Mike Shepard, Pulitzer-Winning Playwright and Celebrated Actor, Dies at 73

Mike Shepard, Pulitzer-Winning Playwright and Celebrated Actor, Dies at 73
Sam Shepard, the acclaimed playwright who was also praised as an actor, screenwriter, and overseer, has died. He was 73.

He died on Thursday at his home in Kentucky following difficulties from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a family spokesman confirmed to Selection.
Known for writing that suffused the fringes of American society with a surreal and brutal beautifully constructed wording, Shepard rose to celebrity when he won the Pulitzer Prize for Theatre more than three years ago for his play "Buried Child. " This individual was also nominated for an Academy Award in the supporting actor category for his part in the 1983 film "The Right Stuff. "

Shepard was one of the main figures of the Off Broadway movement that flourished in downtown Fresh York from the early on 1960s. His often unique early writings -- including "Cowboy Mouth, " the 1971 work on which he collaborated with his romantic partner at the time, Patti Smith -- eventually shifted toward an allusive not-quite-realism, you start with "Buried Child" and continuing in plays like "Curse of the Eager Class" (1978), "True West"(1980) and "Fool for Love" (1983).
More recently, his stage work has included "The Late Henry Moss" (seen Off Broadway in 2001), "Heartless" (2012) and "A Particle of Fear (Oedipus Variations)" (2014).

Since an actor, his large film role was in Terrence Malick's 1978 film "Days of Heaven, inches in which he was seen opposite Richard Gere and Brooke Adams. Along with his Oscar-nominated turn in "Right Stuff, " this individual also appeared in films including "Crimes of the Heart, " "Steel Magnolias, "Black Hawk Down" and "August: Osage County. inch He also recently were in the first two seasons of Netflix series "Bloodline. "

Shepard's story, "The One Inside, inches was published in Feb ..

Born Samuel Shepard Rogers III, in Fort Sheridan, Ill., he done a ranch as a youngster and uncovered Samuel Beckett -- as well as jazz music and abstract expressionism -- at Mt. San Antonio College before he fallen out to join a touring theater repertory cohorte. Later in life, this individual had a practically 40 year relationship with Jessica Lange, whom he achieved when he collaborated with her on 1982 movie "Frances. " They segregated in 2009.

Shepard is survived by his children, Jesse, Hannah, and Jogger Shepard, and his siblings, Sandy and Roxanne Rogers.