Award-winning actor, playwright Sam Shepard dies at 73

DETROIT – Sam Shepard, a Pulitzer prize winning writer and Oscar nominated actor, has died at the age of 73.

BroadwayWorld reports Shepard died peacefully on Sunday at his home in Kentucky.

"The family requests privacy at this difficult time," said the spokesman for the family, Chris Boneau.

Shepard won a Pulitzer for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Support Actor in 1983 for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager in "The Right Stuff."