# Sam Shepard has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514 "2017-07-31T16:12:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/1 "2017-07-31T16:12:45Z")
Story [here](http://theweek.com/speedreads/715470/pulitzer-prizewinning-playwright-sam-shepard-dies-73). This one hurts. I’ve always like his plays, and the version of [True West](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_West_(play)) that Showtime aired in 2002 (with Bruce Willis) was a favorite. And his Chuck Yeager was damn good. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/2 "2017-07-31T16:15:17Z")
You beat me to it. Great actor and a pretty good playwright too. The role I’ll remember him for best is as the ice-cool pilot in The Right Stuff. (Edit: right, Chuck Yeager.) ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/3 "2017-07-31T16:19:21Z")
Awwwwwww, crap. I just loved him. He had that rare, irresistible combination of understated machismo and brains. ALS is such an awful way to go, too. This makes me sad. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/4 "2017-07-31T16:22:31Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > You beat me to it. > > Great actor and a pretty good playwright too. The role I’ll remember him for best is as the ice-cool pilot in The Right Stuff. (Edit: right, Chuck Yeager.) According to [this site](https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/07/r-i-p-sam-shepard-renowned-playwright-and-actor-has-died-at-73/) he played Chuck Yeasayer.\* \*Unless they’ve fixed it by the time you read this. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/5 "2017-07-31T16:23:15Z")
One person on Twitter mentioned that Sam Shepard will always be Chuck Yeager to to them. I would like to point out that Chuck Yeager is still alive and begs to differ. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/6 "2017-07-31T16:25:57Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > One person on Twitter mentioned that Sam Shepard will always be Chuck Yeager to to them. I would like to point out that Chuck Yeager is still alive and begs to differ. Shepard was a better Yeager than the real one. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/7 "2017-07-31T16:28:51Z")
He was excellent as the farmer in _Days of Heaven_, a role that had very little dialog, but where he made everything the character was thinking clear. At that point, I knew him only as a playwright, but he was a helluva actor, too. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/8 "2017-07-31T16:30:36Z")
I remember him mainly for the Right Stuff (have to watch that movie again). Quite remarkable that Chuck Yeager who is 20 years older has outlived Shepard. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/9 "2017-07-31T16:39:42Z")
An excuse to rewatch one of my favorite (and almost completely unknown) films: _Safe Passage_. It features Susan Sarandon, Marcia Gay Harden, Robert Sean Leonard and Sean Astin in addition to Shepard. Some tremendous acting talent there. ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/10 "2017-07-31T16:53:26Z")
Damn. He was a fine playwright. I love the toaster scene in True West. “There’s gonna be a general lack of toast in the neighborhood this morning. Many, many unhappy, bewildered breakfast faces.” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/11 "2017-07-31T17:02:52Z")
I saw _Buried Child_ when it was brand new, at the Yale Repertory Theater during my freshman year, 1978. He won the Pulitzer for it the next year. Saw a revival of _Curse of the Starving Class_ in the same theater a couple years later. After I moved to New York, I saw the first revival of _True West_ at the Cherry Lane Theater in Greenwich Village, with John Malkovich and Garry Sinise before they were **John Malkovich** and **Garry Sinise**. The initial staging starred Peter Boyle as Lee, and flopped…the Malkovich/Sinise version rescued it from oblivion. Very, very sad today. I also liked Jeanne Moreau a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/12 "2017-07-31T17:24:28Z")
I saw Sam Shepard when I was an extra on _The Right Stuff_. For the life of me, I can’t remember if we exchanged any words at the wrap party. (Levon Helm was nice, though.) ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/13 "2017-07-31T17:32:15Z")
While it was just a barely-mediocre TV movie overall, _ **Purgatory** _ had him in a role I thoroughly enjoyed. “I have no mother,” indeed. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/14 "2017-07-31T18:07:18Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > According to [this site](https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/07/r-i-p-sam-shepard-renowned-playwright-and-actor-has-died-at-73/) he played Chuck Yeasayer.\* > > \*Unless they’ve fixed it by the time you read this. If it’s a typo, it’s an appropriate one. Naysayers don’t break the sound barrier. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/15 "2017-07-31T18:43:16Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I saw Sam Shepard when I was an extra on _The Right Stuff_. For the life of me, I can’t remember if we exchanged any words at the wrap party. (Levon Helm was nice, though.) The real Yeager has outlived the movie Yeager and the movie Ridley. Helm died about 5 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/16 "2017-07-31T18:50:14Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > If it’s a typo, it’s an appropriate one. Naysayers don’t break the sound barrier. 😃 I suspect it was a stupid autocorrect thing, but someone should have proofed it before it was posted. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/17 "2017-07-31T18:55:25Z")
Aw, dang. Sam rides off into the sunset… just…dang. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/18 "2017-07-31T19:16:14Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Shepard was a better Yeager than the real one. I guess that is why Yeager got the “pervy guy at the bar” cameo and Shepard got the Yeager role. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/19 "2017-07-31T19:29:28Z")
Love love love him…RIP Sam ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514/20 "2017-07-31T21:27:11Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Shepard was a better Yeager than the real one. Chuck Yeager could kick Chuck Norris’s ass. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-shepard-has-died/792514.md?page=2)