b>Location of death:</b> <a href="/geo/825/000081582/" class=proflink>Midway, KY</a><br><b>Cause of death:</b> <a href="/lists/424/000085169/" class=proflink>Lou Gehrig's Disease</a><br><p><b>Gender:</b> Male<br><b>Race or Ethnicity:</b> White<br><b>Sexual orientation:</b> Straight<br><b>Occupation:</b> <a href="/lists/205/000068998/" class=proflink>Playwright</a>, Actor<p><b>Nationality:</b> United States<br><b>Executive summary:</b> <i>Buried Child</i><p>Playwright and movie star Sam Shepard worked as a ranch hand in his teen years, and after high school he briefly attended college, majoring in agriculture, but dropped out to join a traveling theater group. He sidestepped the Vietnam-era draft by claiming to be a heroin addict, and by 1963 he was working as a busboy in a Greenwich Village bar, doing plenty of drugs and becoming involved in the city's off-off-Broadway theater scene.<p> Shepard's first few short plays were savagely reviewed in major papers, but won good notices in the alternative paper <i>The Village Voice</i>. He won three consecutive OBIEs for writing in the mid-1960s, and contributed a few comic sketches for the limply plotted "erotic musical" <i>Oh! Calcutta!</i>, which starred <a href="/people/507/000032411/">Bill Macy</a> on Broadway. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1979 play <i>Buried Child</i> starring <a href="/people/275/000025200/">Mary McDonnell</a>, and Drama Desk honors for his 1986 play <i>A Lie of the Mind</i> starring <a href="/people/558/000023489/">Harvey Keitel</a> and <a href="/people/570/000107249/">Amanda Plummer</a>. At last count, Shepard has won ten OBIEs.<p> His first film credit as writer was <i>Me and My Brother</i>, starring beat poets <a href="/people/891/000031798/">Allen Ginsberg</a> and <a href="/people/892/000031799/">Peter Orlovsky</a> as themselves. His other screenplays include <a href="/people/650/000022584/">Michelangelo Antonioni</a>'s <i>Zabriskie Point</i>, <a href="/people/897/000061714/">Wim Wenders</a>' wandering <i>Paris, Texas</i> starring <a href="/people/602/000022536/">Harry Dean Stanton</a>, <a href="/people/002/000022933/">Robert Altman</a>'s <i>Fool for Love</i> starring Shepard and <a href="/people/310/000025235/">Kim Basinger</a>, and his study of the difference between the real west and the Hollywood west, <i>Don't Come Knocking</i> starring Shepard and his longtime love <a href="/people/004/000022935/">Jessica Lange</a>.<p> He made his debut as a screen actor in 1970's little-seen <i>Brand X</i> with <a href="/people/771/000023702/">Sally Kirkland</a> and <a href="/people/099/000030009/">Abbie Hoffman</a>. His best film performances include the fading mysterious farmer infatuated with <a href="/people/495/000109168/">Brooke Adams</a> in <a href="/people/373/000086115/">Terrence Malick</a>'s masterpiece <i>Days of Heaven</i>, the lover of miracle-worker <a href="/people/650/000023581/">Ellen Burstyn</a> in <i>Resurrection</i>, the reporter who falls for the unjustly declared insane <a href="/people/760/000027679/">Frances Farmer</a> in <i>Frances</i>, the testosterone-drenched astronaut <a href="/people/938/000022872/">Chuck Yeager</a> in <i>The Right Stuff</i>, the distant commander of a military mission gone wrong in <i>Black Hawk Down</i> witj <a href="/people/039/000022970/">Ewan McGregor</a>, and <a href="/people/974/000050824/">Ryan Gosling</a>'s devoted father in <i>The Notebook</i>.<p> His sister is singer-songwriter Sandy Rogers, best known for writing the songs in <i>Fool for Love</i> and her album <i>Green Moon</i>. His other sister, Roxanne Rogers, is an erstwhile actress best known for the low-budget film <i>Slow Moves</i>. His son, Jesse Mojo Shepard, is named after the outlaw <a href="/people/865/000095580/">Jesse James</a> and a Cajun good luck charm, and is the author of <i>Jubilee King</i>. Sam Shepard also plays the drums, and has performed with <a href="/people/320/000022254/">Bob Dylan</a> and <a href="/people/873/000047732/">T-Bone Burnett</a>.<p><b>Father:</b> Samuel Shepard Rogers VI (military officer-farmer, b. 3-Feb-1917, d. 1984 fire)<br><b>Mother:</b> Jane Elaine Schook Rogers (b. 16-Jul-1917)<br><b>Sister:</b> Sandy Rogers (singer-songwriter)<br><b>Sister:</b> Roxanne Rogers (stage director)<br><b>Wife:</b> <a href="/people/154/000054989/">O-Lan Jones</a> (actress, m. 9-Nov-1969, sep. 1982, div. 1984, one son)<br><b>Son:</b> Jesse Mojo Shepard (author, b. May-1970 with Jones)<br><b>Mistress:</b> <a href="/people/349/000024277/">Patti Smith</a> (singer, dated 1970-71)<br><b>Girlfriend:</b> <a href="/people/004/000022935/">Jessica Lange</a> (together 1982-2009, one daughter, one son)<br><b>Daughter:</b> Hannah Jane Shepard (b. 1985)<br><b>Son:</b> Samuel Walker Shepard (b. 14-Jun-1987)<br><p> High School: Duarte High School, Duarte, CA (1961)<br> University: Mount San Antonio Junior College (dropped out)<br><p> <a href="/honors/529/000079292/">Pulitzer Prize for Drama</a> 1979 for <i>Buried Child</i><br> <a href="/org/499/000062313/">American Academy of Arts and Letters</a> 1986<br> <a href="/crime/293/000043164/">Driving While Intoxicated</a> Normal, IL (3-Jan-2009)<br> Risk Factors: <a href="/lists/075/000164580/">Aviophobia</a><br> <p> <font size=-2 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR</font><br> <a href="/films/106/000041980/">Silent Tongue (1-Feb-1994)</a> <br> <a href="/films/943/000119586/">Far North (10-Sep-1988)</a> <br><p> <font size=-2 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR</font><br> <a href="/films/941/000403729/">Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (11-Jun-2019)</a> <br> <a href="/films/056/000404838/">Midnight Special (12-Feb-2016)</a> <br> <a href="/films/339/000381193/">Cold in July (18-Jan-2014)</a> <br> <a href="/films/162/000377028/">Out of the Furnace (9-Nov-2013)</a> <br> <a href="/films/186/000377052/">August: Osage County (9-Sep-2013)</a> <br> <a href="/films/002/000369889/">Savannah (23-Aug-2013)</a> <br> <a href="/films/011/000370895/">Shepard & Dark (11-Oct-2012)</a> <br> <a href="/films/405/000370292/">Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (4-Sep-2012)</a> · Himself<br> <a href="/films/085/000365984/">Mud (26-May-2012)</a> <br> <a href="/films/983/000358906/">Killing Them Softly (22-May-2012)</a> <br> <a href="/films/375/000281529/">Safe House (2-Feb-2012)</a> · Harlan Whitford<br> <a href="/films/060/000346019/">Darling Companion (26-Jan-2012)</a> · Sheriff Morris<br> <a href="/films/852/000276024/">Blackthorn (1-Apr-2011)</a> · James<br> <a href="/films/505/000255737/">Inhale (27-Aug-2010)</a> · James Harrison<br> <a href="/films/647/000257873/">Fair Game (20-May-2010)</a> · Sam Plame<br> <a href="/films/562/000211926/">Brothers (3-Dec-2009)</a> · Hank Cahill<br> <a href="/films/810/000174288/">Felon (13-Jul-2008)</a> · Gordon<br> <a href="/films/583/000203971/">The Accidental Husband (13-Feb-2008)</a> · Wilder<br> <a href="/films/834/000265039/">Patti Smith: Dream of Life (20-Jan-2008)</a> · Himself<br> <a href="/films/975/000162489/">The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2-Sep-2007)</a> <br> <a href="/films/509/000129122/">Charlotte's Web (7-Dec-2006)</a> · Narrator <font size=-2 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">[VOICE]</font><br> <a href="/films/403/000123034/">The Return (10-Nov-2006)</a> <br> <a href="/films/756/000179219/">Walker Payne (27-Apr-2006)</a> <br> <a href="/films/759/000112423/">Bandidas (18-Jan-2006)</a> <br> <a href="/films/719/000096431/">Stealth (29-Jul-2005)</a> <br> <a href="/films/513/000115168/">Don't Come Knocking (19-May-2005)</a> <br> <a href="/films/960/000204348/">Trudell (20-Jan-2005)</a> · Himself<br> <a href="/films/201/000051048/">The Notebook (20-May-2004)</a> · Frank Calhoun<br> <a href="/films/686/000083437/">Blind Horizon (2-Mar-2004)</a> · Sheriff Jack Kolb<br> <a href="/films/418/000040298/">Leo (11-Sep-2002)</a> <br> <a href="/films/002/000033900/">Black Hawk Down (18-Dec-2001)</a> · Garrison<br> <a href="/films/873/000263084/">Kurosawa (29-Nov-2001)</a> · Narrator <font size=-2 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">[VOICE]</font><br> <a href="/films/783/000131390/">Shot in the Heart (13-Oct-2001)</a> <br> <a href="/films/778/000032682/">Swordfish (4-Jun-2001)</a> <br> <a href="/films/374/000033275/">The Pledge (9-Jan-2001)</a> · Eric Pollack<br> <a href="/films/163/000042037/">All the Pretty Horses (11-Dec-2000)</a> · J. C. Franklin<br> <a href="/films/600/000133201/">One Kill (6-Aug-2000)</a> <br> <a href="/films/322/000034220/">Hamlet (24-Jan-2000)</a> · Ghost<br> <a href="/films/132/000038018/">Snow Falling on Cedars (12-Sep-1999)</a> · Arthur Chambers<br> <a href="/films/445/000040325/">Curtain Call (30-Aug-1999)</a> <br> <a href="/films/013/000088746/">Dash and Lilly (31-May-1999)</a> <br> <a href="/films/609/000063420/">Purgatory (10-Jan-1999)</a> <br> <a href="/films/166/000042040/">The Only Thrill (1997)</a> · Reece McHenry<br> <a href="/films/965/000089698/">Streets of Laredo (12-Nov-1995)</a> <br> <a href="/films/637/000089370/">The Good Old Boys (5-Mar-1995)</a> <br> <a href="/films/547/000088283/">Safe Passage (Dec-1994)</a> <br> <a href="/films/301/000033202/">The Pelican Brief (17-Dec-1993)</a> <br> <a href="/films/140/000058963/">Thunderheart (3-Apr-1992)</a> · Frank Coutelle<br> <a href="/films/101/000088834/">Defenseless (23-Aug-1991)</a> <br> <a href="/films/367/000090097/">Bright Angel (7-Jun-1991)</a> <br> <a href="/films/671/000130281/">Voyager (21-Feb-1991)</a> <br> <a href="/films/807/000032711/">Steel Magnolias (15-Nov-1989)</a> · Spud Jones<br> <a href="/films/570/000040450/">Baby Boom (17-Sep-1987)</a> · Dr. Jeff Cooper<br> <a href="/films/994/000038880/">Crimes of the Heart (12-Dec-1986)</a> · Doc Porter<br> <a href="/films/188/000067984/">Fool for Love (14-May-1986)</a> <br> <a href="/films/358/000066160/">Country (1-Mar-1985)</a> <br> <a href="/films/844/000033745/">The Right Stuff (9-Sep-1983)</a> · Chuck Yeager<br> <a href="/films/463/000033364/">Frances (3-Dec-1982)</a> · Harry York<br> <a href="/films/101/000067897/">Raggedy Man (18-Sep-1981)</a> · Bailey<br> <a href="/films/269/000084017/">Resurrection (6-Sep-1980)</a> · Cal<br> <a href="/films/219/000038105/">Days of Heaven (14-Sep-1978)</a> · The Farmer<br> <a href="/films/387/000078153/">Renaldo and Clara (25-Jan-1978)</a> <br><p> <b>Wrote plays:</b><br> <i>La Turista</i> (<tt>1966</tt>, debut at the American Place Theatre)<br><i>Operation Sidewinder</i> (<tt>1970</tt>)<br><i>The Unseen Hand</i> (<tt>1970</tt>)<br><i>The Tooth of a Crime</i> (<tt>1972</tt>, debut in London)<br><i>The Geography of a Horse Dreamer</i> (<tt>1974</tt>, debut in London)<br><i>Killer's Head</i> (<tt>1975</tt>)<br><i>Angel City</i> (<tt>1976</tt>)<br><i>Suicide in B-Flat</i> (<tt>1976</tt>)<br><i>Curse of the Starving Class</i> (<tt>1976</tt>)<br><i>Buried Child</i> (<tt>1979</tt>)<br><i>Seduced</i> (<tt>1979</tt>)<br><i>True West</i> (<tt>1981</tt>)<br><i>Fool for Love</i> (<tt>1983</tt>)<br><i>A Lie of the Mind</i> (<tt>1985</tt>)<br><i>Simpatico</i> (<tt>1995</tt>)<br><i>Eyes for Consuela</i> (<tt>1998</tt>)<br><i>The Late Henry Moss</i> (<tt>2000</tt>)<br><p> <br> <p> <table> <tr> <td align=right valign=middle style="padding-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: italic; color: #ff3333;">New!</span><br> <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/" class="fotmlink" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; color: #dd0000;">NNDB MAPPER</a></td> <td valign=middle align=right style="border-left: 1px solid #bbb; padding-left: 5px;">Create a map starting with</td> <td valign=middle align=right><a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=24430"><img src="/man.gif" border=0 style="padding: 2px;"></a></td> <td align=left valign=middle> <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=24430">Sam Shepard</a></td> </tr> </table> <font face="Trebuchet MS, arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Requires Flash 7+ and Javascript.</font> <br><br><p> <font size=-1>Do you know something we don't?</font><br> <font size=-1><a href="http://commentary.nndb.com/submit/feedback/?id=24430" rel="nofollow">Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile</a></font><br> <p> <br><br><p><font size=-1>Copyright ©2019 Soylent Communications</font><p> </td></tr></table> </td></tr> </table> </td> <td width=180 align="center" valign="top" style="padding: 0px 0px 8px 25px;"></td></tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>