Biography for
Grand L. Bush More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

24 December 1955, Los Angeles, California, USA

Birth Name

Grand Lee Bush

Height

6' (1.83 m)

Spouse

Sharon Dahlonega	(7 December 1994 - present) 4 children
Romona Jean Bynum	(27 May 1982 - 8 July 1991) (divorced)

Trivia

To prepare for his role as Rev. Ross in the critically-acclaimed independent film, Favorite Son (1997), Grand committed to memory the entire chapter of the New Testaments's Luke 15. His performance was so impressive that many of the local extras thought he was a real minister and invited him to preach at their church.

He was once a dancer in Las Vegas.

For the premiere of Licence to Kill (1989) he and the starring cast greeted Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. He said he found the prince to be quite "dashing" and "eloquent.".

In 1994 he was given a "Courageous Citizens Award" by L.A. District Attorney Gil Garcetti for saving the life of a shooting victim.

He was named after his grandfather, Lee Grand Bush.

A student of theology, he remains spiritual and dedicated to the betterment of life.

He does not recognize holidays because of his religious beliefs.

A Shakespearean actor, he received a scholarship to study at Juilliard. He turned down the offer to care for his ailing mother.

His real father, Robert, played his his dad on "Good Times" (1974).

Grand and writer/producer Dean Devlin acted together in "Hard Copy" (1987), a short-lived TV series. Dean played a reporter and Grand was his streetwise connection. Although they became very good friends, their careers took them in different directions. Dean wanted to write and Grand wanted to act. After the success of Dean's movie, Independence Day (1996), he and Grand ran into each other on the lot of Twentieth Century-Fox. Devlin said he had a project he thought Grand might be interested in. Two weeks later, Grand was cast as Agent Douglas Wilcox in "The Visitor" (1997), opposite John Corbett and Steve Railsback.

Grand continues to mourn the passing of his best friend, writer/producer Nicholas Corea. Their relationship began with "The Incredible Hulk" (1978). Grand played a bad guy and still laughs at the memory of his mother, Essie, rooting for the Hulk as it ripped her son's character to shreds. Nick brought Grand along with him on quite a few projects, including The Renegades (1982) (TV), opposite Patrick Swayze; "Airwolf" (1984) opposite Jan-Michael Vincent; "Outlaws" (1986) opposite Rod Taylor; and "Renegade" (1992) opposite Lorenzo Lamas. While Nick was dying of cancer in 1999, he wrote for Grand "Brothers in Arms", an installment that is still considered to be one of the best episodes of "Walker, Texas Ranger" (1993), starring Chuck Norris. Grand and his wife, Sharon Dahlonega, watched the broadcast privately with Nick's widow, Pheny.

Grand began his acting career at an early age. Of all the other fourth graders at Vermont Elementary School in Los Angeles, his teacher quickly realized he was capable of memorizing large passages because of his father's propensity to have him commit to memory large chunks of the Bible. He was cast as "Prince Charming" in his first play, "Sleeping Beauty." It was not until high school when he realized that one could make a living at acting. He was surrounded by drama students who were already earning an income acting in commericials, TV shows and film projects. During his junior year, he placed his interest in journalism on hold and enrolled in drama at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. He advanced to play production, performing in "The Merchant of Venice" at the Globe Theatre, and in the Garden Grove Shakespeare Festival's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." He attended the Theatre Academy at Los Angeles City College. Following graduation, he studied film and theatre at the University of Southern California and scene acting at the Strasberg Academy in Hollywood.

To prepare for the role of "Balrog" in Street Fighter (1994), Grand trained with martial artist Benny Urquidez. In addition to adhering to a strict scientific diet, Grand ran each day through the polluted streets of Bangkok, Thailand, in 90-degree weather. He lost 15 pounds in a single month. The "Street Fighter: Special Edition" video game features the actual images of the entire cast in hand-to-hand combat.

Robert Davi and Grand co-starred in both Licence to Kill (1989) and Die Hard (1988).

He and fellow actor, Clarence Gilyard, Jr. not only played brothers on "Walker, Texas Ranger," they celebrate identical birthdates.

In 2006, he and his wife, Sharon Dahlonega, renewed their wedding vows during a cruise of the Mexican Riviera.

The wheezing and beads of sweat on his forehead were real during filming of "Shark Hunter" in Sofia, Bulgaria. He had contracted a potentially deadly staph infection after injuring himself during a stunt. Grand's wife, Sharon Dahlonega, along with a medical staff, monitored and nursed him as he battled a raging fever that spiked to 104 degrees Fahrenheit(40 degrees Celsius) at times during the shoot.

The 1994 production of "Street Fighter: Special Edition" represented the world's first international ensemble of motion picture actors to be featured in a single videogame. In addition to Grand in the role of "Balrog," the cast included Raul Julia ("Bison"), Ming-Na ("Chun-Li"), Kylie Minogue ("Cammie"), Jean Claude Van Damme ("Guile") and Wes Studi ("Sagat").

Grand was invited to participate in the 2007 Celebrity Golf Classic, hosted by Donald Trump. Others lending their celebrity to the Salvation Army benefit included Mark Wahlberg, Marcus Allen and Reggie Jackson.

Parodied his role in Roots (1977) as a "Runaway Slave" in the movie Hollywood Shuffle (1987).

On November 20, 2007, Grand helped director/producer Penny Marshall, Reachback LA and the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation hand out five-star dinners to nearly 600 at-risk youth and their families in Watts, CA.

Plays two different characters in Lethal Weapons 1 and 2. In the first, he was Detective Boyette. In 2, Detective Collins.

Retired from acting in 2002.

Between 1986 and 1990, Grand L. Bush played three different characters on the television series, "Hunter.".

Todd Bridges personally asked Grand L. Bush to portray his abusive father, Jim, in Bridges' independent biopic called "Building Bridges." Bridges said Bush's performance was so real, he was emotionally affected.

After filming the movie "Colors," Grand L. Bush and the late Dennis Hopper remained close friends for more than 20 years.

When Grand L. Bush played a minister in "Favorite Son," many of the extras thought he was a preacher in real life and invited the actor to preach at their churches.

Grand L. Bush is a University of Southern California alumnus.

Producer Joel Silver personally phoned Grand L. Bush at his home to ask that he make a cameo appearance in "Demolition Man," co-starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes.

He is an expert swimmer and certified sailboat skipper.

He officially retired from acting in 2003 to study medicine. He graduated from medical school in 2010.

Personal Quotes

Nothing in this world can take the place of devotion. Talent won't. Genius can't. Drive, determination, a gentle heart and the will to conquer the odds are some powerful forces.

Where Are They Now

(March 2007) Currently developing film projects with his wife and writing partner, Sharon Dahlonega.