Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series Moonlighting (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero for his portrayal of John McClane in the Die Hard franchise (1988–2013).

Willis’s other credits include The Last Boy Scout (1991), Pulp Fiction (1994), 12 Monkeys (1995), The Fifth Element (1997), Armageddon (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable, The Whole Nine Yards (both 2000), Tears of the Sun (2003), Sin City (2005), The Expendables, Red (both 2010), Looper (2012) and Glass (2019). In the last years of his career, he starred in many low-budget direct-to-video films, which were poorly received. Willis retired in 2022 due to aphasia and was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023.

As a singer, Willis released his debut album, The Return of Bruno, in 1987, followed by two more albums in 1989 and 2001. He made his Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of Misery in 2015. Willis has received various accolades throughout his career, including a Golden Globe Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two People’s Choice Awards. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006. Films featuring Willis have grossed between US$2.64 billion and US$3.05 billion at North American box offices, making him in 2010 the eighth-highest-grossing leading actor.

Early life and education

Walter Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in Idar-Oberstein in what was then West Germany. His mother, Marlene, was German, from Kassel, and his father, David Willis, was an American soldier. He has a younger sister, Florence, and two younger brothers, Robert (deceased) and David. After being discharged from the military in 1957, his father relocated the family to his hometown of Carneys Point, New Jersey. Willis has described his background as a “long line of blue-collar people”. His mother worked in a bank and his father was a welder, master mechanic and factory worker.

Willis spoke with a stutter. He attended Penns Grove High School in Carneys Point Township, where his schoolmates nicknamed him “Buck-Buck”. Willis joined the drama club and found that acting on stage reduced his stutter. He was eventually elected student council president. He graduated from Penns Grove High School in 1973.

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After graduating from high school, Willis worked as a security guard at the Salem Nuclear Power Plant and transported crew members at the DuPont Chambers Works factory in Deepwater. He turned to acting after working as a private investigator, a role he would later play in the comedy-drama series Moonlighting and the action-comedy film The Last Boy Scout.

Willis enrolled in the drama program at Montclair State University, where he was cast in a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He left the school in 1977, and moved to New York City, where he supported himself in the early 1980s as a bartender at various nightspots in Manhattan including Kamikaze, Cafe Central & Chelsea Central, while living in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.

Personal life

Willis’s acting role models are Gary Cooper, Robert De Niro, Steve McQueen, and John Wayne. He is left-handed. He resides in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles with his family.

On November 21, 1987, Willis married Demi Moore at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas. On December 20, the couple held a second reception for about 450 guests on a soundstage at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank. They have three daughters: Rumer (b. 1988), Scout (b. 1991), and Tallulah (b. 1994). Willis and Moore announced their separation on June 24, 1998. They filed for divorce on October 18, 2000, and the divorce was finalized later that day. Regarding the divorce, Willis stated, “I felt I had failed as a father and a husband by not being able to make it work.” He credited actor Will Smith for helping him cope with the situation. He has maintained a close friendship with both Moore and her subsequent husband, actor Ashton Kutcher, and attended their wedding.

Willis was engaged to actress Brooke Burns until they broke up in 2004 after ten months together. He married model Emma Heming in Turks and Caicos on March 21, 2009; guests included his three daughters, as well as Moore and Kutcher. The ceremony was not legally binding, so the couple wed again in a civil ceremony in Beverly Hills six days later. The couple has two daughters, one born in 2012 and another born in 2014.

Bruce Willis Height Weight Age Body Statistics Biography

Bio/Wiki
Full name	Bruce Walter Willis
Nickname(s)	• Buck-Buck • Geezer Teasers
Profession(s)	• Actor (retired) • Businessman
Famous role	• David Addison Jr. in Moonlighting (1985–1989) • John McClane in the Die Hard franchise (1988–2013)
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters– 180 cm in meters– 1.8 m in feet & inches– 5’ 11”
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms– 92 kg in pounds– 202 lbs
Body Measurements (approx.)	– Chest: 42 Inches – Waist: 35 Inches – Biceps: 14 Inches
Eye Colour	Brown
Hair Colour	Bald
Career
Debut	Film: The First Deadly Sin (1980) TV: Moonlighting (David Addison Jr.) (1985 to 1989) Album: The Return of Bruno (1987) Broadway: William Goldman’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, Misery (2015)
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Moonlighting • Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for Moonlighting • 1987: Golden Apple Awards honored with the Sour Apple. • 1994: Maxim magazine ranked his sex scene in Color of Night the No. 1 sex scene in film history • 2000: American Cinematheque Gala Tribute honored Willis with the American Cinematheque Award • 2002: The Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award from Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals – given to performers who give a lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment • 2005: Golden Camera Award for Best International Actor by the Manaki Brothers Film Festival. • 2006: Honored by the French government for his contributions to the film industry; appointed an Officer of the French Order of Arts and Letters in a ceremony in Paris; the French Prime Minister stated, “This is France’s way of paying tribute to an actor who epitomizes the strength of American cinema, the power of the emotions that he invites us to share on the world’s screens and the sturdy personalities of his legendary characters.” • 2011: Inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame • 2013: Promoted to the dignity of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters on February 11 by French Minister of Culture Aurélie Filippetti
Personal Life
Date of Birth	March 19, 1995 (Saturday)
Age (as of 2025)	70 Years
Birthplace	Idar-Oberstein, West Germany
Zodiac sign	Pisces
Signature
Nationality	American
Hometown	New Jersey, USA
School	Penns Grove High School (graduated 1973)
College/University	Montclair State University
Educational Qualification	Drama Program
Religion	Previously a Lutheran
Food Habit	Non-vegetarian
Political Inclination	Republican
Hobbies	Sports, travel and fitness
Tattoo(s)	• Right Upper Arm: Daughter’s Name • Left Chest: Dragon Tattoo • Right Chest: Greek-themed Tattoo • Undisclosed Tattoo: The tattoo is in an undisclosed location from East Side Tattoo
Controversies	• Selling Face Rights According to reports from Forbes, Bruce Willis participated in a deepfake project alongside Deepcake, a company that specializes in creating lifelike videos using AI and machine learning. The project was an advertising campaign for Megafon, a Russian telecommunications company. Although rumors circulated that Willis had sold the rights to his face to Deepcake, he later refuted these allegations. • Worst Movie of Bruce Willis Award In 2021, just before the filming of “Out of Death,” Bruce Willis’s role and dialogue were reduced, and all his scenes were scheduled to be shot in a single day. This change was made at short notice, just days before Willis was due to appear on set. Unfortunately, Willis’s performances in eight movies released in 2021 were so subpar that the Golden Raspberry Awards, an annual show that recognizes the year’s worst movies and performances, created a new category specifically for him. However, the category was later withdrawn by the Golden Raspberry Awards due to the inappropriateness of awarding it to someone whose performance was impacted by a medical condition. • Misfiring of Bullets Regarding the incident on the set of “Hard Kill,” actress Lala Kent alleged that Bruce Willis fired a gun at the wrong time twice, leaving her with no time to react. However, the film’s producer and armorer refuted Kent’s account. Kent explained that during the scene, she was supposed to be in danger, and then her on-screen father was meant to save her by firing his gun. However, she had her back to him and was supposed to duck after he delivered his line but before he fired the gun. • Forgetting Roles During filming of White Elephant in 2021, two crew members claimed that Bruce Willis asked them directly, “I know why you’re here, and I know why you’re here, but why am I here?” Additionally, director Jesse V. Johnson had a brief encounter with Willis before shooting began in Georgia in April of that year and noticed a change in his demeanor. • Randall Emmett’s Abusive Behaviour There are allegations that producer Randall Emmett knew about Willis’ health issues but still pressured him to work. However, Bruce Willis’ attorney, Martin Singer, denied these accusations, saying, “My client continued working after his medical diagnosis because he wanted to work and was able to do so, just like many others diagnosed with aphasia who are capable of continuing to work,” Singer, 70, told the Los Angeles Times for an article published on Thursday, June 30. “Because Mr. Willis appeared in those films, they could get financed. That resulted in literally thousands of people having jobs, many during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Bruce Willis, prior to his retirement, worked with producer Randall Emmett on a number of films, including Midnight in the Switchgrass, which was Emmett’s first time directing. However, according to the Los Angeles Times, Emmett informed his then-fiancée Lala Kent that Willis was having difficulty during the movie’s production. Kent remembers her former fiancé telling her in a phone call, which was overheard by two other witnesses, “I can’t keep doing this. It’s just so sad. Bruce can’t remember any of his lines. He doesn’t know where he is.” Despite this, the producer of The Irishman denied any knowledge “of any decline in Mr. Willis’ health” in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. The alleged phone call to Kent took place in September 2020, well before Willis’ health struggles became public. However, according to Alicia Haverland, a property master on Midnight in the Switchgrass, the actor’s condition was an open secret on the film set. • Kevin Smith Apologizes to Bruce Following Bruce Willis’s retirement announcement due to his aphasia diagnosis, Kevin Smith apologized for his previous negative comments about the actor. In 2011, Smith directed Willis in the movie “Cop Out” and referred to the experience as “soul-crushing”. He had also made negative remarks about Willis’s failure to participate in a poster shoot and had made jokes about harming himself or others during the production of the film. In light of Willis’s retirement, Smith recognized that his comments were “petty” and expressed remorse for any harm caused.
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Marriage Date	• November 21, 1987 • 2004 (Brooke Burns; engaged) • 21 March 2009 (Emma Heming)
Girlfriend/Affairs	Brooke Burns (American fashion model, game show host, actress, and television personality)
Family
Wife/Spouse	• Demi Moore (Actress) (separated on June 24, 1998; divorced on October 18, 2000) • Emma Heming (Actress and Model)
Children	Daughter– 5 (3 with Demi Moore and 2 with Emma Heming) With Demi Moore- • Rumer Glenn (Actress) (b. August 1988; eldest) • Scout LaRue Willis (Actress) (b. in 1991; middle child) • Tallulah Belle (Actress) (b. in 1993; youngest) With Emma Heming- • Mabel Ray (b. 2012; younger) • Evelyn Penn (b. 2014; elder)
Parents	Father– David Willis (ex-American Soldier, Unskilled worker) Mother– Marlene (Bank Employee)
Siblings	Brother– • David Willis (Film Producer) (younger) Sister– Florence (younger)
Favourites
Food	Lasagna
Cuisine	Italian
Film	Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, The Godfather and The Godfather Part 2, Spartacus, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Bullitt, The Great Escape, On the Waterfront, The Last Picture Show, and Patton
Style Quotient
Car Collection	• 1967 Chevy Corvette • 1968 Shelby GT500 • 1968 Dodge Charger • 1968 Pontiac Firebird 400 • 1954 Chevrolet 3100 • 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray • 1988 Lincoln Limousine • 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Nomad • Land Rover Range Rover • Cadillac Escalade • 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed Le Mans Edition • Audi
Bike Collection	• 2005 Ducati Multistrada 1000DS • Yamaha dirt bikes (XT 350 and a TW200 Trailway) • 1972 Harley-Davidson Sportster Ironhead XLH • 1962 Cushman Eagle
Money Factor
Salary (approx.)	$20-25 million per movie
Assets/Properties	• Houses in Los Angeles and Penns Grove, New Jersey • Apartment at Trump Tower • Apartment at Riverside South, Manhattan • House in Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles
Net Worth (approx.)	$250 million as of 2023

Career

1980s: Moonlighting, Die Hard and rise to fame

Willis was cast as David Addison Jr. in the television series Moonlighting (1985–1989), competing against 3,000 other actors for the position. His starring role in Moonlighting, opposite Cybill Shepherd, helped to establish him as a comedic actor. During the show’s five seasons, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy. During the height of the show’s success, beverage maker Seagram hired Willis as the pitchman for their Golden Wine Cooler products. The advertising campaign paid Willis US$5–7 million over two years. Willis chose not to renew his contract when he decided to stop drinking alcohol in 1988.

In 1987, Willis obtained his first lead role in the Blake Edwards film Blind Date, co-starring with Kim Basinger and John Larroquette. Edwards cast him again to play the real-life cowboy actor Tom Mix in Sunset (1988). The same year, he starred in an action role in Die Hard (1988) as John McClane. He performed most of his own stunts in the film, and the film grossed $138,708,852 worldwide. Following his success with Die Hard, Willis had a leading role in the drama In Country as Vietnam veteran Emmett Smith and also provided the voice for a talking baby in Look Who’s Talking (1989) and the sequel Look Who’s Talking Too (1990).

In the late 1980s, Willis enjoyed moderate success as a recording artist, recording an album of pop-blues, The Return of Bruno, which included the hit single “Respect Yourself” featuring the Pointer Sisters. The LP was promoted by a Spinal Tap–like rockumentary parody featuring scenes of Willis performing at famous events including Woodstock. He released a version of the Drifters song “Under the Boardwalk” as a second single; it reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, but was less successful in the US. Willis returned to the recording studio several times.

1990s: Die Hard sequels, Pulp Fiction and dramatic roles

Having acquired major personal success and pop culture influence playing John McClane in Die Hard, Willis reprised his role in the sequels Die Hard 2 (1990) and Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995). These first three installments in the Die Hard series grossed over US$700 million internationally and propelled Willis to the first rank of Hollywood action stars. At one point, Die Hard 2 and Ghost, starring Willis’ then wife Demi Moore, would occupy the number one and number two spots at the box office, a feat that would not be accomplished again for a married Hollywood couple until 2024.

In the early 1990s, Willis’s career suffered a moderate slump, as he starred in flops such as The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) and Hudson Hawk (1991), although he did find box office success with The Last Boy Scout. He gained more success with Striking Distance (1993) but flopped again with Color of Night (1994): it was savaged by critics but did well in the home video market and became one of the Top 20 most-rented films in the United States in 1995. Maxim also ranked his sex scene in the film as the best in film history.

In 1994, Willis also had a leading role in one part of Quentin Tarantino’s acclaimed Pulp Fiction; the film’s success gave a boost to his career, and he starred alongside his Look Who’s Talking co-star John Travolta. In 1996, he was the executive producer and star of the cartoon Bruno the Kid which featured a CGI representation of himself. That same year, he starred in Mike Judge’s animated film Beavis and Butt-head Do America with his then-wife Demi Moore. In the movie, he plays a drunken criminal named “Muddy Grimes”, who mistakenly sends Judge’s titular characters to kill his wife, Dallas (voiced by Moore). He then played the lead roles in 12 Monkeys (1995) and The Fifth Element (1997). However, by the end of the 1990s his career had fallen into another slump with critically panned films like The Jackal (which despite negative reviews was a box office hit), Mercury Rising, and Breakfast of Champions, as well as the implosion of the production of Broadway Brawler, a debacle salvaged only by the success of the Michael Bay-directed Armageddon, which Willis had agreed to star in as compensation for the failed production, and which turned out to be the highest-grossing film of 1998 worldwide. The same year his voice and likeness were featured in the PlayStation video game Apocalypse. In 1999, Willis played the starring role in M. Night Shyamalan’s film The Sixth Sense, which was both a commercial and critical success.

2000s

In 2000, Willis won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on Friends (in which he played the father of Ross Geller’s much younger girlfriend). He was also nominated for a 2001 American Comedy Award (in the Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series category) for his work on Friends. Also in 2000, Willis played Jimmy “The Tulip” Tudeski in The Whole Nine Yards alongside Matthew Perry. Willis was originally cast as Terry Benedict in Ocean’s Eleven (2001) but dropped out to work on recording an album. In the sequel, Ocean’s Twelve (2004), he makes a cameo appearance as himself. In 2005, he appeared in the film adaptation of Sin City. In 2006, he lent his voice as RJ the Raccoon in Over the Hedge. In 2007, he appeared in the Planet Terror half of the double feature Grindhouse as the villain, a mutant soldier. This marked Willis’s second collaboration with the director Robert Rodriguez, following Sin City.

Willis appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman several times throughout his career. He filled in for an ill David Letterman on his show on February 26, 2003, when he was supposed to be a guest. On many of his appearances on the show, Willis staged elaborate jokes, such as wearing a day-glo orange suit in honor of the Central Park gates, having one side of his face made up with simulated birdshot wounds after the Harry Whittington shooting, or trying to break a record (a parody of David Blaine) of staying underwater for only twenty seconds.

On April 12, 2007, he appeared again, this time wearing a Sanjaya Malakar wig. On his June 25, 2007, appearance, he wore a mini-wind turbine on his head to accompany a joke about his own fictional documentary titled An Unappealing Hunch (a wordplay on An Inconvenient Truth). Willis also appeared in Japanese Subaru Legacy television commercials. Tying in with this, Subaru did a limited run of Legacys, badged “Subaru Legacy Touring Bruce”, in honor of Willis.

Willis has appeared in five films with Samuel L. Jackson (National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1, Pulp Fiction, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Unbreakable, and Glass) and both actors were slated to work together in Black Water Transit, before dropping out. Willis also worked with his eldest daughter, Rumer, in the 2005 film Hostage. In 2007, he appeared in the thriller Perfect Stranger, opposite Halle Berry, the crime/drama film Alpha Dog, opposite Sharon Stone, and reprised his role as John McClane in Live Free or Die Hard. Subsequently, he appeared in the films What Just Happened and Surrogates, based on the comic book of the same name.

Willis was slated to play U.S. Army general William R. Peers in director Oliver Stone’s Pinkville, a drama about the investigation of the 1968 My Lai massacre. However, due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, the film was canceled. Willis appeared on the 2008 Blues Traveler album North Hollywood Shootout, giving a spoken word performance over an instrumental blues rock jam on the track “Free Willis (Ruminations from Behind Uncle Bob’s Machine Shop)”. In early 2009, he appeared in an advertising campaign to publicize the insurance company Norwich Union’s change of name to Aviva.

2010s

As of 2010, Willis was the eighth highest-grossing actor in a leading role and 12th-highest including supporting roles. Willis starred with Tracy Morgan in the 2010 comedy Cop Out, directed by Kevin Smith, about two police detectives investigating the theft of a baseball card. Willis appeared in the music video for the song “Stylo” by Gorillaz. Also in 2010, he appeared in a cameo with the former Planet Hollywood co-owners and 80s action stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film The Expendables. Willis played the role of CIA agent “Mr. Church”. It was the first time the three action stars had appeared on screen together. Although the scene featuring the three was short, it was one of the most highly anticipated scenes in the film. The trio filmed their scene in an empty church on October 24, 2009. Willis next starred in Red, an adaptation of the comic book mini-series of the same name, in which he portrayed Frank Moses. The film was released on October 15, 2010.

Willis starred alongside Bill Murray, Edward Norton, and Frances McDormand in Moonrise Kingdom (2012). Filming took place in Rhode Island under the direction of Wes Anderson, in 2011. Willis returned, in an expanded role, in The Expendables 2 (2012). He appeared alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the sci-fi action film Looper (2012), as the older version of Gordon-Levitt’s character, Joe.

Willis teamed up with 50 Cent in a film directed by David Barrett called Fire with Fire, starring opposite Josh Duhamel and Rosario Dawson, about a fireman who must save the love of his life. Willis also joined Vince Vaughn and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Lay the Favorite, directed by Stephen Frears, about a Las Vegas cocktail waitress who becomes an elite professional gambler. The two films were distributed by Lionsgate Entertainment.

Willis reprised his most famous role, John McClane, for a fifth time, starring in A Good Day to Die Hard, which was released on February 14, 2013. In an interview, Willis said, “I have a warm spot in my heart for Die Hard….. it’s just the sheer novelty of being able to play the same character over 25 years and still be asked back is fun. It’s much more challenging to have to do a film again and try to compete with myself, which is what I do in Die Hard. I try to improve my work every time.”

On October 12, 2013, Willis hosted Saturday Night Live with Katy Perry as a musical guest. In 2015, Willis made his Broadway debut in William Goldman’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel Misery opposite Laurie Metcalf at the Broadhurst Theatre. His performance was generally panned by critics, who called it “vacant” and “inert”. Willis was the subject of a roast by Comedy Central in a program broadcast on July 29, 2018. Willis played himself in a cameo in the 2019 film The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.

2020s: Critical decline, health problems and retirement

In the final years of his career, Willis starred in many low-budget independent thrillers and science fiction films. He worked primarily with the production companies Emmett/Furla Oasis, headed by Randall Emmett, and 308 Entertainment Inc, headed by Corey Large. Emmett/Furla Oasis produced 20 films starring Willis.

Described by Chris Nashawaty of Esquire as “a profitable safe harbor” for older actors, similar to The Expendables, most of the films were released direct-to-video and were widely panned. Willis would often earn US$2 million for two days’ work, with an average of 15 minutes’ screentime per film. He was nonetheless featured heavily in the films’ promotional materials, earning them the derogatory nickname “geezer teasers”. The Golden Raspberry Awards, an annual award for the year’s worst films and performances, created a dedicated category, the Worst Bruce Willis Performance in a 2021 Movie, for Willis’s roles in eight films released that year.

Those working on the films later said Willis appeared confused, did not understand why he was there and had to be fed lines through an earpiece. Days before Willis was scheduled to arrive on set for Out of Death (2021), the screenwriter, Bill Lawrence, was instructed to reduce his role and abbreviate his dialogue, and the director, Mike Burns, was told to complete all of Willis’s scenes in a single day of filming.

On March 30, 2022, Willis’s family announced that he was retiring because he had been diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder typically caused by damage to the area of the brain that controls language expression and comprehension. The Golden Raspberry Awards retracted its Willis category, deeming it inappropriate to give a Razzie to someone whose performance was affected by a medical condition. At the time of his retirement, Willis had completed 11 films awaiting release.

On February 16, 2023, Willis’s family announced that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. According to Gregg Day, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus, the symptoms include difficulties with language and comprehension, and misinterpretation of instructions. In a statement, the family said that Willis’s condition had progressed and that “challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease”. They expressed hope that media attention on Willis would raise awareness about the disease.

Business activities

Willis owns houses in Los Angeles and Penns Grove, New Jersey. He also rents apartments at Trump Tower and in Riverside South, Manhattan. In 2000, Willis and his business partner Arnold Rifkin started a motion picture production company called Cheyenne Enterprises. He left the company to be run solely by Rifkin in 2007 after Live Free or Die Hard. He also owns several small businesses in Hailey, Idaho, including The Mint Bar and The Liberty Theater and was one of the first promoters of Planet Hollywood, with actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. Willis and the other actors were paid for their appearances and endorsements through an employee stock ownership plan.

In 2009, Willis signed a contract to become the international face of Belvedere SA’s Sobieski Vodka in exchange for 3.3% ownership in the company. In 2018, Willis became the brand ambassador of the Hungarian brand Hell Energy Drink.

Military interests

Throughout his film career, Willis has depicted several military characters in films such as In Country, The Siege, Hart’s War, Tears of the Sun, Grindhouse, and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Willis grew up in a military family. Willis has donated Girl Scout cookies to the United States armed forces. In 2002, Willis’s then 8-year-old daughter, Tallulah, suggested that he purchase Girl Scout cookies to send to troops. Willis purchased 12,000 boxes of cookies, and they were distributed to sailors aboard USS John F. Kennedy and other troops stationed throughout the Middle East at the time.

In 2003, Willis visited Iraq as part of the USO tour, singing to the troops with his band, The Accelerators. Willis considered joining the military to help fight the second Iraq War, but was deterred by his age. It was believed he offered US$1 million to any noncombatant who turned in terrorist leaders Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi; in the June 2007 issue of Vanity Fair, however, he clarified that the statement was made hypothetically and not meant to be taken literally. Willis has also criticized the media for its coverage of the war, complaining that the press was more likely to focus on the negative aspects of the war:

I went to Iraq because what I saw when I was over there was soldiers—young kids for the most part—helping people in Iraq; helping getting the power turned back on, helping get hospitals open, helping get the water turned back on and you don’t hear any of that on the news. You hear, “X number of people were killed today,” which I think does a huge disservice. It’s like spitting on these young men and women who are over there fighting to help this country.

Religious beliefs

Willis was a Lutheran, but says he no longer practices. In a July 1998 interview with George magazine, he said, “Organized religions in general, in my opinion, are dying forms. They were all very important when we didn’t know why the sun moved, why weather changed, why hurricanes occurred, or why volcanoes happened. Modern religion is the end trail of modern mythology. But there are people who interpret the Bible literally. Literally! I choose not to believe that’s the way. And that’s what makes America cool, you know?”

When asked by a Hollywood.tv reporter how he stays grounded in Hollywood, Willis said, “I just thank God every day for…everything great that’s come my way.”

Political views

In 1988, Willis and then-wife Demi Moore campaigned for then-Democratic Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis’s presidential campaign in the 1988 presidential elections. In the 1992 presidential election, however, he supported President George H. W. Bush for reelection and was an outspoken critic of Bill Clinton. In 1996, he declined to endorse Clinton’s Republican opponent Bob Dole because Dole criticized Demi Moore for her role in the film Striptease. Willis was an invited speaker at the 2000 Republican National Convention, and supported George W. Bush that year.

In 2006, Willis said that the United States should intervene more extensively in Colombia to end drug trafficking from that nation. In several interviews, Willis has said that he supports increased salaries for teachers and police officers and that he is disappointed in the United States foster care system and its treatment of Native Americans. Willis has supported gun rights, saying, “Everyone has a right to bear arms. If you take guns away from legal gun owners, then the only people who have guns are the bad guys.”

In February 2006, when Willis was in Manhattan to promote his film 16 Blocks, he was asked his opinion on the Bush administration. Willis responded: “I’m sick of answering this fucking question. I’m a Republican only as far as I want a smaller government, I want less government intrusion. I want them to stop shitting on my money and your money and tax dollars that we give 50 percent of every year. I want them to be fiscally responsible and I want these goddamn lobbyists out of Washington. Do that and I’ll say I’m a Republican. I hate the government, OK? I’m apolitical. Write that down. I’m not a Republican.” Willis did not make any contributions or public endorsements in the 2008 presidential campaign. In several June 2007 interviews, he declared that he maintains some Republican ideologies.

On August 17, 2006, Willis was named in a Los Angeles Times advertisement that condemned Hamas and Hezbollah and supported Israel in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war. In the 2012 presidential election, Willis said that he had a negative opinion of Mitt Romney.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	The First Deadly Sin	Man entering diner	Uncredited
1982	The Verdict	Courtroom observer	Uncredited
1987	Blind Date	Walter Davis
1988	Sunset	Tom Mix
	Die Hard	John McClane
1989	In Country	Emmett Smith
	Look Who’s Talking	Mikey Ubriacco	Voice role
1990	That’s Adequate	Himself
	Die Hard 2	John McClane
	Look Who’s Talking Too	Mikey Ubriacco	Voice role
	The Bonfire of the Vanities	Peter Fallow
1991	Mortal Thoughts	James “Jimmy” Urbanski
	Hudson Hawk	Hudson Hawk	Also story writer
	Billy Bathgate	Bo Weinberg
	The Last Boy Scout	Joe Hallenbeck
1992	The Player	Himself	Cameo
	Death Becomes Her	Dr. Ernest Menville
1993	Loaded Weapon 1	John McClane	Uncredited cameo
	Striking Distance	Thomas “Tom” Hardy
1994	Pulp Fiction	Butch Coolidge
	North	Narrator and benevolent advisors
	Color of Night	Dr. Bill Capa
	Nobody’s Fool	Carl Roebuck
1995	Die Hard with a Vengeance	John McClane
	Four Rooms	Leo	Uncredited; segment: “The Man from Hollywood”
	12 Monkeys	James Cole
1996	Last Man Standing	John Smith
	Beavis and Butt-Head Do America	Muddy Grimes	Voice role
1997	The Fifth Element	Korben Dallas
	The Jackal	The Jackal
	Broadway Brawler	Eddie Kapinsky	Also producer; cancelled in production
1998	Mercury Rising	Art Jeffries
	Armageddon	Harry S. Stamper
	The Siege	General William Devereaux
1999	Breakfast of Champions	Dwayne Hoover
	The Sixth Sense	Malcolm Crowe
	The Story of Us	Ben Jordan
2000	The Whole Nine Yards	James Stefan “Jimmy the Tulip” Tudeski
	The Kid	Russ Duritz
	Unbreakable	David Dunn
2001	Bandits	Joe Blake
2002	Hart’s War	Col. William A. McNamara
	Grand Champion	Mr. Blandford
	The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course	—	Executive producer
2003	Tears of the Sun	Lieutenant A.K. Waters
	Rugrats Go Wild	Spike	Voice role
	Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle	William Rose Bailey	Uncredited
2004	The Whole Ten Yards	James Stefan “Jimmy the Tulip” Tudeski
	Ocean’s Twelve	Himself	Cameo
2005	Hostage	Jeff Talley	Also producer
	Sin City	John Hartigan	Segment: That Yellow Bastard
2006	Alpha Dog	Sonny Truelove
	Lucky Number Slevin	Mr. Goodkat
	16 Blocks	Jack Mosley
	Over the Hedge	RJ	Voice role
	Fast Food Nation	Harry Rydell
	The Astronaut Farmer	Doug Masterson	Uncredited
	Hammy’s Boomerang Adventure	RJ	Voice role; short film
	The Hip Hop Project	Himself	Also executive producer; documentary film
2007	Perfect Stranger	Harrison Hill
	Planet Terror	Lt. Muldoon
	Live Free or Die Hard	John McClane
	Nancy Drew	Himself	Uncredited cameo
2008	Assassination of a High School President	Principal Jared T. Kirkpatrick	Direct-to-video
	What Just Happened	Himself
2009	Surrogates	Tom Greer
2010	Cop Out	Jimmy Monroe
	The Expendables	Mr. Church	Uncredited cameo
	Red	Frank Moses
2011	The Black Mamba	Mr. Suave	Short film
	Setup	Biggs	Direct-to-video
	Catch .44	Mel
2012	Lay the Favorite	Dink Heimowitz
	The Cold Light of Day	Martin Shaw
	Moonrise Kingdom	Captain Sharp
	The Expendables 2	Mr. Church
	Looper	Old Joe
	Fire with Fire	Lt. Mike Cella	Direct-to-video
2013	A Good Day to Die Hard	John McClane
	G.I. Joe: Retaliation	General Joseph Colton
	Red 2	Frank Moses
2014	Sin City: A Dame to Kill For	John Hartigan
	The Prince	Omar	Direct-to-video
2015	Vice	Julian Michaels
	Rock the Kasbah	Bombay Brian
	Extraction	Leonard Turner	Direct-to-video
2016	Precious Cargo	Eddie Pilosa
	Marauders	Jeffrey Hubert
	Split	David Dunn	Uncredited cameo
2017	Once Upon a Time in Venice	Steve Ford
	First Kill	Marvin Howell	Direct-to-video
2018	Acts of Violence	Detective James Avery
	Death Wish	Paul Kersey
	Reprisal	James	Direct-to-video
	Air Strike	Col. Jack Johnson
2019	Glass	David Dunn
	The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part	Himself	Voice cameo
	Motherless Brooklyn	Frank Minna
	10 Minutes Gone	Rex	Direct-to-video
	Trauma Center	Lt. Steve Wakes
2020	Survive the Night	Frank Clark
	Hard Kill	Donovan Chalmers
	Breach	Clay Young
2021	Cosmic Sin	James Ford
	Out of Death	Jack Harris
	Midnight in the Switchgrass	Karl Helter
	Survive the Game	David Watson
	Apex	Thomas Malone
	Deadlock	Ron Whitlock
	Fortress	Robert Michaels
2022	American Siege	Ben Watts
	Gasoline Alley	Detective Bill Freeman
	A Day to Die	Alston
	Corrective Measures	Julius Loeb
	Fortress: Sniper’s Eye	Robert Michaels
	Vendetta	Donnie Fetter
	White Elephant	Arnold Solomon
	Wrong Place	Frank Richards
	Wire Room	Shane Mueller
	Detective Knight: Rogue	Detective James Knight
	Paradise City	Ian Swan
	Detective Knight: Redemption	Detective James Knight
2023	Detective Knight: Independence
	Assassin	Valmora

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	A Guru Comes	Extra	Uncredited; television film
1984	Miami Vice	Tony Amato	Episode: “No Exit“
1985–1989	Moonlighting	David Addison	Main role
1985	The Twilight Zone	Peter Novins	Segment: “Shatterday“
1987	The Return of Bruno	Bruno Radolini	Also writer and executive producer; television film
1989	Roseanne	Himself	Uncredited cameo; episode: “Dear Mom and Dad”
1989; 2013	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	2 episodes
1996–1997	Bruno the Kid	Bruno the Kid	Voice role; also developer and executive producer
1997	Mad About You	Himself	Episode: “The Birth Part 2”
1999	Ally McBeal	Dr. Nickle	Episode: “Love Unlimited”
2000	Friends	Paul Stevens	3 episodes
2004	Touching Evil	—	Executive producer; 12 episodes
2005	That ’70s Show	Vic	Episode: “Misfire”
2018	Comedy Central Roast	Himself	Television special
	Bumping Mics with Jeff Ross & Dave Attell	Himself	Episode: “Friday”
2019	The Orville	Groogen	Uncredited voice role; episode: “Deflectors”

Broadway

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984–1985; 1997	Fool for Love	Eddie	Understudy (1st version) Also producer (2nd version)
2002	True West	Lee	Also executive producer Filmed broadway play
2015–2016	Misery	Paul Sheldon	102 performances
2017	Must	—	Producer only
2021	My Mother’s Severed Head	—	Producer only

Music videos

Year	Title	Role	Artist
1986	Respect Yourself	Bruno	Himself
2010	Stylo	Assassin	Gorillaz

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	The Fifth Element	Korben Dallas	Voice role and likeness
	Apocalypse	Trey Kincaid	Voice role and likeness