Gary Busey is an actor known for playing the role of Buddy Holly in The Buddy Holly Story in 1978.
Busey was born to his father, Delmer Lloyd Busey, and his mother, Sadie Virginia; his father was a construction design manager, and his mother was a homemaker. He moved to Tulsa when he was in fourth grade.
He pursued his interest in acting by studying theatre at Oklahoma State University, but he left school after only one unit, missing graduation.
Busey has also appeared in many television series like Walker Texas Ranger, Entourage, Gunsmoke, and Law & Order.
Busey had faced a terrible accident that hampered his brain and had a hard time due to the injury.
Gary Busey Before And After Accident: What Happened?
On December 4, 1988, Busey suffered a terrible accident while riding his motorcycle without a helmet. He was knocked off, and the curb struck the back of his head, split his skull, and scraped the temple side of his brain.
He had 48 hours to live with a 98% chance of dying and said that in 72 hours, if he is alive, then he is most likely to be a vegetable or a left-sided paraplegic; the doctors are not sure how he got back to normal it was like a miracle.
Even though Busey was back on his feet, he had permanently damaged his frontal lobe. Before his accident, he had a quirky personality, but after the crash, he had no filter, which explains his eccentric performances on and off the screen.
After the accident, Gary suffered from severe mood swings, volatile temper, and delusions. After recovering from the crash, he developed a substance use habit.
He underwent severe brain surgery in 1997 when a cancerous tumor was found in his sinus cavity. After the surgery, his face appeared lopsided, and his left eye was wider and redder than his right eye.
In 1998 he underwent plastic surgery like his older version before the surgery.
Gary Busey’s Wife
Busey married his first wife, Judy Helkenberg, in 1968, but sadly, after 22 years of marriage, the ex-couple divorced in 1998. They had a son named Jake Busey together. He was 19 years old when his parents got divorced.
After the divorce, Busey was in a romantic relationship with Tracy Hutchinson, stunt coordinator, and Gary had a daughter named Alectra with her during their time together.
In 1996 he married actress Tiani Warden, but due to irreconcilable differences, they divorced in 2001.
Currently, he is in a relationship with his girlfriend, Steffanie Sampson. They have been dating since 2008. The couple is now engaged, but the wedding plans haven’t been disclosed. They were blessed with a son Luke.
Gary Busey’s Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Busey has an estimated net worth of $500 thousand. He has experienced difficulty in his finances; he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in California on February 6, 2012, claiming to be more than $500,000 in debt.
He stated that he had less than $50,000 in real assets and was in debt to various parties like Medical Center, IRS, UCLA, Wells Fargo, and many more.
In 1974 he made his debut with the film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot as a supporting character. He got his big break from The Buddy Holly Story and later starred in the movies like Insignificance, Barbarosa, Silver Bullet, and Bulletproof.
He has also appeared in high-profile films like Predator 2, Point Break, Rookie of the Year, and Under Siege. It was revealed that Busey would play God in the Off-Broadway musical Only Human during the summer of 2019.
He appeared on the television show Gary Busey: Pet Judge in 2020, the show was about a fight between the plaintiffs and defendants in a court about their pets.