Well known actor and playwright Sam Shepard has died, aged 73.
Oscar-nominated and Pulitzer-winning Shepard became known to audiences after his depiction of famous test pilot Chuck Yeager in the seminal 1983 drama The Right Stuff, based on an eponymous book by Tom Wolfe.
Shepard was also well known in the theater circles. His 1979 play Buried Child, about the breakdown of a traditional American family, was nominated for five Tony awards.
More recently, Shepard played Colonel Garrison in the gritty war movie Black Hawk Down, and had a role in the Netflix exclusive series Bloodline.
Shepard passed away due to complications of ALS, most commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.