The Right Stuff

A Playwright of Vast Talent—and an On screen Sex Symbol of Few Words—he Romanced Jessica Lange and at the End Fought a Private Battle With ALS

- Tom Gliatto

Jessica Langemet actor- playwright Sam Shepard when he was cast in a small role in her 1982 movie Frances. The connection was instantaneous, sparking a relationship that lasted nearly 30 years. “I’ve had romances with what you’d call famous men,” she once said. “And none compare to Sam in terms of maleness.”

Shepard, whose powerful talent earned him both an Oscar nomination (for 1983’s astronaut epic The Right Stuff) and the Pulitzer Prize for drama (for 1979’s