Bruce Willis

Actor

2 titles

Date of Birth: 1955-03-19 (age 71)
Nationality: United States
Place of birth: Idar-Oberstein, West Germany [now Germany]

Awards:

Willis has received numerous accolades during his career, including a Golden Globe, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two People's Choice Awards.

Mini Bio

Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. His career began on the off-Broadway stage in the 1970s, and he then achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series “Moonlighting” (1985–1989). He went on to appear in over 70 films, gaining widespread recognition as an action hero after his portrayal of John McClane in the “Die Hard” franchise (1988–2013) and other subsequent roles. Willis's other credits include “The Last Boy Scout” (1991), “Pulp Fiction” (1994), “12 Monkeys” (1995), “Last Man Standing” (1996), “The Fifth Element” (1997), “Armageddon” (1998), “The Sixth Sense” (1999), “Hart's War” (2002), “Tears of the Sun” (2003), “Hostage” (2005), “Lucky Number Slevin” (2006), “Surrogates” (2009), “Moonrise Kingdom” (2012), “Rock the Kasbah” (2015), and “Motherless Brooklyn” (2019). As a singer, Willis released his debut album The Return of Bruno in 1987, followed by two more successful albums in 1989 and 2001. He made his Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of Misery in 2015. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006. In March 2022, Willis announced that he was retiring from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia, which affects his ability to communicate. In February 2023, Willis' family announced that they had received a more accurate diagnosis and he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.

Backstage

Has regularly been named on "Best Celebrity Tippers" lists over the years. This is largely due to his early "struggling" waiter/bartender days.
Acting helped him to overcome a debilitating childhood stutter. In an interview with "GQ" magazine in March 2013, he said, "I had a terrible stutter. But then I did some theater in high school and when I memorized words, I didn't stutter, which was just miraculous. That was the beginning of the gradual dispelling of my stutter. I thought I was handicapped. I couldn't talk at all. I still stutter around some people now".
Was chosen to play John McClane in Die Hard (1988) because the producers felt he brought warmth and humor to an otherwise cold and humorless character. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone had turned down the role.
Met Demi Moore at a screening of Emilio Estevez's film, Stakeout (1987). Moore had broken off her engagement to Estevez the previous December after it was revealed publicly that he'd fathered another woman's two children while in a relationship with Moore; so it was a little odd for her to be there in the first place. She and Willis were married four months later.
Is left-handed and is displayed in most of his films. In The Sixth Sense (1999), he learned to write with his right hand so this would not be so easily noticeable that his character was not wearing his wedding ring.
Turned down the role of Sam Wheat in Ghost (1990) because he did not think the plot would work and that playing a ghost would be detrimental to his career. Ironically, he played a ghost in The Sixth Sense (1999), which was a critical success and is widely regarded as one of his best performances.
Credits Will Smith with helping him come to terms with his divorce from Demi Moore, and accepting Ashton Kutcher as her new husband.
As a young man his personality was very much like that of the character he played on Moonlighting (1985). He was always getting into trouble because of this and was bodily ejected from parties by the hosts for being obnoxious.
Has stated, in 1997, 2001 and 2013, that he will no longer be doing violent action or "save-the-world" movies.
Became the first actor to guest-star on Friends (1994) and win an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Guest Actor category for their performance.

Movies

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