Sam Shepard
Latest News on Sam Shepard:
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Date of Birth:
November 05, 1943
Date of Death:
July 27, 2017 (73)
Bio:
Shepard is the author of forty-four plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs. Shepard received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager in The ...
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Latest News on Sam Shepard
Writing
Sam Shepard Biography
Shepard is the author of forty-four plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs. Shepard received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff (1983).Shepard received the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award as a master American dramatist in 2009. New York described him as "the greatest American playwright of his generation."
His many plays include: Cowboys, The Rock Garden, Chicago, Icarus's Mother, 4-H Club, Red Cross, La Turista, Cowboys #2, Forensic & the Navigators, The Unseen Hand, Oh! Calcutta! (contributed sketches), The Holy Ghostly, Operation Sidewinder, Mad Dog Blues, Back Bog Beast Bait, Cowboy Mouth, The Tooth of Crime, Geography of a Horse Dreamer, Action, Angel City, Suicide in B Flat, Inacoma, Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child, Tongues, True West, Savage/Love, Fool for Love, A Lie of the Mind, A Short Life of Trouble, Baby Boom, States of Shock, Simpatico, Tooth of Crime, Eyes for Consuela, The Late Henry Moss, The God of Hell, Kicking a Dead Horse, Ages of the Moon, Heartless and A Particle of Dread.
Shepard's plays are chiefly known for their bleak, poetic, often surrealist elements, black humor and rootless characters living on the outskirts of American society. His style has evolved over the years, from the absurdism of his early Off-Off-Broadway work to the realism of Buried Child and Curse of the Starving Class (both 1978).
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 film roles, including that of Cal, Ellen Burstyn's love interest, in the film "Resurrection" (1980), and most notably his portrayal of Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff (1983). The latter performance earned Shepard an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. By 1986, his play Fool for Love was getting a film adaptation directed by Robert Altman, in which Shepard played the lead role; his play A Lie of the Mind was being performed Off-Broadway with an all-star cast (including Harvey Keitel and Geraldine Page); and Shepard was subsequently working steadily as a film actor - all of these achievements put him on the cover of Newsweek.
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. 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.
Sam Shepard Awards and Nominations
| Tony Awards - 2000 - Best Play | ||
| Sam Shepard, True West | ||
| Tony Awards - 1996 - Best Play | ||
| Sam Shepard, Buried Child | ||
New York Drama Critics Circle Awards - 1986 - Best Play  |
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| Sam Shepard, A Lie of the Mind | ||
| The Pulitzer Prize - 1984 - The Pulitzer Prize for Drama | ||
| Sam Shepard, Fool for Love | ||
| Drama Desk Awards - 1983 - Outstanding Play | ||
| Sam Shepard, True West | ||
| The Pulitzer Prize - 1983 - The Pulitzer Prize for Drama | ||
| Sam Shepard, True West | ||
| The Pulitzer Prize - 1979 - The Pulitzer Prize for Drama |
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| Sam Shepard, Buried Child | ||
| Obie Awards - 1968 - Distinguished Plays |
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| Sam Shepard Forensic and the Navigator | ||
| Obie Awards - 1967 - Distinguished Plays |
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| Sam Shepard, La Turista | ||
| Obie Awards - 1966 - Distinguished Plays |
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| Sam ShepardChicago | ||
| Obie Awards - 1966 - Distinguished Plays |
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| Sam ShepardIcarus's Mother | ||
| Obie Awards - 1966 - Distinguished Plays |
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| Sam ShepardRed Cross | ||
Sam Shepard News
BILLIE! BACKSTAGE WITH LADY DAY Opens January 13 At Sierra Madre Playhouseby A.A. Cristi - Nov 29, 2022
Billie! Backstage With Lady Day, the award-winning show with music and written and performed by Synthia L. Hardy. Directed by Bryan Rasmussen, presented by Sierra Madre Playhouse, running January 13- January 22, 2023.
Preview Performances of DES MOINES at Theatre for a New Audience Rescheduled to Due Covidby Chloe Rabinowitz - Nov 28, 2022
Due to Covid cases within the company, Theatre for a New Audience is canceling five preview performances of the Off-Broadway premiere of iconic American writer Denis Johnson's Des Moines, directed by Arin Arbus and featuring Johanna Day, Arliss Howard, Hari Nef, Michael Shannon, and Heather Alicia Simms.
AFGHANISTAN IS NOT FUNNY Begins Performances This Week at SoHo Playhouseby Chloe Rabinowitz - Nov 28, 2022
Following Award-winning engagements at the 2022 Edinburgh, Hollywood and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, Afghanistan Is Not Funny, written and performed by Henry Naylor, bows Off-Broadway this December at SoHo Playhouse.
Applications Open For The Willa Kim Costume Design Scholarshipby Chloe Rabinowitz - Nov 21, 2022
Theatre Communications Group has opened the application for The Willa Kim Costume Design Scholarship! This is a valuable opportunity that we don't want students to miss out on!
American Premiere of Noël Coward's THE RAT TRAP to Open Next Week NY City Center Stage IIby Chloe Rabinowitz - Nov 18, 2022
Mint Theater Company returns to New York City Ce nter Stage II with the American premiere of Noël Coward’s The Rat Trap, directed by Alexander Lass, opening Monday November 21st (7pm) at New York City Center Stage II for a limited Off-Broadway engagement through December 10th only.
PRIMA FACIE, Starring Jodie Comer, Will Open at the Golden Theatreby Nicole Rosky - Nov 15, 2022
Jodie Comer will make her highly anticipated Broadway debut in the US premiere of Prima Facie, a new play by Suzie Miller. Prima Facie opens on Sunday, April 23, 2023 at the Golden Theatre. Previews begin on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.
Review: Eagle Rock Theatre Company's UNSEEN SHEPARD at Edinburgh Fringe Festivalby Ani Arutyunyan - Nov 12, 2022
What did our critic think of UNSEEN SHEPARD at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022?
Signature Theatre's SigSpace to Present Concert Response to MY BROKEN LANGUAGE & More in Novemberby Chloe Rabinowitz - Nov 4, 2022
Following HalfPint at Night, SigSpace will feature, on November 13 from 5:30-6:30pm, a concert response to Quiara Alegría Hudes’ memoir My Broken Language from Bushwick Book Club—the theatrical adaptation of which is currently being performed in the Signature Center’s Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre (through November 27).
Cult Classic Comedy TRUE WEST Presented By Plant City Entertainmentby A.A. Cristi - Nov 3, 2022
Do not miss fan-favorite cult comedy classic TRUE WEST presented by Plant City Entertainment in the historic downtown district for a limited 2-weekend run in November. Sam Shepard's Pulitzer-Prize finalist is a meaty emotional dark comedy with universal appeal for mature audiences only and the most popular of his 44 plays, 10 of which received OBIE awards, the most given to any playwright.
Interview: Playwright Cyndy A. Marion on the West Coast Premiere of BROKEN STORYby Shari Barrett - Oct 28, 2022
A serial killer's backstory always seems to fascinate people more so than that of their prey. But what is it about these vicious murderers that inspires works of art being written about them? That question popped into my head when I heard about the West Coast premiere of Cyndy A. Marion's play Broken Story, which was inspired by the murder of writer Susan Berman and her close relationship with serial killer Robert Durst. I knew I wanted to find out what inspired Cyndy to create the play and how she conducted her research.
Sam Shepard Videos
by Stage Tube - Mar 22, 2020
As part of Feinstein's/54 Below's 54 Below at Home series, they are debuting previously unreleased videos from their vault. Their most recent video is of Norbert Leo Butz singing 'Fight the Dragons' from Big Fish.
by BroadwayWorld TV - Oct 14, 2019
Joseph Marcell - best known as laconic British butler 'Geoffrey' in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - and Christopher Fairbank - best known for his role as 'Moxey' in the iconic British series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet - will star as 'Byron' and 'Ames' in the long-awaited UK premiere of Sam Shepard's play AGES OF THE MOON, directed by Alexander Lass, playing from Thursday 17 October - Sunday 24 November at the Vaults Theatre in London's Waterloo, with a press night on Wednesday 23 October.
by Stage Tube - Jun 3, 2019
Setting out across a 1975 America exhausted politically, economically and socially, a busload of musicians-assembled by Bob Dylan-hits the road in search of new creative horizons. The resulting tour, the Rolling Thunder Revue, would reveal a Dylan rarely seen: playful, mask-wearing, intense, expansive, rejuvenated. Masterfully capturing both an icon and a nation in transition, director Martin Scorsese tells the tale using footage that was abandoned for decades, now gorgeously restored, taking viewers into the heart of a freewheeling, electrifying musical gamble. Inspired by Dylan's own restless spirit, Scorsese performs some breathtaking sleight of hand, summoning nostalgic fantasists, boxers, magicians, starlets and testifiers of all stripes, and exploding the boundaries of what makes a conventional documentary.
by BroadwayWorld TV - Jan 29, 2019
Roundabout Theatre Company's new Broadway production of Sam Shepard's Tony & Pulitzer Prize-nominated drama True West, directed by James Macdonald (The Children), opened last week at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway (227 West 42nd Street), for a limited engagement through March 17, 2019.
by TV - Opening Night Special - Jan 26, 2019
The American Airlines Theatre was the place to be last night as Roundabout Theatre Company's new Broadway production of Sam Shepard's Tony & Pulitzer Prize-nominated drama True West, directed by James Macdonald (The Children), celebrated its opening night!
by BroadwayWorld TV - Dec 5, 2018
Roundabout Theatre Company will soon present a new Broadway production of Sam Shepard's Tony & Pulitzer Prize-nominated drama True West, directed by James Macdonald (The Children).
by Stage Tube - Nov 16, 2018
Roundabout Theatre Company will soon present a new Broadway production of Sam Shepard's Tony & Pulitzer Prize-nominated drama True West, directed by James Macdonald (The Children).
by Stage Tube - Apr 10, 2018
We've lost many a theatre artist this past year, from actress Barbara Cook to playwright Sam Shepard. The Society of London Theatre, with the help of Chita Rivera, Andy Karl, and Adam Bernard, paid tribute to those who've made contributions to the world of theatre in their 'In Memoriam' segment at Sunday's Olivier Awards broadcast.
by A.A. Cristi - Feb 2, 2018
Today we celebrate the life and career of actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who passed away on this day in 2014. Beloved by audiences, and colleagues, Hoffman's death shook the artistic community. For his numerous contributions to the theatre, theatre owners dimmed the lights on Broadway in his memory.
by Alan Henry - Jul 31, 2017
BroadwayWorld has just learned that playwright, actor, author, screenwriter, and director Sam Shepard has passed away. He was 73 years old.
