Grand L. Bush

Grand L. Bush
Bush in 2012
Born (1955-12-24) December 24, 1955 (age 68)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1976–2002
Spouse
(m. 1994)

Grand Lee Bush (born December 24, 1955) is an American former actor of stage, television and film.

Early life and education

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Bush was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actor Robert Bush and his wife Essie Bush.[1] Shakespearean-trained, Bush studied film and theatre at the Los Angeles City College Theatre Academy, University of Southern California and the Strasberg Academy in Hollywood. He continued his education by performing at the historic Globe Theatre,[1] the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, and the annual Shakespeare Festival in Garden Grove, California.[2]

Career

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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.

In 1983, Bush won a nomination for a Canadian Genie Award in the category of "Best Performance by a Foreign Actor" for his role in the feature film Hard Feelings.

Bush appeared in such blockbusters as Lethal Weapon, Hollywood Shuffle, Die Hard, and Colors, the latter of which sparked a friendship between Bush and director Dennis Hopper and Hopper directed Bush in a total of three feature films: Colors, Chasers, and Catchfire. Bush was cast in the 1989 James Bond feature film Licence to Kill. He portrayed a lieutenant in the horror film The Exorcist III and had a small role 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.

In 1994, Bush was cast in the role of Balrog in the action/comedy Street Fighter, 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.

More than 35 feature films in which Bush has appeared have been archived as Turner Classic Movies.[3]

Personal life

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In 1991, Bush met his future wife, Sharon Crews, on the set of Freejack, a science fiction feature that stars Emilio Estevez, Rene Russo and Mick Jagger. Crews was on assignment for Black Entertainment Television (BET) to interview Bush, et al., during the Atlanta, Georgia, location filming.[citation needed] They married in 1994.[2]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1979 Hair Ensemble Dancer / Solo Artist: Flesh Failures
1979 Sunnyside Teddy
1980 Stir Crazy Slowpoke
1980 The Night the City Screamed Herbert Lee
1982 Vice Squad Black Pimp
1982 Night Shift Mustafa (as Grand Bush)
1982 Hard Feelings Latham Lockhart
1984 Weekend Pass Bertram
1984 Streets of Fire Reggie / The Sorels
1985 Brewster's Millions Rudy
1985 The Color Purple Randy
1987 Lethal Weapon Detective Dan Boyette
1987 Hollywood Shuffle Mandingo / Ricky Taylor / Hood #5
1988 Colors Larry "Looney Tunes" Sylvester
1988 Die Hard FBI Agent Johnson
1989 Licence to Kill DEA Agent Hawkins
1989 Lethal Weapon 2 Detective Jerry Collins
1990 Bad Influence Club Bartender
1990 Catchfire Bank Teller
1990 The First Power Reservoir Worker
1990 The Exorcist III Sergeant Mel Atkins
1990 Secret Agent 00 Soul Ben Douglas
1991 Wedlock Jasper
1992 Freejack Boone
1993 Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence Willie
1993 Demolition Man Young Officer Zachary Lamb
1994 Chasers Vance Dooley
1994 Street Fighter Balrog
1994 Forrest Gump Black Panther Leader
1997 Turbulence US Marshal Al Arquette
1997 Favorite Son Reverend Ross
2000 Building Bridges Todd Bridges' Dad / Jim
2001 Shark Hunter Rob Harrington
2002 New Alcatraz Sergeant Quinn

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1976 Good Times Leon 2 episodes
1977 Barnaby Jones Doc Evans Episode: "Gang War"
1978 Lou Grant Henry Spence Episode: "Sports"
1978 The Incredible Hulk Mike Episode: "Never Give a Trucker an Even Break"
1978 CHiPS Paul Episode: "High Flyer"
1980 B.J. and the Bear Cameraman Episode: "Siege"
1981 Trapper John, M.D. Treetop Episode: "Finders Keepers"
1982 Police Squad The Champ Episode: "Ring of Fear (A Dangerous Assignment)"
1982 The Jeffersons George Nylund Episode: "Appointment in 8B"
1983 The Renegades Jewel Episode: "Back to School"
1984 Airwolf General Ali Butami Episode: "And They Are Us"
1986–1993 Hunter Officer Meyers/Billy/Blade 5 episodes
1986 Outlaws Lt. Albert Ross 2 episodes
1987 Hard Copy Cash Conover 2 episodes
1987 Simon & Simon Doug Raney Episode: "Deep Water Death"
1987 Werewolf Seaman Episode: "Nightwatch"
1989 China Beach Mac Episode: "The World: Part 2"
1989 Murder, She Wrote George Gordon "Night of the Tarantula"
1992–1993 Renegade Harry Wells 3 episodes
1996 Nash Bridges Alex Peyton Episode: "Til Death Do Us Part"
1997–1998 The Visitor FBI Agent Douglas Wilcox
1998–1999 Walker, Texas Ranger Andros/Simon Trivette 2 episodes
1999 The Pretender Detective Rusk Episode: "Murder 101"
1999 Chicago Hope Colonel Oswald Morton Episode: "White Rabbit"
2000 Any Day Now Officer Royce Episode: "It's A Good Thing I'm Not Black"
2000 18 Wheels of Justice Eric Hodges Episode: "Con Truck"
2001 Sheena Kiptalami Chief Episode: "Between a Rock and a Hard Place"

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
1995 Street Fighter: The Movie Balrog
1995 Street Fighter: The Movie Balrog

References

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  1. ^ a b "Grand L. Bush Biography (1955–)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
  2. ^ a b Biography for Grand L. Bush at IMDb
  3. ^ "Filmography for Grand L Bush". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
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