Gary Busey's Real Name: William Gary Busey

Quick answer: The actor is known professionally as Gary Busey. Biography.com and the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture independently give the name William Gary Busey and date his birth to June 29, 1944, in Goose Creek, Texas (Biography.com; Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture).

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as Gary Busey. Biography.com says William Gary Busey was born on June 29, 1944, in Goose Creek, Texas, was raised in Oklahoma, attended Pittsburg State University in Kansas on a football scholarship, and, after a knee injury, transferred to Oklahoma State University but dropped out before a degree. The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture independently identifies William Gary Busey, born June 29, 1944, in Goose Creek (now Baytown), Texas, and says the family later lived in Oklahoma City and, from 1954, Tulsa, where he graduated from Nathan Hale High School in 1962. This page records Biography.com's Goose Creek wording and the Oklahoma encyclopedia's note that the town is now Baytown. Both describe a knee injury that ended a football path and a turn toward theater at Oklahoma State. Biography.com says that while turning to theater studies he played percussion with Leon Russell, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson. The Oklahoma encyclopedia independently says he began performing in both music and acting in the 1960s, and that in 1984 he portrayed football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant in The Bear.

Career highlights

Biography.com says he made his film debut in 1971 in Angels Hard as They Come and in 1978 starred in The Buddy Holly Story, earning an Academy Award nomination for the title role. The Oklahoma encyclopedia independently says that in 1978 he starred in The Buddy Holly Story and was nominated for an Academy Award. Biography.com later lists Lethal Weapon (1987), Predator 2 (1990), Point Break (1991), and The Firm (1993). The Oklahoma encyclopedia independently names those films among his credits, along with Under Siege (1992). Both also record a serious motorcycle accident in 1988, after which, the encyclopedia says, he recovered and continued to work.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Gary Busey or William Gary Busey are looking for the same actor, later an Academy Award nominee for The Buddy Holly Story. Independent sources support the name used in the title.