BUSEY REPENTS FOR DRUG-RIDDLED PAST

Pasadena - Gary Busey, the hell-raising, motorcycle-crashing,
coke-snorting actor who has spent most of his 54 years burning
bridges, is finally dead and buried - or so he says.

"That's where I was before - in the dark," says Busey. "I'm in a new
place now."

The Oscar-nominated star of "The Buddy Holly Story" and acclaimed
villain of "Under Siege" and "Lethal Weapon" nearly died in a 1988
motorcycle accident and again in 1995, when he overdosed on steroids,
cocaine and tequila. Last year sinus cancer had Busey swearing he had
seen the Grim Reaper.

"I was pretty ruthless, belligerent, nasty and evasive," he admitted
to TV critics here. "I would walk through my grandmother's blood to
get a postage stamp. I'm a full-blooded Christian now. It's important
to say, 'I'm sorry I did that,' just for your own good."

E! Entertainment, the cable network, has a two-hour special on his
life scheduled for Aug. 2. In it, not only does Busey 'fess up, but so
old pals such as Willie Nelson and Cheech Marin, whom he encouraged to
tell the truth about him on film.

Busey remembers the time he snorted spilled cocaine off the dog's
coat. If he didn't have the money to buy more drugs, his pals would
keep him supplied. In the meantime, he says, "I wrote a lot of hot
checks."

Busey swears he didn't get into drugs until he became a star acting
and singing in "The Buddy Holly Story" in 1978. He says pushers came
out of the shadows. He says he doesn't blame anyone but himself for
letting it turn him into a cokehead.

Once a lanky, blond drummer with the Leon Russell and Willie Nelson
backup bands, he began to make a name for himself in movies after his
debut in "Angels Hard As They Come," a 1971 biker flick. He
specialized in bikers, surfers("Big Wednesday"), outlaws
("Barbarossa") and all-around tough guys. Now and then, he'd get a
saner role, such as coach "Bear" Bryant in "The Bear" (1984) or a
DiMaggio-style ballplayer in "Insignificance" (1985).

But after he started taking drugs and putting on weight - he hit 245
pounds at one point - he was mostly cast as bad guys.

All the while, says Busey, it was "the darkness talking to you - an
evil influence, saying, 'Let's do this!'" Now he visits juvenile halls
and youth groups, telling the kids that cocaine may make you feel like
a genius for 20 minutes, but it leads you to hell.

Busey remembers taking off all his clothes and looking at his
jiggling, flabby body. "I was kind of a gray, pasty color," he says.
Still, he says, "I have the constitution of a government mule," and
today, after three drug-free years, he's thinner and has a light in
his eyes that gives a new look of hope to his wasted features.

"I've done the steps" - 12-step programs like Alcoholic Anonymous -
"and done the duty," he says, "I'm walking the walk."

Busey just finished an independent film based on Mordecai Richler's
"Jacob Two Meets the Hooded Fang," which he describes as an
inspirational tale. He's looking for a project in which to co-star
with his son Jake Busey. He doesn't rule out playing slimy characters
again, but hopes he can play roles with some kind of spiritual value.

Coming back won't be easy, he admits: "I have a reputation
bigger than the state of Texas that precedes me." Still,
he believes Hollywood is a forgiving town, and he hopes the
E! special will renew interest in him.

Checked-by: "Rich O'Grady"