The 65-year-old actor and playwright told police in Normal, Illinois, that he was just traversing the town and that he stopped at a local before leaving for his hotel.

 

According to a report by the Bloomington, Illinois, Pantagraph, police discovered that Sam Shepard’s blood alcohol was twice the legal limit and that he had been going 16 mph over the 30 mph speed limit while he was going through the town.

 

Consistent with information offered by the newspaper, Sam Shepard told police that he was heading toward Kentucky, where he resides.

 

The actor’s long-time partner is Jessica Lange, whom he met on the set of a movie they both starred in, “Frances.” The couple have two children, 23-year-old Hannah Jane and 21-year-old Walker Samuel Shepard.

 

Sam Shepard was awarded with the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play, “Buried Children,” and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 1983 for his portrayal of test pilot Chuck Yeager in the film “The Right Stuff.”

One year later, he received a nomination for a BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the 1984 Wim Wenders film “Paris, Texas.”

 

Sam Shepard was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received the Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy in 1992.

 

His most recent accolade was a 2008 Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for his part in “Ruffian.”