Jessica Lange opens up about ex-partner Sam Shepard who died aged 73
Oscar-nominated actor, director and playwright Sam Shepard has died aged 73.
Jessica Lange, 68, opened up about her ex-partner of 27 years, who she has two children with – Hannah Jane Shepard, 31, and Samuel Walker Shepard, 30 – in an interview published hours before his death.
In an interview with AARP magazine, Lange spoke about her long time partner.
“I wouldn’t call Sammy easygoing and funny, but everybody has their dark side, and he always does it with a sense of humour,” said the star.
Lange and Shepard began dating after meeting on the set of their 1982 film Frances. After they went their separate ways in 2009, the Pulitzer Prize winner said of their "tumultuous” three-decade relationship.
"I mean, we have long periods of relative calm," Shepard told The Guardian in 2010. "We're definitely an incredible match. But, you know, not without fireworks ... although at this point, you know, she's the only woman I could live with. Who could live with me! What other woman would put up with me? ... I'd never met anybody like her. She was astounding. One of the great things about her, aside from her natural beauty, which was remarkable, was her humbleness."
The Broadway legend died peacefully at home in Kentucky surrounded by his family on Sunday.
A spokesman for the Shepard family said he died from complications of Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Shepard received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child. He is the author of 44 plays as well as several books of short stories, memoirs and essays.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1983's The Right Stuff for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager.