Sam Shepard, playwright and actor, dies age 73

Sam Shepard, playwright and actor, dies age 73

Courtesy of https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/jul/31/sam-shepard-dies-73-playwright-bloodline-right-stuff?CMP=twt_gu

The Pulitzer prize winning writer and star of stage and screen, known for performances in The Right Stuff and Bloodline, died at his home in Kentucky

Playwright, director and actor Sam Shepard has died at the age of 73.

The Pulitzer prize winner died of complications from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as motor neurone disease) at his home in Kentucky on 30 July surrounded by family. Shepard had written 44 plays including Buried Child, which won him the Pulitzer prize for drama in 1979. He also received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his role in The Right Stuff.

Sam Shepard: 'America is on its way out as a culture'

Shepard started writing plays in the 60s. “Back then, there was a dearth of American theatre,” he told the Observer in 2014. “There was nothing going on. American art was starving.”

His work included Angel City, Cowboy Mouth (in collaboration with Patti Smith that was written in just two nights) and a screenplay for Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas. He received Tony nominations for both Buried Child and a 2000 revival of True West.

Shepard also directed many of his plays but with rare exceptions, he refrained from directing work of others. He directed two films: 1988’s Far North with then-partner Jessica Lange and 1993’s Silent Tongue, which starred Richard Harris and River Phoenix.

He also collaborated with Bob Dylan for the song Brownsville Girl which featured on his 1986 album Knocked Out Loaded.

As an actor, his first notable role was in Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven in 1978. He went on to star in Baby Boom, Steel Magnolias, The Pelican Brief, Black Hawk Down, The Notebook and August: Osage County. He was most recently seen in the Netflix drama Bloodline, alongside Sissy Spacek.

He was known as an acclaimed character actor rather than an A-lister, a route he chose early in his career. “I had all kinds of wild offers at that time to be a movie star and I panicked,” he later said. “I was turning down things like Warren Beatty’s Reds, that part of Eugene O’Neill [played by Jack Nicholson]. My agent was going crazy. I hadn’t realized what the experience of it would be like – to be on the verge of being a movie star. Because it’s like you are the hottest whore in town. Everybody wants you.”

When asked about his performances on stage, he said he wasn’t quite as comfortable as on screen. “You don’t have to do anything in the movies,” he said in an interview with the New York Times. “You just sit there. Well, that’s not entirely true. You do less. I find the whole situation of confronting an audience terrifying.”

Before his death, he completed a role in the psychological thriller Never Here with Mireille Enos. This year also saw the release of his book The One Inside, a series of conversations with himself. He is survived by three children.

Figures from both stage and screen have paid tribute to Shepard on Twitter. Writer Beau Willimon referred to him as “fearless” and “one of the greats” while Harlan Coben tweeted: “How special was he? Even when you didn’t like something he’d done, you were glad you saw it.”

Sam Shepard: 'America is on its way out as a culture'

Shepard started writing plays in the 60s. “Back then, there was a dearth of American theatre,” he told the Observer in 2014. “There was nothing going on. American art was starving.”

His work included Angel City, Cowboy Mouth (in collaboration with Patti Smith that was written in just two nights) and a screenplay for Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas. He received Tony nominations for both Buried Child and a 2000 revival of True West.

Shepard also directed many of his plays but with rare exceptions, he refrained from directing work of others. He directed two films: 1988’s Far North with then-partner Jessica Lange and 1993’s Silent Tongue, which starred Richard Harris and River Phoenix.

He also collaborated with Bob Dylan for the song Brownsville Girl which featured on his 1986 album Knocked Out Loaded.

As an actor, his first notable role was in Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven in 1978. He went on to star in Baby Boom, Steel Magnolias, The Pelican Brief, Black Hawk Down, The Notebook and August: Osage County. He was most recently seen in the Netflix drama Bloodline, alongside Sissy Spacek.

He was known as an acclaimed character actor rather than an A-lister, a route he chose early in his career. “I had all kinds of wild offers at that time to be a movie star and I panicked,” he later said. “I was turning down things like Warren Beatty’s Reds, that part of Eugene O’Neill [played by Jack Nicholson]. My agent was going crazy. I hadn’t realized what the experience of it would be like – to be on the verge of being a movie star. Because it’s like you are the hottest whore in town. Everybody wants you.”

When asked about his performances on stage, he said he wasn’t quite as comfortable as on screen. “You don’t have to do anything in the movies,” he said in an interview with the New York Times. “You just sit there. Well, that’s not entirely true. You do less. I find the whole situation of confronting an audience terrifying.”

Before his death, he completed a role in the psychological thriller Never Here with Mireille Enos. This year also saw the release of his book The One Inside, a series of conversations with himself. He is survived by three children.

Figures from both stage and screen have paid tribute to Shepard on Twitter. Writer Beau Willimon referred to him as “fearless” and “one of the greats” while Harlan Coben tweeted: “How special was he? Even when you didn’t like something he’d done, you were glad you saw it.”

Hollywood actor John Heard who played dad in Home Alone movies, Dies at 72

Hollywood actor John Heard, who played dad in ‘Home Alone’ movies, Dies at 72

http://variety.com/2017/film/news/john-heard-dead-dies-home-alone-1202503566/

John Heard, best known as Peter McAllister in the “Home Alone” movies who appeared in a wide range of TV and film roles, has died at 72 in Palo Alto, Calif.

He was found dead in a hotel where he was reportedly recovering after undergoing back surgery. The Santa Clara Medical Examiner’s office confirmed his death.

In the 1990 “Home Alone,” Heard stars as the father who forgets his son, played by Macauley Culkin, when making a business trip to France. After “Home Alone” became a big hit, Heard returned to star in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”

He also appeared in “Cat People,” “After Hours,” “Big,” “Beaches,” “Gladiator,” and on TV in “Miami Vice” and “The Sopranos,” for which he won an Emmy nomination for outstanding guest actor.

Born in Washington, D.C., Heard started out acting off-Broadway. His first major role came in the romantic comedy “Chilly Scenes of Winter” in 1979.

His memorable roles in the 1980s included starring in “Cutter’s Way,” playing Nastassja Kinski’s lover in the 1983 remake of “Cat People,” and starring alongside “Home Alone” actor Daniel Stern in 1984’s “C.H.U.D.” In Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours,” he played the bartender Tom Schorr. His other films during that period included “The Trip to Bountiful,” “Heaven Help Us” and “The Milagro Beanfield War.”

In 1988, he starred as Elizabeth Perkins’ jilted boyfriend in “Big” and co-starred with Bette Midler in “Beaches.”

His other roles included “Gladiator,” “Awakenings,” “Radio Flyer,” and “The Pelican Brief,” in which he played an FBI agent.

On television, he played Commander Barry Garner on “Battlestar Galactica” and had recurring roles on “CSI: Miami” and “Prison Break.” More recently he had numerous guest roles on shows including “Modern Family,” “NCIS: Los Angeles” and “MacGuyver.”

Heard was married to actress Margot Kidder – for just six days — and had a son from a relationship with actress Melissa Leo. He is also survived by a daughter from a later marriage.