Bruce Willis Through the Years: Career Highlights, Fatherhood and Dementia Battle

On and off screen, Bruce Willis has a lengthy list of accomplishments to be proud of.

The actor rose to fame as David Addison Jr. on Moonlighting, which aired for five seasons from 1985 to 1989. During the show’s successful run, Willis married Demi Moore and welcomed three daughters — Rumer Willis, Scout Willis and Tallulah Willis— with the Ghost actress. The pair announced their split in 1998 but had a good coparenting relationship.

While Bruce has more than 100 IMDb credits, he may be most known for his role as John McClane in the Die Hard franchise. The first film hit theaters in 1998, and he returned for four more movies, wrapping up the series with 2013’s A Good Day to Die Hard.

“No one ever knows when a film is going to take off. No one could predict this,” the Emmy winner told USA Today while promoting the fifth installment. “Did I think at the time that 25 years later I would still be making these films? You should call the president of the United States and ask him what’s going to happen 25 years from now. No one has any idea.”

As he continued to appear in movies and guest star on TV shows, Bruce met his second wife, Emma Heming Willis. The pair wed in 2009 and welcomed two daughters: Mabel and Evelyn.

News broke in March 2022 that Bruce was “stepping back” from his career after he was diagnosed with aphasia.

“To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities,” read a joint statement, signed by Heming Willis, Moore and their respective daughters. “We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him.”

One year later, his family confirmed his condition progressed to frontotemporal dementia.

Scroll through for a look at some of Bruce’s career and life highlights: