Grand L. Bush
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Grand Lee Bush | |
 Bush in 2006 |
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| Born | December 24, 1955 (age 51) Los Angeles, California |
Grand L. Bush (born December 24, 1955) is an American actor of stage, television and major motion pictures.
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[edit] Career
In 1983, Bush was nominated for a Genie Award for "Best Performance by a Foreign Actor" for his role in the feature film, Hard Feelings.
Bush's introduction to cinema began five years earlier when, in 1977, he landed a recurring role on the CBS sitcom Good Times. Bush later acted in other television episodics and miniseries, including Roots, before joining the cast of the rock musical Hair in 1979, in which he performed a solo.
Bush also performed in other musical dramas, including the TV series Fame and the feature film Streets of Fire.
Bush's most notable contributions to cinema were his perfomances in such box-office blockbusters as Lethal Weapon (starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover), Hollywood Shuffle, Die Hard (starring Bruce Willis) and Colors (starring Sean Penn and Robert Duvall).
Colors, an American cult classic, sparked a long-term friendship between Bush and director Dennis Hopper. To date, Hopper has directed Bush in a total of three feature films, including Chasers[1] and Catchfire. [2]
When Bush was cast in the 1989 feature film Licence to Kill, starring Timothy Dalton, his character ("Hawkins") became one of "James Bond's" most notable allies. [3] The world premiere of the sixteenth "007" film was held in London, England [4], where the starring cast greeted His Royal Highness Prince Charles and Her Royal Highness Princess Diana.[5]
By 1990, Bush had become a veteran of stage, television and motion pictures. He was hand-picked to perform opposite George C. Scott, an Oscar winner Premiere magazine listed in 2006 as one of the greatest performers of all time for his role as General George S. Patton, Jr. in the 1970 biopic Patton.[6] This time, Scott portrayed a lieutenant in a horror film called The Exorcist III, written and directed by William Peter Blatty; Bush played his sergeant.[7]
Bush has acted opposite Sylvester Stallone in Demolition Man. Bush also played actor Todd Bridges' father in Building Bridges, an autobiographical short film about the rise and fall of the child star of Diff'rent Strokes.[8]
In 1994, Bush was cast in the role of "Balrog" in the action/comedy Street Fighter,[9] directed by Steven E. de Souza. The ensemble cast also included Jean Claude Van Damme, Kylie Minogue, Ming Na and Raúl Juliá. To prepare for his role, Bush trained with kickboxing champion Benny Urquidez in Bangkok, Thailand, and Brisbane, Australia.[10]
[edit] Education
Shakespearean-trained, Bush studied film and theatre at the Los Angeles Theatre Academy, University of Southern California and the Strasberg Academy in Hollywood. He continued his education by performing at the historic Globe Theatre [11] and Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, and the annual Shakespeare Festival in Garden Grove, California.[12]
[edit] Spouse
Bush has been married to former television personality Sharon Dahlonega Raiford Bush since 1994.[13]
[edit] Facts of Life
- Writer/producer Dean Devlin and Bush worked together on two television series (Hard Copy on CBS in 1987 and The Visitor on FOX in 1997).
- Bush and actor Robert Davi co-starred in two films together (Die Hard and Licence to Kill).
- Bush has worked on two of Steven E. de Souza's films (Die Hard and Street Fighter).
- Dennis Hopper has directed Bush in three films (Colors, Chasers and Catchfire).
- Bush has guest-starred in a total of five projects on which Nicholas Corea is credited as either a writer, producer or director (The Renegades 1983, The Incredible Hulk, Air Wolf, Renegade 1992, and Walker, Texas Ranger).
- Bush played two separate characters on Walker, Texas Ranger, a CBS television series that starred Chuck Norris.
- Bush and actor Clarence Gilyard played brothers on Walker, Texas Ranger; they also celebrate identical birthdays. (1955)
- The Walker, Texas Ranger episode titled Brothers in Arms was written specifically for Bush by his closest friend, Nicholas Corea, while Corea lay on his death bed. Corea's eternal gift to Bush aired after the writer/producer/director departed his life. Bush viewed the episode privately with Corea's widow.
- In 1991, Bush and his wife, Sharon Dahlonega, met for the first time on the set of Free Jack, a sci-fi that also co-starred Emilio Estevez and Mick Jagger; she was on assignment for BET to interview Bush, et al, during the Atlanta, Georgia, location filming.
- In 1994, Bush was recognized by the City of Los Angeles for his courage after he heroically saved the life of a shooting victim; he and the man he rescued are now close friends.
