Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series Moonlighting (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero after his portrayal of John McLane in the Die Hard franchise (1988–2013) and other roles.[1][2]
Willis's other credits include The Last Boy Scout (1991), Death Becomes Her (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), 12 Monkeys (1995), The Fifth Element (1997), Armageddon (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000), Sin City (2005), Red (2010), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), Looper (2012) and Red 2 (2013). In the later years of his career, Willis starred in many low-budget direct-to-video films, which were poorly received. In March 2022, Willis's family announced that he was retiring after suffering from aphasia. In February 2023, he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. As a singer, Willis released his debut album, The Return of Bruno, in 1987, followed by two more albums in 1989 and 2001. He made his Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of Misery in 2015. Willis has received various accolades throughout his career, including a Golden Globe Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two People's Choice Awards. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006. Films featuring Willis have grossed between US$2.64 billion and US$3.05 billion at North American box offices, making him in 2010 the eighth-highest-grossing leading actor.
Walter Bruce Willis[3] was born in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany, on March 19, 1955.[4][5] His mother, Marlene,[6] was German, from Kassel.[4] His father, David Willis, was an American soldier. Willis has a younger sister, Florence, and two younger brothers, Robert (deceased) and David.[7] After being discharged from the military in 1957, his father relocated the family to his hometown of Carneys Point, New Jersey.[8] Willis has described his background as a "long line of blue-collar people".[8] His mother worked in a bank and his father was a welder, master mechanic, and factory worker.[3]
Willis, who spoke with a stutter,[8] attended Penns Grove High School, where his schoolmates nicknamed him "Buck-Buck".[3][9][10] He joined the drama club, found that acting on stage reduced his stutter, and was eventually elected student council president.[3] . Willis was cast as David Addison Jr. in the television series Moonlighting (1985–1989), competing against 3,000 other actors for the position.[17] His starring role in Moonlighting, opposite Cybill Shepherd, helped to establish him as a comedic actor. During the show's five seasons, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy , During the height of the show's success, beverage maker Seagram hired Willis as the pitchman for their Golden Wine Cooler products.[18] The advertising campaign paid Willis US$5–7 million over two years .