Pulitzer Prize winning writer, and actor, Sam Shepard dies at 73

Pulitzer Prize winning writer, and actor, Sam Shepard dies at 73

Sam Shepard, author of 44 plays, books of short stories and memoirs, died at 73 from complications of ALS. Shepard, known as a versatile actor and director as well as a top writer, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1979 for the play Buried Child.

According to the New York Times, Shepard was “One of the most important and influential writers of his generation.”

He was best known for his role as the young Chuck Yeager in the film “The Right Stuff,” for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, for Best Supporting Actor, in 1983. He also won six Obe Awards for his off-broadway work.

Shepard’s acting roles were gritty and masculine, his plays dark and populated by characters struggling in families at the margins of society.

Watch a clip of Sam Shepard as Test Pilot Chuck Yeager:

Learn more about the late Sam Shepard (The New York Times)

 

Photo: By Tyler J. Clements [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Insect to Injury, starring Popeye the Sailor (Jack Mercer), 1956

Insect to Injury, starring Popeye the Sailor (Jack Mercer), 1956

Insect to Injury, 1956

A film by Dave Tendlar

Popeye’s assiduous efforts to build a nice fence around his home are thwarted by a termite infestation. The intrepid sailor must fight them off, relying on the proper nutritional supplementation to promote maximum strength, of course.

(Browse our Movie Archive)

 

Brother, Can You Spare A Job? (short version), an animated short by Tom Neely, 2003

Brother, Can You Spare A Job? (short version), an animated short by Tom Neely, 2003

Brother, Can You Spare A Job? (short version), 2003

An animated short by Tom Neely

Narrated with George W. Bush’s own words from Presidential radio addresses, this short cartoon is a scathing political indictment of the Bush Administration’s economic policies, made in a style reminiscent of the depression era.

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Humpty Dumpty, an animated short by distributed by Bailey Films, Inc., (20th Century)

Humpty Dumpty, an animated short by distributed by Bailey Films, Inc., (20th Century)

Humpty Dumpty, (20th Century)

An animated short by distributed by Bailey Films, Inc.

This vintage cartoon is an early attempt at 3D animation. It’s very old, made in color, and brings the classic nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty to life:

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty Had a great fall. And all the King’s horses, and all the King’s men, couldn’t put Humpty together again.”

The expression on the horses faces is priceless, and the footage of mother goose at the end, with her titular pet goose, is adorable.

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