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Known for:	Die Hard, Demolition Man, Lethal Weapon 2
Birth name:	Grand Lee Bush
Birthday:	24 December 1955, Los Angeles, California, USA
Height:	6' (1.83 m)

To prepare for his role as Rev. Ross in the critically-acclaimed independent film, Favorite Son, Grand committed to memory the entire chapter of the New Testaments's Luke 15. His performance was so impressive that many of the local extras thought he was a real minister and invited him to preach at their church. He was once a dancer in Las Vegas. For the premiere of License to Kill he dined with Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. He said he found the prince to be quite "dashing" and "eloquent." In 1994 he was given a "Courageous Citizens Award" by L.A. District Attorney Gil Garcetti for saving the life of a shooting victim. He was named after his grandfather, Lee Grand Bush. A student of theology, he remains deeply religious. He does not recognize holidays because of his religious beliefs. A Shakespearean actor, he received a scholarship to study at Juilliard. He turned down the offer to care for his ailing mother. His real father, Robert, played his his dad on Good Times. Grand and writer/producer Dean Devlin acted together in Hard Copy, a short-lived TV series. Dean played a reporter and Grand was his streetwise connection. Although they became very good friends, their careers took them in different directions. Dean wanted to write and Grand wanted to act. After the success of Dean's movie, Independence Day, he and Grand ran into each other on the lot of Twentieth Century-Fox. Devlin said he had a project he thought Grand might be interested in. Two weeks later, Grand was cast as Agent Douglas Wilcox in The Visitor, opposite John Corbett and Steve Railsback. Grand continues to mourn the passing of his best friend, writer/producer Nicholas Corea. Their relationship began with The Incredible Hulk. Grand played a bad guy and still laughs at the memory of his mother, Essie, rooting for the Hulk as it ripped her son's character to shreds. Nick brought Grand along with him on quite a few projects, including The Renegades, opposite Patrick Swayze; Airwolf opposite Jan-Michael Vincent; Outlaws opposite Rod Taylor; and Renegade opposite Lorenzo Lamas. While Nick was dying of cancer in 1999, he wrote for Grand "Brothers in Arms", an installment that is still considered to be one of the best episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger, starring Chuck Norris. Grand and his wife, Sharon Dahlonega, watched the broadcast privately with Nick's widow, Pheny. Grand began his acting career at an early age. Of all the other fourth graders at Vermont Elementary School in Los Angeles, his teacher quickly realized he was capable of memorizing large passages because of his father's propensity to have him commit to memory large chunks of the Bible. He was cast as "Prince Charming" in his first play, "Sleeping Beauty." It was not until high school when he realized that one could make a living at acting. He was surrounded by drama students who were already earning an income acting in commericials, TV shows and film projects. During his junior year, he placed his interest in journalism on hold and enrolled in drama at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. He advanced to play production, performing in "The Merchant of Venice" at the Globe Theatre, and in the Garden Grove Shakespeare Festival's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." He attended the Theatre Academy at Los Angeles City College. Following graduation, he studied film and theatre at the University of Southern California and scene acting at the Strasberg Academy in Hollywood. To prepare for the role of "Balrog" in Street Fighter, Grand trained with martial artist Benny Urquidez. In addition to adhering to a strict scientific diet, Grand ran each day through the polluted streets of Bangkok, Thailand, in 90-degree weather. He lost 15 pounds in a single month. The "Street Fighter: Special Edition" video game features the actual images of the entire cast in hand-to-hand combat. Robert Davi and Grand co-starred in both License to Kill and Die Hard.

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