Which actor played Chuck Yeager in the film" The Right Stuff"?

Sam Shepard is the actor who played Colonel Chuck Yeager, USAF, in the film "The Right Stuff" (1983). This film adaptation of the non-fiction novel by Tom Wolfe chronicles the first 15 years of America's space program. It focused on the lives of the Mercury astronauts, including John Glenn (Ed Harris) and Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn). The film recounts the dangers and frustrations experienced by those involved with NASA's earliest achievements. It also depicts their family lives and the personal crises they endured during an era of great political turmoil and major technological innovation.

Sam Shepard was born Samuel Shepard Rogers in Fort Sheridan, IL in November 1943. He was actve as an actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director from 1962–2017. His professional career spanned half a century and he lived to be 73. He died of Lou Gehrig's disease on July 27, 2017 in Midway, KY, USA. During his life, he won 10 Obie Awards (Off-Broadway Theater Awards) for writing and directing, the most won by any writer or director. Specifically, with his roles in big movies, he performed in at least 55 films besides "The Right Stuff". Also he had roles in 8 films produced for major U.S. television networks. For his role in the TV film "Dash and Lilly" (1999), he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor.

Still, he told the public that he most apprecipated 'New York' magazine who described him as "the greatest American playwright of his generation".