山姆·谢泼德

Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, author and musician whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays and several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs. His accolades include the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (for his play Buried Child), the Drama Desk Award, the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award, and a record 10 Obie Awards, in addition to nominations for two Tony Awards, an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1994. The New York magazine described Shepard as "the greatest American playwright of his generation."

Shepard's plays are known for their bleak, poetic, surrealist elements, black comedy, and rootless characters living on the outskirts of American society. His style evolved from the absurdism of his early Off-off-Broadway work to the realism of later plays like Buried Child and Curse of the Starving Class.

Life and career

Early years and education

Sam Shepard was born on November 5, 1943, in the Chicago suburb of Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He was called Steve Rogers.

His father was a teacher and farmer who served in the United States Army Air Forces as a bomber pilot during World War II. Shepard characterized his father as "a drinking man, a dedicated alcoholic". His mother, Jane Elaine (née Schook; 1917–1994), was a teacher and a native of Chicago.

Shepard grew up in southern California. He worked on a ranch as a teenager. After graduating in 1961 from Duarte High School in Duarte, California, he briefly studied animal husbandry at nearby Mt. San Antonio College. While in college, Shepard became enamored of Samuel Beckett, jazz, and abstract expressionism. He dropped out to join the Bishop's Company, a touring repertory group.

Writing

Shepard moved to New York City in 1963 and found work as a busboy at the Village Gate nightclub. The following year, the Village Gate's head waiter, Ralph Cook, founded the experimental stage company Theater Genesis, housed at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery in Manhattan.……

Personal life

When Shepard first arrived in New York City, he roomed with Charlie Mingus III, a friend from Duarte High School and the son of jazz musician Charles Mingus. Shepard then lived with actress Joyce Aaron.

Between 1967 and 1970 he was part of the New York psychedelic rock group The Holy Modal Rounders as drummer, participating in the recording of two albums, Indian War Whoop released in 1967 and The Moray Eels Eat The Holy Modal Rounders in 1968.

From 1969 to 1984, he was married to actress O-Lan Jones, with whom he had one son.

From 1970 to 1971, Shepard was involved in an extramarital affair with musician Patti Smith, who remained unaware of his identity as a multiple Obie Award-winning playwright until it was divulged to her by Jackie Curtis. Smith said: "Me and his wife still even liked each other. I mean, it wasn't like committing adultery in the suburbs or something."

Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell wrote two songs about her affairs with Shepard during Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour of 1975.……

Death

Shepard died on July 27, 2017, at his home in Midway, Kentucky, aged 73, from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Patti Smith paid homage to their long collaboration in The New Yorker. Fellow actor Matthew McConaughey, who had co-starred with Shepard in Mud, learned of Shepard's death during a television interview and was shocked by the news, ending the interview saying: "We lost one of the great ones. Great writer, great mind. See you in the next one, Sam."

Archives

Sam Shepard's papers are split between the Wittliff Collections of Southwestern Writers at Texas State University, comprising 27 boxes (13 linear feet) and the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, comprising 30 document boxes (12.6 linear feet).