Samuel Shepard Rogers III November 5, β July 27, was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any writer or director. 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.
Shepard characterized his father as "a drinking man, a dedicated alcoholic". Shepard grew up in southern California. He worked on a ranch as a teenager. After graduating from Duarte High School in Duarte, California , in , he briefly studied animal husbandry at nearby Mt.
San Antonio College. He dropped out to join the Bishop's Company, a touring repertory group. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery in Manhattan. It was around this time that he adopted the professional name Sam Shepard.
The production then transferred to the Provincetown Playhouse and ran for over performances. Cowboy Mouth , a collaboration with his then-lover Patti Smith , was staged at The American Place Theatre in April , providing early exposure for Smith, who would become a well-known musician. The story and characters in Cowboy Mouth were inspired by Shepard and Smith's relationship.
After opening night, he abandoned the production and fled to New England without a word to anyone involved. Shortly thereafter, Shepard relocated with his wife and son to London. While in London, he immersed himself in the study of G. Gurdjieff 's Fourth Way , a recurring preoccupation for much of his life. Returning to the United States in , he moved to the acre Flying Y Ranch in Mill Valley, California, where he raised a young colt named Drum and rode double with his young son on an appaloosa named Cody.
