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1[[quoteright:290:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9893cce8_02a7_4c52_a4f2_f70956e6cff0.jpeg]]
2
3->''"There are many winding paths a man can follow to greatness. He could build an orphanage, or perhaps write a symphony. But there is only one man in the history of history to have achieved greatness by screaming 'yipee-ki-yay, motherfucker' and pushing [[Creator/AlanRickman Professor Snape]] out of a window. That man was this man."''
4-->-- '''Website/{{Cracked}}'''
5
6Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor, producer and blues musician known for his [[DreamworksFace smirk]] and manliness.
7
8Willis 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.
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10His 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. His breakthrough as an actor, however, came in the form of the popular comedy/drama/mystery series ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}''; during the show's run, he was also hired to do wine cooler commercials.
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12Willis' [[StarMakingRole big break]] came in 1988 when he played the 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 in addition to 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.
13
14In 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]], [[HeroicSecondWind 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 Willis' story arc is also technically the end of the movie itself, at least as far as the strict continuity of events is concerned.
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16After ''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, by the late 2010s, he primarily appeared in direct-to-video action films, taking on 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 that [[MediaNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward 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]]
17
18In 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, they had much larger roles in the [[Film/TheExpendables2 2012 sequel]] that were [[CallBack call-backs]] [[ActorAllusion to their film personas]].
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20He'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 death in 2006, with the second most frequent being Leonardo Camillo, [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute who sounds uncannily like da Matta]].
21
22On March 30, 2022, several members of Willis' family posted on social media that he 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' family announced that his condition has progressed into [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontotemporal_dementia frontotemporal dementia]].
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24Willis was married to Creator/DemiMoore from 1987 to 2000, having three daughters with her, including Creator/RumerWillis.
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26Before 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. He also once [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhPaWIeULKk attempted to murder]] the Music/{{Gorillaz}}.
27
28----
29!! Notable Roles:
30!!! {{Film}}
31* Walter Davis in ''Film/BlindDate'' (1987)
32* John [=McClane=] in ''Film/DieHard'' (1988), ''Film/DieHard2'' (1990), ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'' (1995), ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'' (2007), and ''Film/AGoodDayToDieHard'' (2013). Willis also plays this character in a cameo in ''Film/LoadedWeapon1'' (1993) and the commercial ''Advertising/DieHardIsBack'' (2020).
33* Tom Mix in ''Film/{{Sunset|1988}}'' (1988)
34* The voice of baby Mikey in ''Film/LookWhosTalking'' (1989) and ''Look Who's Talking Too'' (1990)
35* Peter Fallow in ''Literature/TheBonfireOfTheVanities'' (1990)
36* Eddie "Hudson Hawk" Hawkins (and co-writer) in ''Film/HudsonHawk'' (1991)
37* Bo Weinberg in ''Film/BillyBathgate'' (1991)
38* Joe Hallenbeck in ''Film/TheLastBoyScout'' (1991)
39* Dr. Ernest Menville in ''Film/DeathBecomesHer'' (1992)
40* Det. Tom Hardy in ''Film/StrikingDistance'' (1993)
41* Butch Coolidge in ''Film/PulpFiction'' (1994)
42* North's guardian angel (Complete with... a bunny suit? [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Our Angels Are Very, Very Different]].) in ''Film/{{North}}'' (1994)
43* Bill Capa in ''Film/ColorOfNight'' (1994)
44* Carl Roebuck in ''Film/NobodysFool'' (1994)
45* Leo in ''Film/FourRooms'' (1995)
46* James Cole in ''Film/TwelveMonkeys'' (1995)
47* John Smith in ''Film/LastManStanding'' (1996)
48* Muddy Grimes in ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHeadDoAmerica'' (1996)
49* Korben Dallas in ''Film/TheFifthElement'' (1997)
50* The Jackal in ''Film/TheJackal'' (1997)
51* Harry S. Stamper in ''Film/Armageddon1998''
52* Major General Devereaux in ''Film/TheSiege'' (1998)
53* Art Jeffries in ''Film/MercuryRising'' (1998)
54* Dr. Malcolm Crowe in ''Film/TheSixthSense'' (1999)
55* James Stefan "Jimmy the Tulip" Tudeski in ''Film/TheWholeNineYards'' (2000) and ''The Whole Ten Yards'' (2004)
56* David Dunn in ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' (2000), ''Film/{{Split}}'' (2017), and ''Film/{{Glass|2019}}'' (2019)
57* Russ Duritz in ''{{Film/The Kid|2000}}'' (2000)
58* Joe Blake in ''Film/{{Bandits}}'' (2001)
59* William Rose Bailey in ''Film/CharliesAngelsFullThrottle'' (2003)
60* Lt. A.K. Waters in ''Film/TearsOfTheSun'' (2003)
61* Spike the Dog in ''WesternAnimation/RugratsGoWild'' (2003)
62* AsHimself in ''Film/OceansTwelve'' (2004)
63* Jeff Talley in ''Film/{{Hostage}}'' (2005)
64* John Hartigan in ''Film/SinCity'' (2005) and ''Film/SinCityADameToKillFor'' (2014)
65* Sonny Truelove in ''Film/AlphaDog'' (2006)
66* Mr. Goodkat in ''Film/LuckyNumberSlevin'' (2006)
67* RJ in ''WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge'' (2006)
68* Jack Mosley in ''Film/SixteenBlocks'' (2006)
69* Harrison Hill in ''Film/PerfectStranger'' (2007)
70* Lt. Muldoon in ''Film/{{Grindhouse}}'' (segment "Film/PlanetTerror") (2007)
71* Himself in ''Film/WhatJustHappened'' (2008)
72* Agent Greer in ''Film/{{Surrogates}}'' (2009)
73* Jimmy Monroe in ''Film/CopOut'' (2010)
74* Frank Moses in ''Film/{{Red|2010}}'' (2010, 2013 sequel)
75* Mr. Church in ''Film/TheExpendables'' and ''Film/TheExpendables2'' (2010, 2012) [[note]] Short cameo on the first movie, has bigger role in the sequel.[[/note]]
76* Mike Cella in ''Film/FireWithFire'' (2012)
77* Captain Sharp in ''Film/MoonriseKingdom'' (2012)
78* Adult Joe in ''Film/{{Looper}}'' (2012)
79* General Joe Coulton in ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'' (2013)
80* Omar in ''Film/ThePrince'' (2014)
81* Julian Michaels in ''Film/{{Vice|2015}}'' (2015)
82* Bombay Brian in ''Film/RockTheKasbah'' (2015)
83* Paul Kersey in ''[[Film/DeathWish2018 Death Wish]]'' (2018)
84* AsHimself in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie2TheSecondPart'' (2019)
85* Detective Wakes in ''Film/TraumaCenter'' (2019)
86* Frank Minna in ''Film/MotherlessBrooklyn'' (2019)
87* James Ford in ''Film/CosmicSin'' (2021)
88* Detective James Knight in the ''Detective Knight'' Trilogy[[note]]''Detective Knight: Rouge'' (2022), ''Detective Knight: Redemption'' (2022) and ''Detective Knight: Independance'' (2023)[[/note]], also one of his last film roles
89
90!!! Discography:
91* ''The Return Of Bruno'' (1987) (included one Top-10 hit with a remake of The Staple Singers' "Respect Yourself")
92* ''If It Don't Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger'' (1989)
93
94!!! VideoGames:
95* ''VideoGame/{{Apocalypse}}'' -- voice and mo-cap
96
97!!! {{UsefulNotes/Television}} {{Series}}
98* Tony Amato in ''Series/MiamiVice'' episode "No Exit" (1984)
99* Peter Jay Novins in ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'' episode "Shatterday"
100* David Addison, Jr. in ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}'' (1985–89)
101* Bruno the Kid in ''WesternAnimation/BrunoTheKid'' (1996–97)
102* Paul Stevens in three episodes of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' (2000)
103
104!! Producer Credits:
105* ''Bruno the Kid''
106* ''Film/TheCrocodileHunterCollisionCourse'' (2002)
107* ''Hostage''
108
109! Tropes associated with him include:
110* 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 huge role in helping out after his aphasia diagnosis.
111* BaldHeadOfToughness: Starting with ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'', most of his roles embraced his baldness, a look that only helped his action hero credentials. It even became a joke that if he wasn't donning a hairpiece for a film, it was a sign of confidence and commitment to the work from him.
112* {{Catchphrase}}:
113** "Yippee-ki-yay!" in ''Franchise/DieHard'', of course.
114** He has played at least three different characters who say, "Wrong answer!"
115* ComicBookFantasyCasting: The comic book ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' redesigned Hawkeye after Willis' likeness.
116* ContractualObligationProject: ''Armageddon'', ''The Sixth Sense'' and ''The Kid'' were part of a three-picture contract with Disney he had to take on, following his derailment of the planned movie ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_Brawler Broadway Brawler]]'', which got cancelled 20 days into production after Willis ''fired the director''. Since $28 million had already been spent, Willis took a significant cut in salary for ''Armageddon'' so Disney could cover the losses on the now-cancelled film.
117* CoolOldGuy: Up until his aphasia diagnosis, he still managed to do action roles in his sixties.
118* DeadpanSnarker: His characters tend to have a very dry sense of humor and always have a quip handy, especially when in danger.
119* DoItYourselfThemeTune: Sang the theme song for his animated kids' show ''WesternAnimation/BrunoTheKid''.
120* DoingItForTheArt: He was one of the first major stars to take a huge pay cut to do more challenging and artistically fulfilling projects, most notably in ''Film/TwelveMonkeys'' and ''Film/NobodysFool''.
121* DullSurprise: Sadly, due to his aphasia diagnosis, his performances towards the end of his career came across as phoned-in.
122* 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, ridiculously muscular action star.
123* MaleFrontalNudity: He has done quite a few naked appearances in movies, although most of the time it's only visible in FreezeFrameBonus.
124* MiddleNameBasis: His real first name is Walter. It's unclear why he chose to go by his middle name but it's suggested that it comes from his [[OutgrowingTheChildishName childhood nickname]] "Bruno".
125* MisterSeahorse: Bruce parodied his then-wife Creator/DemiMoore's nude pregnant-belly cover shot on ''Vanity Fair'' by also posing naked with a pregnant belly in the same fashion for the September 1991 issue cover of ''Spy'' magazine.
126* MoneyDearBoy: The final stretch of his career had rare theatrical releases and ''many'' direct-to-video/streaming movies where he was an AdvertisedExtra. Once his illness-related retirement was announced, it was clear that those easy paychecks were Willis working while he still could to get money for a comfortable retirement and medical treatments and with the limited involvement not straining his weakened mental state.
127* OlderThanHeLooks: Besides the fact that he's bald, he looks like he can still pass for being in his late 40s despite being in his early to mid-sixties.
128* ProductionPosse: He's done four films with Creator/MNightShyamalan.
129* StutterStop: He had a stutter when he was younger and was drawn to acting after performing a monologue on stage and noticed he didn't stutter once.
130* TomHanksSyndrome: He started out as a comedy actor before being best known for action films.
131* 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's acting style.
132----
133-->''[[Franchise/DieHard Yippee-ki-yay, TV Troper.]]''

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