72 Facts About Bruce Willis

Walter Bruce Willis was born on March 19,1955 and is a retired American actor.

Bruce Willis achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series Moonlighting and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero for his portrayal of John McClane in the Die Hard franchise.

Bruce Willis retired in 2022 due to aphasia, and was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023.

Bruce Willis made his Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of Misery in 2015.

Bruce Willis has received various accolades throughout his career, including a Golden Globe Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two People's Choice Awards.

Bruce Willis received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006.

Walter Bruce Willis was born on March 19,1955, in Idar-Oberstein in what was then West Germany.

Bruce Willis's mother, Marlene, was German, from Kassel, and his father, David Willis, was an American soldier.

Bruce Willis has a younger sister, Florence, and two younger brothers, Robert and David.

Bruce Willis has described his background as a "long line of blue-collar people".

Bruce Willis's mother worked in a bank and his father was a welder, master mechanic and factory worker.

Bruce Willis attended Penns Grove High School in Carneys Point Township, where his schoolmates nicknamed him "Buck-Buck".

Bruce Willis joined the drama club, and found that acting on stage reduced his stutter.

Bruce Willis turned to acting after working as a private investigator, a role he would later play in the comedy-drama series Moonlighting and the action-comedy film The Last Boy Scout.

Bruce Willis enrolled in the drama program at Montclair State University, where he was cast in a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Bruce Willis's starring role in Moonlighting, opposite Cybill Shepherd, helped to establish him as a comedic actor.

Bruce Willis chose not to renew his contract when he decided to stop drinking alcohol in 1988.

In 1987, Bruce Willis obtained his first lead role in the Blake Edwards film Blind Date, co-starring with Kim Basinger and John Larroquette.

Bruce Willis performed most of his own stunts in the film, and the film grossed $138,708,852 worldwide.

Bruce Willis released a version of the Drifters song "Under the Boardwalk" as a second single; it reached No 2 on the UK Singles Chart, but was less successful in the US.

Bruce Willis gained more success with Striking Distance but flopped again with Color of Night : it was savaged by critics but did well in the home video market and became one of the Top 20 most-rented films in the United States in 1995.

In 1994, Bruce Willis had a leading role in one part of Quentin Tarantino's acclaimed Pulp Fiction; the film's success gave a boost to his career, and he starred alongside his Look Who's Talking co-star John Travolta.

Bruce Willis then played the lead roles in 12 Monkeys and The Fifth Element.

In 1999, Willis played the starring role in M Night Shyamalan's film The Sixth Sense, which was both a commercial and critical success.

In 2000, Bruce Willis won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on Friends.

Bruce Willis was nominated for a 2001 American Comedy Award for his work on Friends.

Also in 2000, Bruce Willis played Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski in The Whole Nine Yards alongside Matthew Perry, and Russ Duritz in Disney's The Kid opposite Emily Mortimer.

Bruce Willis was originally cast as Terry Benedict in Ocean's Eleven but dropped out to work on recording an album.

Bruce Willis appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman several times throughout his career.

Bruce Willis filled in for an ill David Letterman on his show on February 26,2003, when he was supposed to be a guest.

On many of his appearances on the show, Bruce Willis staged elaborate jokes, such as wearing a day-glo orange suit in honor of the Central Park gates, having one side of his face made up with simulated birdshot wounds after the Harry Whittington shooting, or trying to break a record of staying underwater for only twenty seconds.

Bruce Willis worked with his eldest daughter, Rumer, in the 2005 film Hostage.

Bruce Willis appeared on the 2008 Blues Traveler album North Hollywood Shootout, giving a spoken word performance over an instrumental blues rock jam on the track "Free Bruce Willis ".

Bruce Willis starred with Tracy Morgan in the 2010 comedy Cop Out, directed by Kevin Smith, about two police detectives investigating the theft of a baseball card.

Bruce Willis appeared in the music video for the song "Stylo" by Gorillaz.

Bruce Willis next starred in Red, an adaptation of the comic book mini-series of the same name, in which he portrayed Frank Moses.

Bruce Willis starred alongside Bill Murray, Edward Norton, and Frances McDormand in Moonrise Kingdom.

Bruce Willis returned, in an expanded role, in The Expendables 2.

Bruce Willis appeared alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the sci-fi action film Looper, as the older version of Gordon-Levitt's character, Joe.

Bruce Willis teamed up with 50 Cent in a film directed by David Barrett called Fire with Fire, starring opposite Josh Duhamel and Rosario Dawson, about a fireman who must save the love of his life.

Bruce Willis joined Vince Vaughn and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Lay the Favorite, directed by Stephen Frears, about a Las Vegas cocktail waitress who becomes an elite professional gambler.

Bruce Willis reprised his most famous role, John McClane, for a fifth time, starring in A Good Day to Die Hard, which was released on February 14,2013.

On October 12,2013, Bruce Willis hosted Saturday Night Live with Katy Perry as a musical guest.

In 2015, Bruce Willis made his Broadway debut in William Goldman's adaptation of Stephen King's novel Misery opposite Laurie Metcalf at the Broadhurst Theatre.

Bruce Willis's performance was generally panned by critics, who called it "vacant" and "inert".

Bruce Willis was the subject of a roast by Comedy Central in a program broadcast on July 29,2018.

Bruce Willis played himself in a cameo in the 2019 film The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.

Bruce Willis nonetheless featured heavily in the films' promotional materials, earning them the derogatory nickname "geezer teasers".

Those working on the films later said Bruce Willis appeared confused, did not understand why he was there and had to be fed lines through an earpiece.

Days before Bruce Willis was scheduled to arrive on set for Out of Death, the screenwriter, Bill Lawrence, was instructed to reduce his role and abbreviate his dialogue.

On March 30,2022, Bruce Willis's family announced that he was retiring because he had been diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder typically caused by damage to the area of the brain that controls language expression and comprehension.

The Golden Raspberry Awards retracted its Bruce Willis category, deeming it inappropriate to give a Razzie to someone whose performance was affected by a medical condition.

At the time of his retirement, Bruce Willis had completed 11 films awaiting release.

On February 16,2023, Bruce Willis's family announced that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.

Bruce Willis owns houses in Los Angeles and Penns Grove, New Jersey.

Bruce Willis left the company to be run solely by Rifkin in 2007 after Live Free or Die Hard.

Bruce Willis owns several small businesses in Hailey, Idaho, including The Mint Bar and The Liberty Theater and was one of the first promoters of Planet Hollywood, with actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.

In 2018, Bruce Willis became the brand ambassador of the Hungarian brand Hell Energy Drink.

Bruce Willis's acting role models are Gary Cooper, Robert De Niro, Steve McQueen, and John Wayne.

On November 21,1987, Bruce Willis married Demi Moore at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas.

Bruce Willis has maintained a close friendship with both Moore and her subsequent husband, actor Ashton Kutcher, and attended their wedding.

Bruce Willis was engaged to actress Brooke Burns until they broke up in 2004 after ten months together.

Bruce Willis married model Emma Heming in Turks and Caicos on March 21,2009; guests included his three daughters, as well as Moore and Kutcher.

Bruce Willis has donated Girl Scout cookies to the United States armed forces.

In 2003, Bruce Willis visited Iraq as part of the USO tour, singing to the troops with his band, The Accelerators.

Bruce Willis considered joining the military to help fight the second Iraq War, but was deterred by his age.

Bruce Willis has criticized the media for its coverage of the war, complaining that the press was more likely to focus on the negative aspects of the war:.

Bruce Willis was a Lutheran, but says he no longer practices.

In 2006, Bruce Willis said that the United States should intervene more extensively in Colombia to end drug trafficking from that nation.

In several interviews Bruce Willis has said that he supports increased salaries for teachers and police officers, and that he is disappointed in the United States foster care system and its treatment of Native Americans.

In February 2006, when Bruce Willis was in Manhattan to promote his film 16 Blocks, he was asked his opinion on the Bush administration.

Bruce Willis has won a variety of awards and has received various honors throughout his career in television and film.