Sam Shepherd Rung Up on DUI Charge

Oscar-nominated Right Stuff star busted for speeding, drunken driving in Illinois

By Marcus Errico Jan 03, 2009 8:50 PMTags
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Talk about the wrong stuff. Sam Shepherd was busted Saturday in Illinois for drunken driving and speeding.

The Right Stuff star told officers in the town of Normal that he had made a pit stop at a local watering hole before heading to a hotel around 2 a.m. He was pulled over for doing 46 in a 30 mph zone, and his blood-alcohol level registered twice the legal limit, police said.

Shepard posted $300 and was released from the McLean County jail a few hours later, and he presumably resumed his road trip back to the Kentucky home he shares with Jessica Lange. No court date has been scheduled.

As an actor, Shepherd is best known for his Oscar-nominated turn as astronaut Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff; other credits include Black Hawk Down, The Notebook and opposite Brad Pitt in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. As a playwright, he won a Pulitzer Prize for Buried Child. He has also been nominated for Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe awards.