Sam Shepard, American playwright and Pulitzer Prize awardee, passes away aged 73

New York:  Sam Shepard, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Oscar-nominated actor and celebrated author whose plays chronicled the explosive fault lines of family and masculinity in the American West, has died. He was 73. [caption id=“attachment_3878697” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sam Shepard. File photograph - AP Photo/Charles Sykes[/caption] A family spokesperson said on 31 July that Shepard died on 27 July at his home in Kentucky from complications related to Lou Gehrig’s disease, or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The taciturn Shepard, who grew up on a California ranch, was a man of few words who nevertheless produced 44 plays and numerous books, memoirs and short stories. His 1979 play, Buried Child, won the Pulitzer for drama. His Western drawl and laconic presence made him a reluctant movie star, too. He appeared in dozens of films, and was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in 1983’s astronaut drama The Right Stuff. He was recently seen in the Netflix’s thriller drama Bloodline, where he portrayed the character of the patriarch of the Rayburn house, Robert Rayburn. He has also appeared on various stage shows at New York, and has received great reviews and accolades, especially, for his performance in Caryl Churchill’s  2004 production, A Number. In his glorious career, Shepard has been conferred with many Obie Awards for his plays like Chicago, Icarus’s Mother, Red Cross and La Turista, to name a few. He is survived by his three children — Jesse, Hannah and Walker Shepard — and his sisters, Sandy and Roxanne Rogers,  reports The New York Times. (With inputs from AP)