Bruce Willis: A Biography

Bruce Willis sometimes struggled with a stutter when he was in school. His classmates often made fun of him, sometimes going so far as to resort to name calling. Now that Willis is a legitimate action hero, anyone would likely be hard pressed to find one of his former classmates who would make fun of him.Born as Walter Bruce Willis on March 19, 1955, Bruce Willis was the oldest of four children. He was born in Germany, where his military father fell in love with and married local girl Marlene. Just two years after Bruce’s birth, his father returned to the United States with his new family in tow. They eventually settled in Carneys Point, New Jersey, where his mother would take up work in a bank, with his father working in a factory after leaving the military.While in high school in Carneys Point, Willis found that his stutter disappeared while he was acting, so he took roles in school plays to help deal with his speech issue. He fell in love with acting, but after graduation he took a job at a local nuclear power plant instead of pursuing his love. After a few years of transporting ground crews for the plant and a short stint as a private investigator, he decided that he needed to return to acting. Initially, he attended Montclair State University, where he appeared in several school productions. Since he was near New York City, he decided to move to the metropolis to audition for the theater, landing a few off-Broadway plays while supporting himself as a bartender between gigs.Willis left New York City for Los Angeles in the early 1980s, but was only able to find uncredited television parts that didn’t require him to speak. In 1984, he finally landed a speaking part in a single episode of the series “Miami Vice.” He got a few other bit parts in television before landing the plum gig of David Addison in “Moonlighting,” the show that would make him a star. He played a private detective, a job which he had some experience with back home in New Jersey.While on summer hiatus from “Moonlighting,” Willis got offered big roles in several movies, which helped take him beyond the small screen and onto the big screen. He played opposite Kim Basinger in the madcap romantic comedy “Blind Date,” which turned him into a romantic lead. He also took the lead role in the television movie “The Return of Bruno,” which was tied in with an album of music, the first of three that Willis would eventually release in the late ’80s and early ’90s.In 1988, Willis was unexpectedly cast in the film that would turn him into an action hero and make his already-hot career sizzle. He took the role of cop John McClane in “Die Hard” in 1988, which would become a huge worldwide hit and spawn a franchise that has spanned two decades and counting. The series includes “Die Hard 2″ in 1990, “Die Hard: With a Vengeance” in 1995, “Live Free or Die Hard” in 2007, and “A Good Day to Die Hard” in 2013.As his star rose, he became just as lucky in love as he was at the box office. He met and married fellow actress Demi Moore, who helped him quit drinking and was there as his career took off. Together they had three daughters, Rumer, Tallulah, and Scout before divorcing in 2000 after thirteen years of marriage. They remained very close friends for the sake of their daughters. Moore was on hand with then-husband Ashton Kutcher when Willis took the plunge a second time, marrying model Emma Henning in 2009. The couple has a daughter named Mabel together, born in 2012.After “Die Hard,” Willis would continue to be cast in big action hero roles, most notably in “The Fifth Element” and “Armageddon.” Though most of his action roles were dramas, he also went back to comedy on occasion, appearing in “The Whole Nine Yards” opposite Matthew Perry, with whom he would work on three episodes of “Friends” the same year.Willis has acted steadily over the years, but since 2000 he has taken a lot of small roles in independent films, sometimes playing against his action film type. A great example of this is his role as Captain Sharp in “Moonlight Kingdom,” directed by Wes Anderson. Some thought that he took these roles because he was now in his 50s, but age is clearly just a number to Willis. In addition to “A Good Day to Die Hard” in 2013, Willis will also appear in “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” and “American Assassins.” As he approaches his 60s, Willis may very well still be kicking butt and taking names.