Sam Shepard: ‘The Right Stuff’ Star Dead At 73

Sam Shepard — the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who became an Oscar nominee for "The Right Stuff" — is dead at the age of 73.

  A family spokesman announced that Shepard had passed away at his Kentucky home from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — early on July 31. It was a tragic end for a bizarre career that saw the hard-drinking artist go from a leading literary light to an aging Hollywood sex symbol.

Shepard was 40 years old when he suddenly found mainstream fame as pioneering pilot Chuck Yeager in 1983's "The Right Stuff." He was living with Jessica Lange at the time, and they had two children together while staying a couple until 2009. Insiders also told The National ENQUIRER that Ellen DeGeneres' jealousy over Sam filming "One Kill" with Anne Heche in 200 also helped break up the lesbian lovebirds.

Sam worked steadily in Hollywood right up to his death. The troubled artist also spent decades battling an alcohol addiction. That included a 2015 arrest in New Mexico. It was only his second DUI, despite Shepard saying: "My history with booze goes back to high school" — adding that, despite joining Alcoholics Anonymous, "it's like being a junkie!"