What Has Gary Busey Done All These Years?

Husband: “Didn’t he play the guitar player who died in the plane crash?”

Me: “I thought he played the old rockabilly guy who married his 12-year-old cousin.”

gary-busey-point-breakHusband: “Could be. That was Jerry Lee Lewis. What about the La Bamba guy?”

Me: “No, that was the Mexican guy … Lou Diamond Phillips.”

And so goes the discussion in our house about Gary Busey’s movie career. After seeing him on ‘The Apprentice’ this week, it got us wondering just what HAS Busey been doing all these years? So I looked up his IMDB.com profile.

Prior to, during, and after his weirdness on the red carpet at 2008’s Academy Awards and ‘Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew,’ Busey has done a ton – yes, a TON – of movie and TV projects dating back to the 1960s, most of which I’ve never heard of. Below are three that stand out.

Oh, and by the way, I glanced at Lou Diamond Phillips’ profile, too. He’s not Mexican. He was born in the Phillipines and is 1/8th Cherokee. And Dennis Quaid played Jerry Lee Lewis in ‘Great Balls of Fire.’

gary-busey-1‘The Buddy Holly Story’ – The husband was right. Busey played Buddy Holly in this 1978 movie about the doomed singer’s life prior to his untimely death in a plane crash.

‘Point Break’ – Busey starred in this 1991 movie about an FBI agent who goes undercover to catch a gang of bank robbers – who may be surfers. You have to wonder how the development meetings went on this film. Anyway, Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves also starred. Surprisingly – to me anyway – the director was Kathryn Bigelow, who went on to 1) marry and divorce James Cameron; and 2) win an Oscar for 2008’s ‘The Hurt Locker.’ I’ll be darned.

‘Entourage’ – Busey played himself in this HBO series starring Adrien Genier and his posse. Seemed like more when I was watching it at the time, but Busey appeared in only three episodes in 2004, 2005 and 2007.

Got any favorite Gary Busey roles or moments? I must admit, ‘The Apprentice’ promises to be darn entertaining this year. Let’s hope he brings the craziness.

Comments

One response to “What Has Gary Busey Done All These Years?”

  1. Casey Avatar

    My favorite Gary Busey moment isn’t even a real Gary Busey one – it’s the SNL sketch about Christopher Walken’s Psychic Friends Network where he’s played by Michael McKean. “That’s top drawer, chief.”

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