Shepard, Sam (1943– )

US dramatist, actor, and director. His plays combine colloquial American dialogue with striking visual imagery. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Buried Child (1978). He has acted in a number of films, including The Right Stuff (1983), Fool for Love (1986), based on his play of the same name, Steel Magnolias (1989), and Snow Falling on Cedars (1999). His screenplay for Paris, Texas won the Golden Palm Award at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.

Other plays include The Tooth of Crime (1972); Seduced (1979), based on the life of the reclusive millionaire Howard Hughes; True West (1980); A Lie of the Mind (1985); Simpatico (1993); and Eyes for Consuela (1998). Other films include Swordfish (2001), Black Hawk Down (2002), and the romantic drama The Notebook (2004). He also wrote and directed the western Silent Tongue (1994) and the drama Far North (1998), starring his partner, actor Jessica Lange.