The Tragic Truth About Gary Busey

The following article includes descriptions of mental health issues, substance abuse, and sexual assault.

As an actor known for his wide range, it shouldn't be a surprise that someone like Gary Busey has gone through quite a few tragedies. With nearly 200 film and TV credits to his name, Busey has pulled out all the stops, from comedy to drama and everything in between. But no matter what he has gone through, Busey has never stopped working. Still, he hasn't been immune to ill fate or the legal system in his decades-long Hollywood career. 

Even after living through a number of significant personal tragedies, Busey has remained optimistic about his lot in life. In speaking to Stereogum in 2019, he said co-writing his book "Buseyisms" helped him reflect on the life he has lived. "I learned a lot about me, I learned a lot about freedom, the word freedom, F-R-E-E-D-O-M stands for, stands for Facing Real Exciting Energy Developing Out Of Miracles," Busey told the outlet in a very eccentric, Busey manner. 

He went on to add, "You have a miracle in you, you were born a miracle and you will live a miracle if you choose to accept that truth that you have in you when you were born." An astute observation from an actor who has survived his fair share of the unsurvivable. 

On December 5, 1988, Gary Busey almost died in a motorcycle accident. He suffered a brain injury during the accident because he didn't wear a helmet. He even vehemently combated laws that would make it illegal for cyclists to ride without helmets. Busey had to undergo brain surgery and was in a coma for weeks following the accident. Regarding the accident, Busey has claimed that he briefly died. In talking to The New York Times, he described what happened after the accident as an ethereal moment in which he met angels. 

"And three of the angels — woop, woop, woop — came up to me, and I felt love, protection and trust like I have never felt on Earth," he told the outlet. "One of them talked to me in an androgynous voice and said, 'What you're doing is wonderful. You're going in a great direction. But because of your responsibility to mankind, you need to look for help in the spiritual realm. You may come with us now, or you may return to your body and continue to your destiny. It's your choice.'" 

The damage to Busey's brain still has effects to this day. He has impulse and mood control issues which likely contribute to the eccentric behavior he has become known for since the 1980s. 

Although Gary Busey is currently married to Steffanie Busey, who is 30 years his junior, he has been married twice before. He and first wife Judy Helkenberg were married for over 20 years before divorcing in 1990. In 1996 he remarried, this time to Tiani Warden, whom he divorced in 2001. According to Busey's book "Buseyisms," he was having an affair with Belinda Bauer at the time of his accident in 1988, which in part cemented the end of his marriage.

"Belinda came to the hospital, too, but it was awkward with Judy there, so Belinda respectfully bowed out, allowing Judy the opportunity to be the wife helping her husband," Busey wrote of being in the hospital post-accident. He also wrote that his cocaine addiction played a part in ending his family life with Judy and their son Jake. 

Busey's second wife Tiani, he writes in "Buseyisms," was a danger to his sobriety. She was a burgeoning actress during their marriage, but he couldn't be around her if she wasn't committed to being sober, he wrote. Tiani died of a cocaine overdose on November 4, 2019 in a holding cell at the Hunt County Detention Center. 

In February of 2012, Gary Busey filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Despite his years of work in Hollywood, the actor lost almost all of his money and owed about half a million dollars in debts. Busey's rep told TMZ at the time, "Gary's filing is the final chapter in a process that began a few years ago of jettisoning the litter of past unfortunate choices, associations, circumstances, and events." 

Some of the folks Busey owed money to, according to court documents provided to the outlet, included UCLA Medical Center, Wells Fargo, and the L.A. County Waterworks Districts. He told CNBC in September 2018 that the real reason he went bankrupt was because he was "spending too much money on drugs."

Per court documents obtained and reported by E! News a week after the announcement, Busey's assets during bankruptcy only amounted to just over $26,000. That is a far cry from the amounts he owed creditors and the IRS. In speaking to E, Busey's rep equated the actor to other famous individuals who had also filed for bankruptcy, like Walt Disney and Donald Trump. "Remember, the Buseyism for FAILING is: Finding An Important Lesson Inviting Needed Growth," the rep told the outlet. 

In May 1995, Gary Busey's then-fiancé Tiani Warden reported Busey had overdosed on cocaine. Busey nearly died from the overdose and faced a range of felony drug charges after the fact. In addition to being charged with taking cocaine, Busey was also charged with possession of marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and cocaine. 

Over 20 years after almost losing his life for a second time, Busey wrote a personal essay for NBC on coming back from his cocaine addiction. He wrote of a man bringing him a massive cocaine rock with his initials engraved into it after he got an Oscar nomination for "The Buddy Holly Story" in 1979, which Busey cites as the starting point of his addiction. 

"It almost killed me, but I had the healing angels of spirituality come around me, and they took me out of it and took me away from it," Busey wrote of surviving his overdose. "I realized, after I stopped doing cocaine, how crazy and stupid my thoughts were. I thought I was so creative, but I wasn't." Following the overdose, Busey entered rehab at the Betty Ford Center. 

In August 2022, while a guest at the Monster-Mania Con in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Gary Busey was charged with a series of sex offenses. It was alleged that during the convention, the actor inappropriately touched three women who were in attendance. Court documents obtained by CNN revealed that Busey allegedly asked the police if they could get the victims to drop the charges. 

When TMZ caught up with Busey at a gas station about a week after the story was made public, he denied the accusations. "It was a partner, a camera lady and me, and two girls ... it took less than 10 seconds and they left," he told the outlet. "Then they made up a story that I assaulted them sexually and I did not. Nothing happened, it's all false." No further reporting has been done about the 2022 charges, though the incident hasn't stopped him from inappropriate public behavior. 

He was spotted with his pants down in public later in August 2022. Busey's rep told Page Six at the time that he probably needed to go to the bathroom, and that's why he was seated without pants. Then, in January 2024, Busey, in full view of paparazzi cameras, pulled down his pants and peed in front of them. 

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).