Sam Shepard and Johnny Dark Collection

The Sam Shepard and Johnny Dark Collection spans 1972-2011 and documents the men’s forty-plus year friendship. The collection is arranged in five series: Correspondence, Dialogues, Photographs, Audio Material, and Video Material.

Series I: Correspondence comprises the bulk of the collection (boxes 1-4) and is arranged chronologically. The first letters are from the early 1970s when the Shepards lived briefly in England and the Darks remained in California. Because the two families lived together for many years, there are few letters until 1980 when Shepard began filming on location. The letters pick up in earnest in 1983 after Shepard left his wife and son and began a long-term relationship with actress Jessica Lange. For the next three decades, the two men kept up a fairly regular correspondence.

Series II: Dialogues is over 200 pages of typed transcripts of conversations that Dark and Shepard recorded in the 1970s and 1980s. Arranged in themed sections by Dark, the conversations cover a wide range of topics including relationships, writing, film, ageing, and friendship.

Series III: Photographs is comprised of photographs collected by Dark. Many are mounted onto notebook pages with annotations in Dark’s hand. These photographs provide a glimpse into the private lives of the men. The bulk of the photos are of Shepard and Dark, but there are also images of Scarlett Dark, O-Lan Jones, Jesse Shepard, Sam Rogers (Shepard’s father) and Jessica Lange. The photographs are in the order in which Dark arranged them, and each has a unique identifying number (001-178) assigned by the archivist. In addition to the numbered photographs, there are over 250 snapshots taken by Dark. Many of these are duplicates of the numbered photographs, but there are several unique ones including shots of Shepard on the set of All the Pretty Horses with Matt Damon, photos from Jesse Shepard’s wedding, and more photos of Shepard and of Dark.

Series IV: Audio Material contains 28 tapes of varying audio quality. Most of the tapes feature conversations between Shepard and Dark - some recorded in person, some over the telephone. The tapes from the 1970s and 1980s form the basis of Dark’s typescript, Dialogues, in Series II. All of the cassettes have been digitized, and there are listening copies available. Archives staff have provided summaries of many, but not all, of the digitized tapes.

Series V: Video Material consists of two items. The first is a VHS tape of home movies shot by Dark. The video quality is relatively poor, but the tape has been digitized and a viewing copy is available. The second item is a DVD of the documentary, Shepard and Dark, directed by Treva Wurmfeld. Access to this DVD is by special permission only. Terminology Notes for the correspondence: ALS Autograph [handwritten] Letter Signed (AL = Autograph Letter)

TLS Typed Letter Signed (TL = Typed Letter)