Awards

1966

Best Distinguished Play
Obie Award
Chicago
Best Distinguished Play
Obie Award
Icarus's Mother
Best Distinguished Play
Obie Award
Red Cross

1967

Best Distinguished Play
Obie Award
La Turista

1968

Best Distinguished Play
Obie Award
Forensic and the Navigator
Best Distinguished Play
Obie Award
Melodrama Play
Creative Arts - Drama & Performance Art
Guggenheim Fellowship Award
Himself

1973

Best Distinguished Play
Obie Award
The Tooth of Crime

1975

Best Playwriting
Obie Award
Action

1977

Best New American Play
Obie Award
Curse of the Starving Class
Best Playwriting
Obie Award
Buried Child

1979

Drama
Pulitzer Prize
Buried Child

1980

Sustained Achievement Award
Obie Award
Himself

1984

Best New American Play
Obie Award
Fool for Love
Best Direction
Obie Award
Fool for Love

1986

Outstanding Play
Drama Desk Award
A Lie of the Mind
Best Play
New York Drama Critics' Circle Award
A Lie of the Mind
Best Off-Broadway Play
Outer Critics Circle Award
A Lie of the Mind

1992

Gold Medal for Drama
American Academy of Arts and Letters Award
Himself

2009

PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award
PEN American Center Award
Himself

2013

Robert Altman Award
Independent Spirit Award
Mud

Sam Shepard’s work was also recognized over the years with various nominations, among them a Pulitzer Prize nomination for True West and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for The Right Stuff, both in 1983; a BAFTA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Paris, Texas (1985); a Tony Award nomination for Best Play – Buried Child (1996); and Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor in a Miniseries for Dash and Lilly (1999).