Inside Gary Busey's alarming shift from past glory to unfamiliar territory, fans say he 'needs medical help'
MALIBU, CALIFORNIA: Gary Busey is a prominent actor, who has given a number of successful films, like ‘Black Sheep’, ‘Point Break’, and ‘Lethal Weapon’, after debuting in 1974’s ‘Thunderbolt and Lightfoot’. Four years after his launch, he also received an Oscar nomination for his work in ‘The Buddy Holly Story’.
Like his professional life, his personal life was also on track initially as he met his first wife Judy Helkenberg, at Coffeyville Community Junior College, as a student. In 1968, they said “I do” to each other and welcomed their son Jake in 1971. But in 1988, the ‘Under Siege’ star experienced a near-fatal accident requiring him to undergo major surgery.
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'Angels give you the truth'
On the 'Dr Phil' show, he reportedly once shared, “I passed away after brain surgery.” Busey also claimed to see angels during the time as he noted, “Angels are balls of light this big, breathing and shining, you can't look at an angel right into the light, or you'll go down in your stomach cause of the light and the love and the incredible feeling they give you. Angels give you the truth,” before adding, “one spoke to me in an androgynous voice. It went…You may come with us now, or you may return to your body and continue your destiny.”
In 1990, Busey divorced Helkenberg. Another setback followed him soon as he was diagnosed with brain cancer. Though he recovered from the deadly disease following an operation and radiation, he ended up disfiguring his face. The famous plastic surgeon, Dr Frank Ryan, then helped the ‘Silver Bullet’ star in fixing his face.
“That became a very, very sacred moment in the rebirth of my identity; your identity is the core of your truth, and the beautiful thing about truth is that it requires no questions. It is what it is,” he said during an interview, as reported by Ability Magazine. However, the accident and then cancer made Busey bankrupt. Also, amid these, Busey got married and divorced his second wife, Tiani Warden.
'She's been watching me grow down'
But with time, the National Society of Film Critics Award winner pulled himself up and managed to create a net worth of $500,000. Currently, he is married to his third wife, Steffanie Sampson. They also have a son named Luke, who was born in 2010. Busey once said of Sampson, “She's a beautiful partner in every way, even though we do butt heads a few times, but that's just another visual of our love together. He also told The Guardian, “She’s multitalented in so many directions. I’ve been watching her grow up and she’s been watching me grow down.”
However, lately, the ‘Big Wednesday’ star is not seemed to be in a good place as a few months back, he was spotted pulling his pants down at Point Dume Park. A spokesperson for him at the time reportedly defended him and said, “Gary often sits on the bench in front of his home to meditate and look at the ocean. Our only guess is that perhaps at his age, he realized he couldn’t get to the bathroom in time which explains what happened in the video of him on the bench.”
'I hope he gets help'
His fans, however, did not believe the reason of his representative as one commented, “As somebody who takes care of the elderly I can say with full certainty that this is a medical/age issue. I hope he gets help.” Another one wrote, “He has permanent brain damage from an accident in 1988 and has been slowly declining ever since. At this point, he should probably be in some kind of care. I think you could tell he was gone in 2008 while on The Apprentice. I wish him all the best and hope he gets the help he needs.”
The third one stated, “It's sad, I don't think he knows what he is doing. He needs help. Surely someone has the capability to help him.” The fourth one added, “I’m a nurse, and seeing that man on the park bench I would think he might have dementia. I hope if he does that he gets the help he needs.”
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