I am so sorry about Mr. Shepard´s loss. I had seen him recently in the first season of "Bloodline" and he had a huge chemistry with Sissy Spacek, his onscreen wife. I also tended to mistake him for Tom Skerrit (who knows why, though the latter´s brief role in "Brothers & Sisters" had a lot in common with Shepard´s in BL).
Back in the 80´s, I discovered him in "Frances", when he met his future partner in life (and well-known Goddess today) Jessica Lange. They also co-starred in "Country", "Crimes of the Heart" and "Don't Come Knocking". One of his best recent performances was in "August", in a very poignant role (and also reminiscent of his BL character).
Reading his biography one could call him a "Renaissance Man", but undoubtedly he would hate it, so I won´t. He had two kids with Goddess Jessica, though they never tied the knot. Anyway, they were overwhelmed by their fame in the 80´s. Their breakup was news in 2011 though they had separated two years earlier. That´s keeping things private!
One detail in his biography made me smile: that he had been a circuit rodeo, which reminded me of our Dusty Farlow and his performer Jared Martin, who also passed away earlier this year. RIP both actors, you were a lot more than just that, two actors.