Generally blond haired, fair complexioned Hollywood actor with a toothy grin and capable of an unsettling glint in his eyes. Busey was born in Goose Creek, Texas to a Native American father and an Irish mother and was raised in Oklahoma, eventually graduating from college in 1963. Musically, the young Busey was quite talented and he played the drums in several bands, including playing with country and western legends Leon Russell, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson.

Busey's first film appearance was as a biker in the low budget Angels Hard as They Come and, over the next few years, he landed several film roles generally as country hick or rebellious types. Busey's real breakthrough came in the dynamic 1978 film The Buddy Holly Story with Busey taking the lead role as Buddy Holly, plus he played guitar and sang all the vocals! His stellar performance scored Busey a Best Actor nomination and the attention of Hollywood casting agents. Next up, Busey joined fellow young actors William Katt and Jan-Michael Vincent as three surfing buddies growing up together in the cult surf film Big Wednesday directed by John Milius. However, a succession of appearances in somewhat mediocre films took Gary out of the spotlight for several years, until he played the brutal assassin "Mr. Joshua" trying to kill LA cops Mel Gibson & Danny Glover in the runaway mega hit Lethal Weapon. Further strong roles followed including starring alongside Danny Glover once again in Predator 2, he was back on the beaches, this time tracking bank robbers with FBI agent Keanu Reeves in Point Break and nearly stole the show as a psychotic Naval officer taking over the USS Missouri with Tommy Lee Jones in the highly popular Under Siege.

The entertaining Busey has continued to remain busy in front of the cameras and has certainly developed a minor cult following amongst many film fans. Plus, he's also the proud father of accomplished young actor Jake Busey, whose looks make him almost a dead ringer for his famous father.


Arrested and released on bail after a fight with his wife, Tiani Warden. [25 January 1999] He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care". Starred with Russell Wong in the unreleased 1997 pilot episode of "Hawaii Five-O" (1968). This pilot episode was filmed in Hawaii, but was not released due to a decision from CBS-TV executives. SPOILER: Was the last man killed on the TV show "Gunsmoke" (1955). Filed for divorce from Tiani Warden; later withdrawn. [9 June 1998] Had a successful local band, The Rubber Band, in Stillwater, OK. Moved to Hollywood to pursue his music career. Both he and his actor-son Jake Busey are licensed pilots, having been trained at a flight school next-door to the Santa Monica airport. Member of the Promise Keepers, a Christian-based mens' organization. He has 2 children: A son named Jake Busey with his ex-wife,Judy Busey and a daughter named Alectra 'Ellie' Busey (born 1994), with Tracy Hutchinson. Busey played Peter Keyes in Predator 2 (1990) and then, at one point, he was attached to do a cameo as John Yutani, the other half of the infamous "Weyland-Yutani" Company from the "Alien" films in AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004), but the character was written out of the script.