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Samuel Shepard Rogers III, known professionally as Sam Shepard, was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won ten Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most won by any writer or director. He wrote 44 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 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager in the 1983 film The Right Stuff. He received the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award as a master American dramatist in 2009. New York magazine described Shepard as "the greatest American playwright of his generation."
Birth Name
Samuel Shepard Rogers
Born
Friday, 05 November 1943
Died
Thursday, 27 July 2017
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| Bonnie | Garrison | 2022 |
| It Takes a Lunatic | Self | 2019 |
| Rolling Thunder Revue | The Writer | 2019 |
| Never Here | Paul Stark | 2017 |
| In Dubious Battle | Mr. Anderson | 2017 |
| California Typewriter | Himself / Self | 2016 |
| Midnight Special | Calvin Meyer | 2016 |
| Ithaca | Willie Grogan | 2015 |
| Bloodline | Robert Rayburn | 2015 |
| Cold in July | Russel / Russell | 2014 |
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| Bonnie | Garrison | 2022 |
| It Takes a Lunatic | Self | 2019 |
| Rolling Thunder Revue | The Writer | 2019 |
| Never Here | Paul Stark | 2017 |
| In Dubious Battle | Mr. Anderson | 2017 |
| California Typewriter | Himself / Self | 2016 |
| Midnight Special | Calvin Meyer | 2016 |
| Ithaca | Willie Grogan | 2015 |
| Bloodline | Robert Rayburn | 2015 |
| Cold in July | Russel / Russell | 2014 |
| Klondike | Father Judge | 2014 |
| August: Osage County | Beverly Weston | 2013 |
| Out of the Furnace | Gerald 'Red' Baze | 2013 |
| Mud | Tom | 2013 |
| Savannah | Mr. Stubbs | 2013 |
| Gold Rush: The Dirt | Self | 2012 |
| Killing Them Softly | Dillon | 2012 |
| Shepard & Dark | Self | 2012 |
| Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction | Self | 2012 |
| Darling Companion | Sheriff Morris | 2012 |
| Safe House | Harlan Whitford | 2012 |
| Blackthorn | James | 2011 |
| The Presence of Joseph Chaikin | Self | 2011 |
| Fair Game | Sam Plame | 2010 |
| Inhale | James Harrison | 2010 |
| Brothers | Hank Cahill | 2009 |
| Play on, John: A Life in Music | Narrator | 2009 |
| Felon | Gordon | 2008 |
| One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur | Self | 2008 |
| Patti Smith: Dream of Life | Self | 2008 |
| The Accidental Husband | Wilder | 2008 |
| The Holy Modal Rounders: Bound to Lose | Himself / Self | 2007 |
| The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford | Frank James | 2007 |
| Ruffian | Frank Whiteley | 2007 |
| Charlotte's Web | The Narrator / Narrator (voice) | 2006 |
| The Return | Ed Mills | 2006 |
| Wanderlust | Self | 2006 |
| Walker Payne | Syrus | 2006 |
| Trudell | Self / Self - Playwright, Actor (Thunderheart) | 2006 |
| Bandidas | Bill Buck | 2006 |
| Don't Come Knocking | Howard Spence / Howard | 2005 |
| Stealth | Capt. George Cummings / George Cummings | 2005 |
| The Notebook | Frank Calhoun | 2004 |
| Blind Horizon | Sheriff Jack Kolb | 2003 |
| This So-Called Disaster: Sam Shepard Directs the Late Henry Moss | Himself / Self | 2003 |
| Rosy-Fingered Dawn: a Film on Terrence Malick | Self | 2002 |
| Leo | Vic | 2002 |
| Black Hawk Down | Garrison / Maj. Gen. William F. Garrison | 2002 |
| Shot in the Heart | Frank Gilmore, Sr. | 2001 |
| Swordfish | Senator Reisman / Senator James Reisman | 2001 |
| After the Harvest | Caleb Gare | 2001 |
| The Pledge | Eric Pollack | 2001 |
| All the Pretty Horses | J.C. Franklin | 2000 |
| Hamlet | Ghost | 2000 |
| Snow Falling on Cedars | Arthur Chambers | 1999 |
| Dash and Lilly | Dashiell Hammett | 1999 |
| Purgatory | Sheriff Forrest / Wild Bill Hickock | 1999 |
| It All Came True | Will Dodge | 1998 |
| The Only Thrill | Reece McHenry | 1997 |
| Lily Dale | Pete Davenport | 1996 |
| Streets of Laredo | Pea Eye / Pea Eye Parker | 1995 |
| The Good Old Boys | Tarnell | 1995 |
| Safe Passage | Patrick | 1994 |
| The Pelican Brief | Thomas Callahan | 1993 |
| Thunderheart | Frank Coutelle | 1992 |
| Defenseless | Det. Beutel | 1991 |
| Voyager | Walter Faber | 1991 |
| Bright Angel | Jack / Jack Russell | 1990 |
| Steel Magnolias | Spud Jones | 1989 |
| Baby Boom | Dr. Jeff Cooper | 1987 |
| Crimes of the Heart | Doc Porter | 1986 |
| The 58th Annual Academy Awards | Self - Audience Member | 1986 |
| Fool for Love | Eddie / May's half-brother | 1985 |
| Country | Gil Ivy | 1984 |
| Joe Chaikin Going On | Self | 1983 |
| The Right Stuff | Chuck Yeager | 1983 |
| Frances | Harry York | 1983 |
| Raggedy Man | Bailey | 1981 |
| Resurrection | Cal | 1980 |
| Days of Heaven | The Farmer | 1978 |
| Renaldo and Clara | Rodeo | 1978 |
| Arena | Himself | 1975 |
| Great Performances | Self / Narrator | 1971 |
| Brand X | 1970 | |
| Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In | Self - Guest Performer | 1967 |
Director Filmography
| Title | Year |
|---|
| Silent Tongue | 1993 |
| Far North | 1988 |
| Year | Type | Category | Won |
|---|
| 2000 | Golden Globe | Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Nominated |
| 1999 | Emmy | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | Nominated |
| 1984 | Oscar | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Nominated |
