Taylor Sheridan: The Most Tragic Details Of His Life

Creating a bona fide pop culture phenomenon is a rare accomplishment, yet writer and producer Taylor Sheridan managed to do just that with his hit show, "Yellowstone." Then, he managed to do it again with his shows "Mayor of Kingston," "Tulsa King," and the many "Yellowstone" prequel series and spinoffs. Along the way, Sheridan even managed to earn himself an Oscar nomination for writing the acclaimed 2016 crime drama "Hell or High Water."

The massive popularity of his shows has afforded their stacked casts some luxuriously lavish lives. Sheridan has been basking in the light of success, as well, even amid the occasional controversy, from his legal battle with "Yellowstone" star Cole Hauser to his prolonged drama with Kevin Costner that led to the early conclusion of "Yellowstone."

Sheridan's net worth is estimated to be between $70 and $100 million, and his forthcoming deal with NBCUniversal could potentially make him upwards of $1 billion through the 2030s. However, all of his success has come after many decades of scraping by and struggling to make it big. The road to monumental stardom was not an easy one, and Sheridan overcame many tragic obstacles to enjoy the life he leads today.

Born in 1970 in North Carolina, Taylor Sheridan grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, before his mother bought a ranch in Cranfills Gap, Texas, allowing him to grow up in nature. Sheridan has spoken about how his time on the ranch developed his understanding and appreciation of Western culture and cowboy life. However, it was a painful and potentially life-threatening childhood illness that taught him to love movies and developed his passion for telling stories about the Wild West.

Sheridan developed pneumonia at a young age, becoming so ill that he found himself stuck in bed for weeks with nothing to do and no way to go out and enjoy the ranch he'd come to love so much. Being the early 1980s, he had little to do but watch an old TV with just the three major broadcast channels. "I watched a lot of old movies," Sheridan told Business Insider in 2016. "Clint Eastwood movies, a lot of John Wayne films, a lot of movies that celebrated the region of where I lived."

Sheridan told Business Insider that, not long after he recovered from his bout of pneumonia, his family ended up getting cable, "and the whole world opened up." He later revealed that it was his repeated viewing of Westerns that developed his sense of writing and creativity. While speaking with Andrea Fappani, host of the "Along for the Ride" podcast, Sheridan explained (via The Times), "You see the same [old movie] nine times and you start kind of studying it."

The film that earned Taylor Sheridan some of his greatest critical acclaim was the 2016 neo-Western crime drama, "Hell or High Water." The film stars Chris Pine and Ben Foster as brothers who resort to robbing banks to prevent the foreclosure of their family's ranch. While Sheridan hasn't ever robbed a bank, the idea of rampant capitalism costing his family their beloved ranch is a pain he knows all too well, and is what informed his Oscar-nominated screenplay. It is also one of the driving forces for the story underlying most seasons of "Yellowstone."

In 1991, after his parents divorced, his mother wound up borrowing against the ranch and eventually losing it. Between Sheridan being in college at the time and her ongoing divorce, Sheridan's mom felt she couldn't run the ranch alone, nor could she afford it. "When you write, it's always of an autobiographical nature," Sheridan told Texas Highways Magazine in 2021. "Our family ranch has informed 'Yellowstone' in many ways, but losing it was the biggest one." The devastation of that moment not only wounded Sheridan's soul but also drove a wedge between him and his mom. Sheridan's mother recalled to the outlet, "I don't think Taylor spoke to me for a year."

Now that Sheridan is one of the most successful creatives in the television landscape, he's established his own ranch kingdom in Texas. Sheridan primarily lives on a sprawling 600-acre Bosque ranch, located in the modest town of Weatherford. Sheridan also has a stake in the historic and famous Four Sixes Ranch, which he purchased alongside a group of investors for $320 million in 2022, after the iconic ranch played a major role in "Yellowstone."

Before Taylor Sheridan found success behind the camera, serving as a writer, director and producer, he began his career in Hollywood as an aspiring actor. He dropped out of Texas State University when he was discovered by a talent scout at a mall in Austin, moving first to Chicago, then New York, and finally Los Angeles. Sheridan soon began landing small bit roles in a number of different TV shows. However, his minor successes weren't enough to keep a roof over his head as he pursued his dreams of creative freedom and fame.

As Sheridan explained to the Austin American-Statesmen in August 2017, there came a point when, before any of his first breakthroughs, he was living out of his truck, and even out of a tent under the stars. "I was really broke but made the choice not to quit and go home," Sheridan recalled. "I also stayed with friends on a reservation north of L.A. They would let me go up there, and I would pitch a tent."

It wasn't until 2005, in the middle of his '30s, that Sheridan snagged his first recurring role, starring in "Veronica Mars." A few years later, he booked his biggest role as Deputy Chief David Hale in "Sons of Anarchy." After two seasons, Sheridan left the show to refocus on his love for screenwriting and soon penned the acclaimed screenplay for "Sicario," which paved the way for the monumental TV writing career he now enjoys.