Sam Shepard was born on November 5, 1943 in Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He is a unique American artist whose talents have been expressed in many different areas.

He is an actor, screenwriter, director and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright for his 1979 three-act play Buried Child. Shepard’s numerous other plays have included Angel City, Curse of the Starving Class, Killer’s Head, Action, The Mad Dog Blues, Cowboy Mouth and The Rock Garden.

Shepard’s fascinating career saw him as one of the writer’s of Michelangelo Antonioni’s Zabriski Point in 1970, and he later won critical acclaim for his original screenplay of Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas. As an actor, he made his film debut in Bob Dylan’s Renaldo and Clara, impressing critics the same year as the star, alongside Richard Gere, in Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven. A number of strong appearances followed, including Resurrection, Raggedy Man, opposite Jessica Lange in Frances and particularly as test pilot Chuck Yeager in Philip Kaufman’s The Right Stuff, which brought him an Academy Award nomination. He reteamed with Lange in Country and Crime of the Heart, and played the lead in Robert Altman’s adaptation of his play Fool for Love. Subsequent films have included Baby Boom, Steel Magnolias, Defenseless. Thunderheart, Bright Angel, Voyager, The Pelican Brief, Snow Falling on Cedars, Hamlet, All The Pretty Horses, The Pledge, Swordfish, Black Hawk Down, The Notebookб Stealth, Bandidas and Don’t Come Knocking.

Shepard’s notable television films and mini-series have included Larry Mc Murtry’s Streets of Laredo, Lily Dale, Purgatory, Dash and Lilly, One Kill and Wild Geese. He also directed the features Far North and Silent Tongue, both of which Shepard also wrote. In addition, he has also co-written Zabriskie Point and Paris, Texas.

His last projects is Charlotte's Web (2006) and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007).

Filmography

• Descending from Heaven (2008)
• The Accidental Husband (2007)
• The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
• Ruffian (2007)
• Charlotte's Web (2006)
• The Return (2006)
• Bandidas (2006)
• Walker Payne (2006)
• Stealth (2005)
• Don't Come Knocking (2005)
• The Notebook (2004)
• Blind Horizon (2003)
• Leo (2002)
• Black Hawk Down (2001)
• Shot in the Heart (2001)
• Swordfish (2001)
• After the Harvest (2001)
• The Pledge (2001)
• All the Pretty Horses (2000)
• One Kill (2000)
• Hamlet (2000)
• Snow Falling on Cedars (1999)
• Curtain Call (1999)
• Dash and Lilly (1999)
• Purgatory (1999)
• The Only Thrill (1997)
• Lily Dale (1996)
• "Streets of Laredo" (1995)
• The Good Old Boys (1995)
• Safe Passage (1994)
• The Pelican Brief (1993)
• Thunderheart (1992)
• Defenseless (1991)
• Bright Angel (1991)
• Homo Faber (1991)
• Steel Magnolias (1989)
• Baby Boom (1987)
• Crimes of the Heart (1986)
• Fool for Love (1985)
• Country (1984)
• Paris, Texas (1984)
• The Right Stuff (1983)
• Frances (1982)
• Raggedy Man (1981)
• Resurrection (1980)
• Days of Heaven (1978)
• Renaldo and Clara (1978)
• Brand X (1970)

Awards

• Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play "A Lie of the Mind" 1986
• New York Drama Critics Circle Award Best New Play "A Lie of the Mind" 1986
• OBIE Award Best New American Play "Fool for Love" 1983 - 84
• OBIE Award Direction "Fool for Love" 1983 - 84
• OBIE Award Sustained Achievement 1979 - 80
• Pulitzer Prize in Drama "Buried Child" 1979
• OBIE Award Playwriting "Buried Child" 1978 - 79
• National Institute of Arts and Letters Award 1976
• OBIE Award Best New American Play "Curse of the Starving Class" 1976 - 77
• OBIE Award Playwriting "Action" 1974 - 75
• OBIE Award Distinguished Play "The Tooth of Crime" 1972 - 73
• OBIE Award Distinguished Play "Forensic and the Navigators" and "Melodrama Play" 1967 - 68
• OBIE Award Distinguished Play "La Turista" 1966 - 67
• OBIE Award Distinguished Play "Chicago", "Icarus's Mother" and "Red Cross" 1965 - 66