Bruce Willis - Television Tropes & Idioms

An actor, producer and musician known for his Manliness.

Seriously, Bruce Willis was once known for his work in comedy, such as in the popular comedy/drama/mystery series Moonlighting. During the show's run, Willis was also hired to do wine cooler commercials, no doubt making people go "Hey, it's that guy!"

His big break came when he played a resourceful, smoking, snarky NYPD officer named John McClane in the thriller Die Hard. People were at first surprised and skeptical when they heard of his casting, since 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 was a mildy successful pop singer for a brief period of time, most notably under the persona of Bruno (no, not that persona).

Since Die Hard, Willis has had a healthy film career, alternating between action, comedy, and even straight-up drama. In many of his action movies, Willis is the king of the heroic comeback, and usually has one scene where the bad guys 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 Pulp Fiction 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.

He also co-founded the Planet Hollywood restaurant alongside fellow action movie titans Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. Appropriately, all three shared the big screen for the first time (although Willis will just cameo) in 2010's The Expendables.

A frequent collaborator with Quentin Tarantino.

Notable Roles:

Film

John McClane in Die Hard (1988), Die Hard 2 (1990), Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995), and Live Free Or Die Hard (2007)
- Willis also plays this character in a cameo at National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 (1993)
Tom Mix in Sunset (1988)
The voice of baby Mikey in Look Who's Talking (1989) and Look Who's Talking Too (1990)
Peter Fallow in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
Eddie "Hudson Hawk" Hawkins (and co-writer) in Hudson Hawk (1991)
Joe Hallenbeck in The Last Boy Scout (1991)
Dr. Ernest Menville in Death Becomes Her (1992)
Det. Tom Hardy in Striking Distance (1993)
Butch Coolidge in Pulp Fiction (1994)
North's guardian angel (complete with... a bunny suit? Our Angels Are Very Very Different.) in North (1994)
Leo in Four Rooms (1995)
James Cole in 12 Monkeys (1995)
John Smith in Last Man Standing (1996)
Muddy Grimes in Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)
Korben Dallas in The Fifth Element (1997)
The Jackal in The Jackal (1997)
Harry S. Stamper in Armageddon (1998)
Major General Devereaux in The Siege (1998)
Art Jeffries in Mercury Rising (1998)
Dr. Malcolm Crowe in The Sixth Sense (1999)
James Stefan "Jimmy The Tulip" Tudeski in The Whole Nine Yards (2000) and The Whole Ten Yards (2004)
David Dunn in Unbreakable (2000)
Joe Blake in Bandits (2001)
William Rose Bailey in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
Lt. A.K. Waters in Tears of the Sun (2003)
As himself in Ocean's Twelve (2004)
Jeff Talley in Hostage (2005)
John Hartigan in Sin City (2005)
Sonny Truelove in Alpha Dog (2006).
Mr. Goodkat in Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
RJ in Over the Hedge (2006)
Jack Mosley in 16 Blocks (2006)
Harrison Hill in Perfect Stranger (2007)
Lt. Muldoon in Grindhouse (2007)
Himself in What Just Happened (2008)
Agent Greer in Surrogates (2009)
Jimmy Monroe in Cop Out (2010)
Frank Moses in Red (2010)
Joe in Looper (2012)