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World War 2
World War Two greatly impacted Sam Shepard's childhood as his father was a pilot in the air force leading to his family having to sacrifice things like a stable home for some time. -
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard was an incredible playwright and actor who wrote over 58 plays, he was known for his bleak and poetic writing derived from his absurdism. He is considered one of America's best dramatists with 24 awards and 45 nominations. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Chaikin
http://www.sam-shepard.com/aboutsam.html
https://samshepardarchive.com/ -
Birth of Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard was born on November 5th 1943, in Fort Sheridan Illinois, his mother was a teacher and his father was a former air force bomber turned teacher. He was the eldest of three children. -
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Living in military bases and traveling
Sam Shepard and his family frequently bounced between different Military bases due to his fathers occupation until they settled on a farm in Duarte, CA -
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Learning in school
Sam Shepard had enrolled into Duarte High School in 1957 where he had his first real experience with acting in plays, later on he also enrolled into Mount Antonio Junior College sometime during 1960-1962 and studied agriculture until he left to pursue theatre. -
Leaves home with a Christian theatre group
While Sam Shepard was working a paper route, he had seen in the newspaper a group called the "Bishop's Company Repertory Players" traveled through town and was looking for actors, while his family disagreed of his decision to join he -
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Touring with Theatre group
During this time, Sam Shepard was acting with the Bishop's Company Repertory Players, this was his first experience with theatre and he preformed in many churches and other locations. While preforming with them Sam Shepard had realized his passion for theatre, It had amazed him that by just writing things on paper you could get an audience who wants to watch you preform, this is what made him fall in love with theatre. -
Arrived in New York
After touring with his theatre group for around 8 months, Sam Shepard landed in New York and chose to get a job as a bus boy and tried to get involved in off-off Broadway theatre -
Sam Shepard's Influences
Shepard's father, Samuel Shepard Rogers Jr. was a massive influence to him, his father was an uncontrollable high-functioning alcoholic who he despised and one of the most notable reasons for Sam Shepard's dark tone in his writing. Sam Shepard read "Waiting for Godot" during high school and the experience changed him, he was influenced by Samuel Beckett's absurdism, bleak writing, and black comedy, which is apparent in Sam Shepard's writing. -
Theatre Genesis
Sam Shepard's first two plays, "Cowboys" and "The Rock Garden", they were described as having a lack of structure or ending and full of long dialogue segments, they were preformed inside of St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, it was a small black box called Theatre Genesis with minimal props and a focus on language, it was also described as being a harsh testing ground for actors and playwrights. -
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Playwrighting
Sam Shepard wrote around 58 plays during his lifetime from simple one-act plays to plays that have been preformed to thousands of people hundreds of times. -
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Acting in screenplays
Sam Shepard acted in many tv shows. movies, documentaries, totaling around 24 publicized roles he preformed in his lifetime -
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Gaining recognition
after getting a grant from the University of Minnesota in 1966, Sam Shepard won OBIE Awards for many of his plays such as "Chicago," "Red Cross," and "Icarus' Mother," By this point in his career Sam started to pursue more than just Playwriting. -
Married O-Lan Jones Dark
Sam Shepard married O-Lan Jones Dark during 1969 and had a son named Jesse Mojo Shepard with her. -
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Married to O-Lan Jones Dark
During the time he was married to O-Lan Jones, he had his first teleplay "Fourteen Hundred Thousand" and despite being married to O-Lan jones he had a high-profile relationship with Patti Smith and later 2 children with a woman he met whilst acting. -
"Buried Child" (1978)
"Buried Child" (1978) is a three-act tragedy about a dysfunctional family with a dark secret during a recession in the 1970's, the play won a Pulitzer Prize and an OBIE award. Sam Shepard's character dialogue and plot are one of the reasons this play is considered one of his finest. -
Earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Sam Shepard earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for Buried Child, this award is one of the highest rewards for achievements in writing. -
"True West" (1980)
"True West" by Sam Shepard is a two-act play that explores a rivalry of two estranged brothers fighting over a screenplay, the story is famed for the brothers roles in the play changing overtime, This play is also of his most popular due to the tension, humor, and the characters and it explores themes of family and identity. This play was nominated for 12 awards and won 2 including an OBIE award. -
Added to the Theater Hall of Fame
Sam was added to the Theater Hall of Fame in 1994 due to his large portfolio of plays he wrote, media he acted in, awards he gained, and his influence on modern writing. -
Death of Sam Shepard
On July 27th, 2017 Sam Shepard passed away from complications with ALS on his farm in Kentucky, He left 3 children behind, Jesse Shepard from O-Lan Jones and two with Jessica Lange named Hannah and Samuel Shepard. There is no denying the impact he left on the world of theatre even before his passing. -