What happened to Gary Busey?

It’s been decades since Gary Busey enjoyed a leading role in a film or television project, but that’s not to say that he’s disappeared from our screens. The 79-year-old actor never left stardom behind, but he did take a step back from the extremes of his early career.

When he first got started in Hollywood, Busey arose as competition for leading men of the day. He cinched several stellar roles in prominent releases like the original A Star is Born, and his leading role in The Buddy Holly Story secured Busey his first Academy Award nomination. His career was on a sharp upturn in the ’70s and ’80s, but more recent days have seen Busey’s career shift. He still appears in plenty of projects, but they tend to be fringe or lower-quality releases, and he’s often invited to portray himself, rather than fresh characters.

When he does portray himself, Busey is often making fun of his own eccentric image and sporadic range. Many of the same eccentricities he pokes fun at may be the result of a long-ago accident, however, one which had impacts even Busey didn’t understand until years later.

What happened to Gary Busey?

You’ll recognize Busey from any range of releases, but his most recent work gets far less attention than his early successes. That’s due to multiple factors, including Busey’s age and focus on short films and lesser-known projects, but it could also be the result of a decades-old injury.

Back in late 1988, Busey was severely injured in a motorcycle accident. He wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, and as a result he suffered a fracture to his skull and brain damage. Thankfully, Busey recovered from the accident, but years later he was informed that the damage may have been more severe than he once thought.

In the years since his accident, Busey emerged as a bit of an oddball — an actor who was known for his unexpected outbursts, excessive honesty, and occasional brusqueness. As it turns out, a lack of filter is quite common with head injuries, something Busey wasn’t made aware of until 2008. During a stint on Celebrity Rehab, a psychiatrist Busey was referred to indicated that Busey’s head injury may have been more severe than initially thought. He noted that Busey’s unfiltered nature may be due to the injury, and pointed him toward medication specifically crafted to combat conditions like epilepsy and bipolar disorder.

Busey agreed to test out the medication, but its hard to say if its had much effect. He’s continued to find work over the years — appearing most recently in a 2021 episode of Shameless — but he’s also continued to make headlines for his strange or discomfiting behavior. Just a few months ago the 79-year-old once again exposed himself in public — something he’s been known to do over the years — and made hard eye contact with paparazzi as he relieved himself on a bush.

Busey seems to be in relatively good health, despite his frequent social faux pas, and most people have broadly accepted that this is how he is. If that long-ago brain injury really is the culprit behind his unfiltered behavior, however, the man deserves our grace. He’s made a successful career for himself despite any hardships that 1988 accident caused, and a few eyebrow-raising comments — and even his support of Donald Trump — aren’t enough to (entirely) eliminate that.