Sam Shepard, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated actor whose career spanned nearly five decades, has died at the age of 73, US media reported Monday.

Shepard died at home in Kentucky last Thursday of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, The New York Times reported, citing a family spokesman.

Shepard, who wrote nearly 50 plays, won the Pulitzer for drama in 1979 for his play “Buried Child” and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1984 for best actor in a supporting role for the 1983 movie “The Right Stuff.”

Shepard received the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award as a master American dramatist in 2009. New York described him as "the greatest American playwright of his generation."

Throughout the years, Shepard has done a considerable amount of teaching on writing plays and other aspects of theatre. His classes and seminars have occurred at various theatre workshops, festivals, and universities.