Sam Shepard, playwright and actor dead at 73

July 31 (UPI) -- Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and actor Sam Shepard has died at the age of 73 following his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

A spokesman for the Shepard family confirmed the star's death on Monday, noted The New York Times.

Shepard was known for penning the play Buried Child, which earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979. He was also nominated for an Oscar in 1983 for his role in The Right Stuff.

Other stage credits include Curse of the Starving Class, A Lie of the Mind, True West and Fool for Love among others. True West and Fool for Love both became Broadway productions and earned Pulitzer nominations.

Shepard starred in films such as Steel Magnolias and Black Hawk Down. Dash and Lilly, a television movie, earned Shepard an Emmy nomination. Recently he appeared in Netflix's drama Bloodline in 2015 as the character Robert Rayburn.

Shepard is survived by his children, Jesse, Hannah and Walker Shepard along with his sisters, Sandy and Roxanne Rogers.