Samuel Shepard Rogers III (aka Sam Shepard)

Presentation by Lauren Smith Theatre History 9am MWF

Born: November 5, 1943 (still living)  Background in Illinois  Most famous composition: True West (1980) 

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Born 11.5.1943 to Samuel Shepard Rogers, Jr. (an Air Force pilot, teacher and farmer), and Jane Elaine Schook (a teacher). Worked on a ranch as a teenager Avoided the draft during the Vietnam War by claiming heroin addiction. Worked as a busboy in New York city before his theatrical career took off.

Moved to New York after high school  Lived with actress Joyce Aaron briefly  Married actress O-Lan Jones, and had one son, Jesse.  After their divorce, Shepard briefly dated musician Patti Smith.  Shepard currently lives with actress Jessica Lange, with whom he has two children (Hannah and Walker). 

While working as a waiter in a restaurant in New York, Shepard began working at Theatre Genesis, which performed in a church in the East Village. Rather uncommonly, Shepard began his career as a writer and only moved to performing and directing in his later years.

Sam Shepard is one of the most versatile modern theatre and literary artists. His career is prolific and successful by today’s standards, even as recently as last year. He has also taught a significant number of seminars on acting and writing, most notably as a professor at UC-Davis.

Shepard began his play almost exclusively as a writer.  Shepard’s first play, Cowboys, was published in 1964, when he was 21 years old. 

Shepard wrote a limited number of books, including Motel Chronicles, Lie of the Mind, and Rolling Thunder Logbook (his personal account of the Northeastern tour on which he accompanied Bob Dylan.

Debut acting role in Days of Heaven (1978)  Most famous for portraying Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff (1984) 

Began his career refusing to direct his own plays.  After 1970, Shepard began directing his own works as a means to achieving his visions.  Successful playwright-director relationship with Robert Woodruff (premiere Buried Child 1978). 

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Elected to The American Academy of Arts and Letters (1986) Oscar Nomination: 1984 (The Right Stuff) Eleven of his plays have won Obie awards. Nominated for two Tony Awards for Buried Child (1996), and one for True West (2000). Won Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Buried Child (1979).

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Shepard has collaborated multiple times with lyricist Bob Dylan, including the film Renaldo and Clara and the epic song “Brownsville Girl.”

Shepard’s most famous (also the tamest) play.  Conflict between old frontier west (cowboys, horses, etc.) and the new west (Hollywood and Vegas) 