Sam Shepard, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated actor, dies at 73

Sam Shepard, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated actor, dies at 73 

 A giant in the arts, Sam Shepard, the Oscar-nominated actor, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, author, screenwriter and director, died Thursday at his home in Kentucky of complications from ALS (or Lou Gehrig’s disease). He was 73.
 Chris Boneau, a spokesman for Shepard’s family, confirmed Shepard’s death to The Times in a statement. “The family requests privacy at this difficult time,” he said. Shepard received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play “Buried Child,” which centers around a family haunted by the past as it comes together in its aging Illinois farmhouse, reflecting shades of Shepard’s own childhood in the state with his alcoholic father.
 Four years later, Shepard was acknowledged by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when he was nominated for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Chuck Yeager in “The Right Stuff.”
 Survivors include his children, Jesse, Hannah and Walker Shepard, and his sisters Sandy and Roxanne Rogers.