History Creator / BruceWillis

He's often dubbed by Creator/MarioCastaneda for Latin American Spanish releases of his films, and was almost always dubbed by Creator/PatrickPoivey on European French releases (a notable exception being ''Film/TheFifthElement'') until his death in 2020. His signature voice in Brazilian Portuguese was Newton da Matta until his 2006 death, with the second most frequent being Leonardo Camillo, [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute who sounds uncannily like da Matta]].

His interest lasted after graduating high school in 1973, as he drifted between temporary jobs in his native New Jersey, including doing stints as a security guard and a private investigator. He eventually enrolled in the Drama Program at Montclair State University, where he was cast in a production of ''Theatre/CatOnAHotTinRoof''. He then moved to New York City in 1977, where he mostly worked as a bartender while appearing in bit parts in stage productions and television shows throughout the early 1980s.

Willis' breakthrough as an actor, however, came in form of the popular comedy/drama/mystery series ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}''. During the show's run, Willis was also hired to do wine cooler commercials.

His big break came when he played resourceful, smoking, [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] NYPD officer John [=McClane=] in the thriller ''Film/DieHard''. People were at first surprised and skeptical when they heard of his casting, since [[TomHanksSyndrome he was mostly known as a funny guy]], as well as that annoying guy from those wine cooler commercials. Playing [=McClane=] with a mix of humor and sympathy and performing most of his own stunts, Willis proved he had the chops as a serious action star, and ''Die Hard'' was a hit that jump-started a blockbuster franchise.

Before and following his success on ''Die Hard'', Willis had a brief but mildly successful stint as a pop singer, most notably under the persona of Bruno.

In many of his action movies, Willis is the king of the heroic comeback, and usually has one scene where the bad guys [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown work him over badly]], only for him to come back in the final reel and win out. This was perhaps best codified in 1994's ''Film/PulpFiction'' in which he plays a down-and-out boxer who bets the money he took to take a fall on himself and earns himself a very bizarre day, only to come through in the end and ride off into the future on a chopper with his girl by his side. It's also worth noting that the ending of Bruce's story arc is also technically the end of the movie itself, at least as far as the strict continuity of events is concerned.

After ''Die Hard'', Willis had a healthy film career throughout the 1990s and going into the 2000s, alternating between action, comedy, and even straight-up drama. However, in the late 2010s, his appearances were primarily in Direct-to-Video action films with few mainstream roles. By 2022, his habit of showing up for a day or two of filming on a no-budget action movie became so notorious the Razzies created a special category called "[[OverlyNarrowSuperlative Worst Bruce Willis Performance In A 2021 Movie]]" with ''eight'' nominations.[[note]]The category was rescinded following Willis' aphasia diagnosis, as it was realized he was desperately taking any part he could get in order to save money before he was unable to work at all.[[/note]]

In his more successful days, Willis co-founded the Planet Hollywood restaurant alongside fellow action movie titans Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger and Creator/SylvesterStallone. Appropriately, all three shared the big screen for the first time in 2010's ''Film/TheExpendables''. Although Willis ended up being an AdvertisedExtra and Schwarzenegger merely had an uncredited [[TheCameo cameo]] in this movie, in the [[Film/TheExpendables2 2012 sequel]] they had much larger roles that were callbacks to their film personas.

He's often dubbed by Creator/MarioCastaneda for Latin American Spanish releases of his films. On European French releases, he was almost always dubbed by Creator/PatrickPoivey (a notable exception being ''Film/TheFifthElement'') until his death in 2020. His signature voice in Brazilian Portuguese was Newton da Matta until his 2006 death, with the second most frequent being Leonardo Camillo, [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute who sounds uncannily like da Matta]].

On March 30, 2022, several members of Willis's family posted on social media that Willis would be "stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him" due to him having recently been diagnosed with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphasia aphasia]], a language-processing disorder that impacted his acting abilities. Rumors of him having memory loss had been circulating in the industry for years, and the response led the aforementioned Razzies to rescind the award they gave him a week prior to the announcement out of respect. On February 16, 2023, nearly a year after his aphasia diagnosis went public, Willis's family announced that his condition has progressed into [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontotemporal_dementia frontotemporal dementia]].

He also once [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhPaWIeULKk attempted to murder]] the Music/{{Gorillaz}}.

* Tom Mix in ''Film/{{Sunset}}'' (1988)

After ''Die Hard'', Willis had a healthy film career throughout the 1990s and going into the 2000s, alternating between action, comedy, and even straight-up drama. However, in the late 2010s, his appearances were primarily in Direct-to-Video action films with few mainstream roles. By 2022, his habit of showing up for a day or two of filming on a no-budget action movie became so notorious the Razzies created a special category called "[[OverlyNarrowSuperlative Worst Bruce Willis Performance In A 2021 Movie]]" with ''eight'' nominations.[[note]]The category was rescinded following Willis' aphasia diagnosis.[[/note]]

* AmicableExes: He and Demi Moore divorced in 2000 but remained close and on very good terms, they became a pop culture shorthand for a divorced couple that could be in the same room. They even lived together with their daughters during the first quarantine lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, and Demi became good friends with Bruce's new wife and their daughters and played a hige role in helping out after his aphasia diagnosis.

* AmicableExes: He and Demi Moore divorced in 2000 but remained close and on very good terms, they became a pop culture shorthand for a divorced couple that could be in the same room. They even lived together with their daughters during the first quarantine lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, and Demi became friends with Bruces' new wife and helping out after his diagnosis.
* BaldHeadOfToughness: Starting with ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'', most of his roles embraced his baldness, a look that only helped his action hero credentials.

* AmicableExes: He and Demi Moore divorced in 2000 but remained close and on very good terms, even living together with their daughters during the first quarantine lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic and Demi becoming close friends with Bruce's new wife and playing a major role in helping after his diagnosis.

Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor, producer and blues musician known for his [[DreamworksFace smirk]] and [[RatedMForManly manliness]].

Willis was born in Idar-Oberstein, UsefulNotes/WestGermany, as the son of David Willis, an American soldier, and Marlene, a German banker mother, giving Willis dual citizenship of both Germany and the United States. After being discharged from the military in 1957, his father relocated the family to his hometown of Carneys Point, New Jersey. Willis, who spoke with a stutter, showed an early interest in acting during his time in high school, as he discovered that it reduced his stuttering, joining up with the local school drama club. His interest lasted after graduating high school in 1973, as he drifted between temporary jobs in his native New Jersey, including doing stints as a security guard and a private investigator. He eventually enrolled in the Drama Program at Montclair State University, where he was cast in a production of ''Theatre/CatOnAHotTinRoof''. He then moved to New York City in 1977, where he mostly worked as a bartender while appearing in bit parts in stage productions and television shows throughout the early 1980s.

On March 30, 2022, several members of Willis's family posted on social media that Willis would be "stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him" due to his recently-diagnosed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphasia aphasia]], a language-processing disorder that impacted his acting abilities. Rumors of him having memory loss had been circulating in the industry for years, and the response led the aforementioned Razzies to rescind the award they gave him a week prior to the announcement out of respect. On February 16, 2023, nearly a year after his aphasia diagnosis went public, Willis's family announced that his condition has progressed into [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontotemporal_dementia frontotemporal dementia]].

* YoungerAndHipper: His big break, John [=McClane=] in the ''Franchise/DieHard'' films, was a huge example of this. In ''Nothing Lasts Forever'', the novel the film was based on, Joe Leland ([[AdaptationNameChange the McClane equivalent]]) is no-nonsense, uncool, tight-assed, and around twice Willis's age at the time he did that film; in fact, the film was intended to have the lead role played by a then-73-year-old Music/FrankSinatra (though that was more the result of a ContractualObligationProject). The casting of Bruce Willis, fresh from ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}'', forced the scriptwriters to overhaul the character completely to fit Willis' acting style.

* DeadpanSnarker: His characters tend to have a very dry sense of humor and always have a quip handy.

* TheEveryman: A central part of his appeal, especially with ''Film/DieHard'', was that Bruce looked, sounded, and acted just like a regular guy who got caught up in extraordinary scenarios and who viewers could relate to rather than an invincible action star.

On March 30, 2022, several members of Willis's family posted on social media that Willis would be "stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him" due to his recently-diagnosed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphasia aphasia]], a language-processing disorder that impacted his acting abilities. Rumors of him having memory loss had been circulating in the industry for years, and the response led the aforementioned Razzies to rescind the award they gave him a week prior to the announcement out of respect. On February 16, 2023, nearly a year after his aphasia diagnosis went public, Willis' family announced that his condition has progressed into [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontotemporal_dementia frontotemporal dementia]].

* TheEveryman: A central part of his appeal, especially with ''Film/DieHard'', was that Bruce looked, sounded and acted just like a regular guy who got caught up in extraordinary scenarios and who viewers could relate to rather than an invincible action star.

* YoungerAndHipper: His big break, John [=McClane=] in the ''Franchise/DieHard'' films, was a huge example of this. In ''Nothing Lasts Forever'', the novel the film was based on, Joe Leland ([[AdaptationNameChange the McClane equivalent]]) is no-nonsense, uncool, tight-assed, and around twice Willis' age at the time he did that film; in fact, the film was intended to have the lead role played by a then-73-year-old Music/FrankSinatra (though that was more the result of a ContractualObligationProject). The casting of Bruce Willis, fresh from ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}'', forced the scriptwriters to overhaul the character completely to fit Willis' acting style.

* AmicableExes: He and Demi Moore divorced in 2000 but remained close and on good terms, even living together with their daughters during the first quarantine lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic and Demi becoming friends with Bruce's new wife and playing a major role in helping after his diagnosis.

* AmicableExes: He and Demi Moore divorced in 2000 but remained close and on good terms, even living together with their daughters during the first quarantine lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic.