Sam Shepard Joins Cast Of Discovery Channel's 'Klondike'

Playwright and actor Sam Shepard has joined the cast of "Klondike," the Discovery Channel said Wednesday. He'll play the role of Father Judge in the network's first-ever scripted miniseries.

The miniseries, based on Charlotte Gray's book "Gold Diggers: Striking It Rich in the Klondike," centers on a group of fortune seekers as they struggle against the elements in a small, frontier town in the remote Klondike.

Production on the project began last week outside Alberta, Canada.