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

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."