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).
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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.
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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)
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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)
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