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Bruce Willis
Playing John McClane in Die Hard.
Moonlighting · Die Hard
- Born
- 19 March 1955
- Birthplace
- Idar-Oberstein, Germany
More people
Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis is an American actor who moved from television comedy to action films and dramatic roles. His best-known character, John McClane, combined toughness with visible exhaustion and a sharp tongue.
Early life
New Jersey upbringing
Born in West Germany to an American serviceman and a German mother, then grew up in New Jersey.
Theatre beginnings
Studied drama at Montclair State before pursuing acting in New York.
Career
- 1980s
Stage and television
Worked in New York before landing a lead in Moonlighting.
- 1988
Action breakthrough
Die Hard established him as a film leading man.
- 1990s–2010s
Screen range
Combined franchise films with science fiction, comedy and drama.
- 2022
Retirement
His family announced that he was stepping away from acting following an aphasia diagnosis.
Selected work
Moonlighting
A private-eye comedy opposite Cybill Shepherd.
Die Hard
An off-duty policeman faces armed criminals in a Los Angeles tower.
The Sixth Sense
A child psychologist tries to help a boy who sees the dead.
Beyond work
Family
Has five daughters from his marriages to Demi Moore and Emma Heming Willis.
Public health update
His family announced a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia in 2023.
Sources & photo credit
Life and career ↗Family health announcement ↗Die Hard and action-film history ↗Photo: Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 3.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
