FOR his legions of fans, it was a shock to hear Bruce Willis announcing his retirement — but it came as no surprise to those who worked with the action movie legend.
For them, there had been signs for some years that the actor had been battling a cognitive brain disorder that leaves the sufferer unable to process language.
Within hours of the statement from his family announcing he would be “stepping away from the career that meant so much to him” due to his aphasia diagnosis, it emerged that his lines in recent scripts were cut down.
It wasn’t uncommon for Bruce to spend no more than a day on set, with directors doing their best to accommodate his condition.
And the LA Times reported that he twice misfired a gun filled with blanks on the set of Hard Kill in 2020.
Stuart F Wilson, his stunt double of 17 years, told The Sun: “We had seen some changes. Sometimes when you were talking to him, he just seemed sidetracked and we would think it would mean nothing but you would wonder if there are other things going on.”
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Colleagues on low-budget flick White Elephant also told how the Die Hard star appeared to be confused, asking two crew members: “I know why you’re here, and I know why you’re here, but why am I here?”
Others also claimed that Bruce, 67, had to wear a tiny hearing device to remind him of his lines, which were already being simplified.
Mike Burns, director of 2021 action thriller Out Of Death, reportedly told the film’s screenwriter to keep Bruce’s lines “short and sweet.”
Burns went on to direct another film with Bruce, but after wrapping said he felt he could not longer work with him.
He revealed: “After we finished, I said: ‘I’m not going to do any other Bruce Willis movies.’ I am relieved that he is taking time off.”
And it may be some time — or possibly never — before fans see Bruce Willis on the big screen again.
The degenerative condition, which his family revealed is the reason for his difficulties, can be permanent or temporary.
His eldest daughter Rumer, 33, wrote on Instagram on Wednesday: “Our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities.”
Most commonly caused by a stroke or a brain injury, aphasia affects around 350,000 people in Britain, including Games of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke who experienced it for a week following surgery to remove a blood clot.
There has been no explanation for what brought on Bruce’s debilitating problem.
It was claimed 20 years ago he was struck on the forehead by a projectile when a stunt went wrong.
Bruce issued a lawsuit stating the incident had caused “extreme mental, physical and emotional pain and suffering.”
But the most common cause of aphasia is a stroke and is most likely to affect people aged over 65.
Just because the man who managed to make both vests and baldness sexy has quit acting, doesn’t mean fans won’t get to see any new movies.
We’d seen some changes. Sometimes when you were talking to Bruce, he seemed sidetracked and we would think it would mean nothing but you would wonder if other things were going on
Stuart F Wilson, Bruce's stunt double
It seems the dad of five tried to get as many films made while it was still possible, as he has eight unreleased projects in the pipeline.
And there is a chance he could continue to work like Michael J Fox has done since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991.
Rumer stated: “We are moving through this as a strong family unit.
“As Bruce always says, ‘Live it up’ and together we plan to do just that.”
There is little doubt that Bruce had overcome numerous hurdles even before he went on to star in a string of classic movies, including Pulp Fiction, The Sixth Sense, The Fifth Element, Armageddon and Twelve Monkeys.
Born in Germany where his American soldier dad David was based, he grew up in Penns Grove, New Jersey.
At school his classmates cruelly nicknamed him Buck Buck because of his stutter.
The brave decision to get up on stage and act in high school helped him overcome his stutter.
He once revealed: “I thought I was handicapped. I couldn’t talk at all. But then I did some theatre in high school and when I memorised words, I didn’t stutter, which was just miraculous.”
Like many of the characters he played, Bruce admitted he had a bit of an attitude as a youth, which got him into trouble at parties. With his German mother Marlene working in a bank and dad a welder, he had no show business connections, so his first job was as a security guard.
A move to New York where he mixed drinks at the trendy Kamikaze Club led him to meet people in the acting profession.
A casting director asked him to take a bartending role in a movie and gradually he progressed from small stage parts to television shows, including Miami Vice.
In 1985, Bruce became a household name after landing the lead role of wisecracking detective David Addison in Moonlighting.
His dry wit and sexual chemistry with Cybill Shepherd earned him a Golden Globe and an Emmy.
Sudden fame and an excessive affection for booze proved to be a toxic concoction. A year into Moonlighting he was arrested for drunk driving — and he was later charged with assaulting a police officer who was trying break up a party at his home.
He married Demi Moore, his girlfriend of four months, in Las Vegas in November 1987.
By 1998 he had quit alcohol for good — and even though he was yet to score a major movie hit, the actor was so in demand that he was paid a then record £4million to appear in Die Hard.
It proved to be an all-time action classic that spawned four money-spinning sequels.
But he has endured his fair share of movie flops, including comedy Hudson Hawk in 1991 and 1990 New York satire Bonfire Of The Vanities.
The Hollywood outsider was one of the few stars in the liberal-leaning entertainment industry to call on fans to vote Republican.
Coming from a military family, he even considered signing up for the armed forces following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York.
Unashamedly pro-firearms, he once said: “If you take guns away from legal gun owners then the only people who would have guns would be the bad guys.
“Even a pacifist would get violent if someone were trying to kill him or her. You would fight for your life, whatever your beliefs.”
But he added: “Maybe I’ve been watching too many Bruce Willis movies.” In her autobiography, Demi claimed that Bruce wanted her to be a stay-at-home mum to their three children, Rumer, Scout, 30, and Tallulah, 28.
Instead, she forged a career in the 1990s that was every bit as spectacular as his, earning a record £9million for Striptease.
Bruce, though, cannot be so easily pigeon-holed by the macho image forged in a long list of movies that have grossed a total of £2billion.
He campaigns to help foster children and has taken a very modern approach to divorce since splitting from Demi in 2000.
On the advice of his pal Will Smith, he put his jealousy aside after Demi fell for young actor Ashton Kutcher by going to their wedding. When Bruce married British model Emma Heming in 2009, Demi and Ashton attended their ceremony in tropical Turks and Caicos.
This “blended family” continued to grow after Emma gave birth to Mabel, ten, and Evelyn, seven.
When Covid-19 restrictions stranded Emma in LA, Bruce ended up isolating with Demi.
Weathering life’s storms, such as seeing Tallulah enter rehab at the age of 20 for cocaine and alcohol abuse, is something Bruce knows all about.
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And whatever happens next, there will be plenty of people rooting for him.
M Night Shyamalan, who directed Bruce in The Sixth Sense, said: “He will always be that hero on that poster on my wall as a kid.”
BRUCE WILLIS has made over 70 movies, here are his five best.
Die Hard (1988)
No cop action movie has ever topped Die Hard with scene after scene taking on legendary status.
Whether it is his off duty John McClane firing a machine gun while crossing shattered glass bare-footed or lighting up a claustrophobic duct, Bruce is never anything less than grippingly cool.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
This wouldn’t be Quentin Tarantino’s most talked about movie without an offbeat turn from Bruce as a boxer who double crosses a crime-lord.
His escape from a gimp-suited man contrasted with the tenderness his character Butch shows to his girlfriend.
The Fifth Element (1997)
Bruce’s everyman cab driver Korben Dallas gets caught up in a cosmic battle to save the universe in this must see cult sci-fi movie.
His droll, understated style is the perfect foil for Gary Oldman’s scenery chewing baddie.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
All of Bruce’s humanity is on display in this supernatural thriller about a boy who sees dead people.
His sensitive performance as child psychologist Malcolm Crowe should have earned him the Oscar nomination the actor never received.
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Quirky director Wes Anderson and Bruce were both on the top of their game when they made this touching and funny movie.
Bruce’s comic timing is perfect as local cop Captain Sharp, who tries to guide a mixed-up young Scout.
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