Jake Busey Biography

William Jacob "Jake" Busey (born June 15, 1971) is an American actor, musician and film producer. He is sometimes credited as "Jacob Busey" or "William Busey". He is the son of actor Gary Busey.

Early life

Busey was born in Los Angeles, and raised in Malibu, California, the son of photographer Judy Lynn Helkenberg, and actor Gary Busey. Busey spent his childhood on film sets and touring with bands in which his father played. He began considering his career choices at the age of five when he took up the two hobbies that grew into professions: acting and playing drums.

Career

Busey's motion picture debut was in the 1978 film Straight Time with his father Gary and Dustin Hoffman. His two most notable appearances are as the murderous religious fanatic opposite Jodie Foster in Contact and as smart-mouthed soldier Ace Levy in Starship Troopers. He appeared in H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, one of three 2005 film adaptations of the novel by H.G. Wells, alongside C. Thomas Howell. Additionally, he has had major roles in Tomcats opposite Jerry O'Connell and Shannon Elizabeth, in James Mangold's thriller Identity, with C. Thomas Howell in the The Hitcher II, Michael J. Fox in Peter Jackson's The Frighteners and Road House 2. Busey played the role of "Backfire" in Patrick Durham's movie Cross which was released directly to DVD and download in May 2011, and stars in the upcoming independent film Don't Pass Me By.

He has also had minor parts in films like Windrunner: A Spirited Journey starring Jason Wiles, Christmas with the Kranks starring Tim Allen, I'll Do Anything, Enemy of the State, The Killing Jar, The Stoned Age, PCU, and Fast Sofa with Jennifer Tilly and Natasha Lyonne. He also had a main role on the television show Shasta McNasty. Busey portrayed since 2013 Professor Aiden "Sex Machine" Tanner in From Dusk till Dawn: The Series.

He also provided the voice of The Radioman in the 2012 video game Spec Ops: The Line.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1978	Straight Time	Henry Darin
1982	Barbarosa	Cook boy
1989	Hider in the House	Teenage Tom	Voice role
1992	Cruel Doubt	student	TV movie
1993	Shimmer	Richard Halverson
1994	Foot Shooting Party		Short film
	Motorcycle Gang	Jake	TV movie
	S.F.W.	Morrow Streeter
	The Stoned Age	Jimmy Muldoon
	PCU	Mersh
	I'll Do Anything
1995	Quiet Days in Hollywood	Curt
	Windrunner	Dave Promisco
1996	The Frighteners	Johnny Charles Bartlett
	Twister	Mobile Lab technician
1997	Contact	Joseph
	Starship Troopers	Private Ace Levy
1998	Enemy of the State	Krug
	Home Fries	Angus
1999	Shasta McNasty	Dennis
2001	Tomcats	Kyle Brenner
	Jeremiah	Jake Davenport
2002	The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest	Darrell
	The Twilight Zone	Vincent Hansen	Episode: "Chosen"
2003	Identity	Robert Maine
	The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting	Jack
2004	Christmas with the Kranks	Officer Treen
2005	H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds	Lieutenant Samuelson
	The Rain Makers	Shaw	Associate Producer
	Code Breakers	Straub
2006	Road House 2	Wild Bill
	Wristcutters: A Love Story	Brian
2008	Time Bomb	Jason Philby	direct to video
2010	The Killing Jar	Greene
2011	Cross	Backfire	Producer
2012	Play James Play	Paul
	Don't Pass Me By	Fred Norwick
	Nazis at the Center of the Earth	Adrian Reistad
	Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva la Fiesta!	Oscar (voice role)
2013	Girl Meets Boy	Richard
	Sparks	Sledge
	Psych	FBI agent	Santabarbaratown 2
2014	From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series	Professor Aiden "Sex Machine" Tanner	TV Series
	Reaper	Bill
2015	Justified	Lewis "The Wiz" Mago	TV Series
	Texas Rising	Samuel Wallace	TV MiniSeries

Musical activities

Busey writes and plays drums for the band Sons of the Lawless. He also plays guitar and is a baritone singer. One of their songs, "Let Me Down", is featured over the end credits of the Asylum film Nazis at the Center of the Earth (2012) and was put there by special request of the director, Joseph J. Lawson. Lawson chose the song because he wanted the film to end like a classic '80s horror B-movie and because Busey played a central character in the film.

Personal life

Busey resides in Los Angeles, California.