Gary Busey (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

William Gary Busey (born 29 June 1944) is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe Award-nominated American film and stage actor. He has appeared in a number of films, including The Buddy Holly Story, Big Wednesday, Lethal Weapon, Point Break, Valley of the Wolves Iraq and Under Siege.

Biography

Personal life

Busey was born in Goose Creek (now Baytown), Texas, the son of Virginia (Arnett), a homemaker, and Delman Lloyd Busey, a construction design manager. He attended Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, where he became interested in acting. He is listed as one of the university's "outstanding alumni." He then transferred to Oklahoma State University, where he quit school just one class short of graduation. In 1971, wife Judy Helkenberg gave birth to his son, fellow actor Jake Busey. The couple divorced sixteen years later. Gary has a daughter, Ellie Busey. On December 4, 1988, Busey was severely injured in a motorcycle accident in which he was not wearing a helmet. His skull was fractured and doctors feared he suffered permanent brain damage. Busey has spoken out as being a Born Again Christian as a result of a near-death experience he had resulting from his motorcycle accident. He lives in Malibu, CA.

Career

Busey began his show-business career as a drummer in "The Rubber Band". He appears on several Leon Russell recordings, credited as playing drums under the name "Teddy Jack Eddy", a character he created when he was a cast member of a local television comedy show in Tulsa, Oklahoma called The Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting (which starred fellow Tulsan Gailard Sartain as "Dr. Mazeppa Pompazoidi"). Busey continued to play several small roles in both film and television during the 1970s. In 1975, as the character "Harvey Daley" he was the last person killed on the series Gunsmoke (in the third to the last episode, No. 633 - "The Busters").

In 1978, he starred as Buddy Holly in The Buddy Holly Story with Sartain as The Big Bopper. The movie won Busey an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. In the same year he also starred in the critically-acclaimed surfing movie Big Wednesday.

In the 1980s, Busey's roles included D.C. Cab, Silver Bullet (adapted from Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King), and Lethal Weapon. In the 1990s, he appeared in Predator 2, Point Break, Rookie of the Year, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Under Siege, and The Firm.

Filmography

The Magnificent Seven: Ride (1973)
Bloodsport (1973)
Thunderbolt And Lightfoot (1974)
A Star Is Born (1976)
The Gumball Rally (1976)
The Buddy Holly Story (1978)
Straight Time (1978)
Big Wednesday (1978)
Carny (1980)
D.C. Cab (1983)
Silver Bullet (1985)
Eye of the Tiger (1986)
Let's Get Harry (1986)
Lethal Weapon (1988)
Hider in the House (1989)
Predator 2 (1990)
Point Break (1991)
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (1991)
Under Siege (1992)
The Firm (1993)
Rookie of the Year (1993)
Surviving the Game (1994)
Drop Zone (1994)
Black Sheep (1996)
Carried Away (1996)
Lost Highway (1997)
Rough Riders (1997)
Spiceworld (1997)
Soldier (1998)
Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas (1998)
A Crack in the Floor (2000)
Tribulation (2000)
Down And Dirty (2000)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (VG, voice) (2002)
Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice (2002)
The Prize Fighter (2003)
American Dictators: Documenting The Staged 2004 Election" (2004)
The Gingerdead Man (2005)
Valley of the Wolves Iraq (2006)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (VG, voice) (2006)
Hallettsville (2006)
Soft Target (2006)
Crying 4 U (2006)
Maneater (2007)

Television appearances

Celebrity Paranormal Project (VH1, 2006)
I'm with Busey (Comedy Central, 2003)
Celebrity Fit Club 2 (VH1; Busey lost 39 pounds)
Entourage ("Busey and the Beach", Season 1, Episode 6; "The Boys Are Back In Town", Season 2, Episode 1; "Gary's Desk", Season 4, Episode 8)
The Outer Limits (2000), Episode: "Revival"
The Simpsons (On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister, season 16, episode 11)
Walker, Texas Ranger
Scrubs (A running joke that Sarah Chalke bears a resemblance)
Kung Fu (Season 1, Episode 15 (Ancient Warrior); Busey plays 'Josh')
Tom Goes to the Mayor
High Chaparall
The Man Show
Gunsmoke
Law & Order
With Rick Danko and Paul Butterfield, playing guitar on "Stay a Little Longer" on Saturday Night Live, 03.10.1979.
The Texas Wheelers (ABC-TV sitcom, 1974-75)

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