Former Tulsan Gary Busey, 67, has filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Los Angeles, California.
Busey’s bankruptcy Petition and Schedules list assets of less than $50,000 and debts between $500,000 and $1 million. Busey’s creditors include the IRS, Wells Fargo, the UCLA Medical Center and a woman named Carla Loeffler who sued Busey for what she calls an assault at Tulsa International Airport in May 2011. Busey was in Tulsa last May as a celebrity guest for the Tulsa Charity Fight Night event.
After graduating from Tulsa’s Nathan Hale High School in 1962, Busey headed to Pittsburg State University in southeast Kansas on a football scholarship. When a serious knee injury sidelined his sports aspirations, Busey turned his attention to drama, eventually joining the theater department at Oklahoma State University.
While a student there in 1966, Busey co-founded a bluesy rock band called Carp. After several years of playing local parties and biker bars, they headed to Hollywood in search of a record deal, landing one with Epic and releasing a self-titled album in 1969. When Carp failed to generate much commercial success, most of the band’s members went on to become studio musicians. A talented drummer, Busey played in several bands, including those of country-and-western legends Leon Russell (another former Tulsan), Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson before taking advantage of his new locale to revive his earlier acting efforts.
Busey received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in The Buddy Holly Story.
