He was 73 years old. Shepard’s theater representative confirms to PEOPLE that Shepard passed away at his home in Kentucky on Thursday, July 27, from complications from ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. "The family requests privacy at this difficult time," said the spokesman for the family, Chris Boneau. The representative said funeral arrangements would remain private. Plans for a public memorial have not yet been determined. Larry Busacca/Getty 
 
 Shepard made his acting debut in Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven in 1978 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager in 1983’s The Right Stuff.  BroadwayWorld has just learned that playwright, actor, author, screenwriter, and director Sam Shepard has passed away. Christopher Shinn, whose plays include the Pulitzer finalist “Dying City,” said he was reminded of Mr. Shepard’s gifts as a writer while watching “Buried Child” Off Broadway last year. Shepard is survived by his two sisters, Sandy and Roxanne Rogers, and his three children: Jesse Mojo, 47, from his marriage to O-Lan Jones, as well as Hannah Jane, 31, and Samuel Walker, 30, from his longtime relationship with Jessica Lange.
– Acclaimed actor and playwright Sam Shepard is dead at age 73, reports BroadwayWorld. Shepard, who died at home in Kentucky, had been suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease. He leaves behind an impressive legacy in the arts as the author of more than 40 plays, including Buried Child, for which he won the Pulitzer in 1979. Shepard also earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager in 1983's The Right Stuff. Most recently, he had portrayed the family patriarch in the Netflix series Bloodline. The New York Times calls Shepard "one of the most original voices of his generation," noting other plays such as Curse of the Starving Class, True West, and Fool for Love. As BroadwayWorld notes, his plays are "chiefly known for their bleak, poetic, often surrealist elements, black humor, and rootless characters living on the outskirts of American society." He is survived by three children: Jesse Mojo, 47, from his marriage to O-Lan Jones; and Hannah Jane, 31, and Samuel Walker, 30, from his long relationship with Jessica Lange, notes People.