Busey was born in Goose Creek (now Baytown), Texas, the son of Virginia (née Arnett), a homemaker, and Delmer Lloyd Busey, a construction design manager. He graduated from Nathan Hale Highschool in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He attended Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas on a football scholarship where he became interested in acting. He is listed as one of the university's "outstanding alumni." He then transferred to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, where he quit school just one class short of graduation. In 1971, wife Judy Helkenberg gave birth to his son, fellow actor Jake Busey. Gary and Judy divorced when Jake was nineteen. On December 4, 1988, Busey was severely injured in a motorcycle accident in which he was not wearing a helmet. His skull was fractured and doctors feared he suffered permanent brain damage. Busey has spoken out as being a Born Again Christian as a result of his near-death experience. He currently lives in Malibu.