Actor: film star and family man: Bruce Willis is 70

Bruce Willis rarely appears in public. In mid -January, when the heavy surface fires raged in the Los Angeles area, the former action star made an exception. On the side of wife Emma Heming Willis (46) he thanked some police officers on the street for their commitment. His wife posted short videos on Instagram and a photo of the encounter. Bruce would never miss the chance to show a first aider with a handshake and a “thank you for your effort” his gratitude, she wrote.

Willis, who turns 70 today, was Hollywood’s sought -after action hero – from “Stirb slowly” (1988) to “Armageddon – The Last Court” (1998) to “Death Wish” (2018). The star worldwide also got fans through his appearances in cult classics such as “Pulp Fiction”, “12 Monkeys”, “The Fifth Element” and “The Sixth Sense”.

All the more, the news of his retreat from the film business shocked in 2022. Due to illness, the star would end his acting career at the age of 67, said his family at the time. He initially suffered from aphasia that affects his cognitive skills.

Willis suffers from incurable disease

In February 2023 the more precise diagnosis – it is a rare, rapidly progressive and non -curable disease in the frontotemporal dementia, in which nerve cells are initially broken down in the brain’s forehead and temporal area.

The family of the father of five gives an insight into his life with photos and anecdotes on social media. So last December Emma Heming Willis posted a loving tribute in memory of the beginning of her relationship 17 years ago. Feelings of anger and grief about the disease would shake off and instead feel “unconditional love”.

In March 2024 on the 69th birthday of her husband, the British native wrote: “He is a real gentleman. Giving and sharing with so much love. I get to see his real inside. And I can tell you it’s pure and good.” For this purpose, she published a photo on which Willis holds his grandchild Louetta, the first offspring of daughter Rumer Willis.

The couple had married Mabel and Evelyn with the two younger daughters in 2009. The adult daughters Rumer, Scout and Tallulah come from his first marriage to actress Demi Moore (62). The two families are closely linked. They often post photos of celebrations and visit.

Families announced disease together

Together they also announced the star’s disease. It was a “cruel” illness that many would not know, but which could meet everyone, the family said in 2023. It is the most common form of dementia in humans under the age of 60 and so far there has been no therapy.

“Bruce has always believed in using his voice in the world to help others and to draw attention to important things”. He would do that today, if he could, the family was convinced. More about this disease and its consequences for those affected and relatives must be informed.

Roots in Idar-Oberstein

In 1955, little Walter Bruce was born in the Rhineland-Palatinate Idar-Oberstein as the son of a US soldier and his German wife. The boy lived in Germany for two years, then the family went to America. He was shy as a child and stuttered, Willis later told interviews.

But since the 1970s he was on stage and in front of the camera as an actor. At first he got roles at the theater and in TV series. He started in 1985 as a private detective in the series “The Model and the Schniffler”, together with Cybill Shepherd. He got an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his role as David Addison.

Then came the surcharge for the action film “Die slow” (1988). In the “Die Hard” multi-part he played the New York police officer John McClane. Nobody has shaped the picture of the American action hero like Willis when he put terrorists with his German voice of “crime scene” actor Manfred Lehmann fleeing. His blood -smeared undershirt is also a piece of cultural asset in the United States and belongs to the Museum of American history.

In addition to action and science fiction films such as “Pulp Fiction”, “12 Monkeys”, “The Fifth Element” or “Armageddon-The Last Court”, Willis also played in dramas such as “The Sixth Sense” or “Unbreakable-unbreakable” and in comedies such as “Death is well” or “red.

The agent film parody “Red – Older, Härter, Better” (2010) was staged by the German director Robert Schwentke. Willis plays the main role of an aging CIA agent and deals with his image as a symbol of masculinity with his image. Three years later, he also taught the tone in the sequel “Red 2 – even older, harder, better” than the leader of the balloting pensioner.

Until his farewell in Hollywood in 2022, Willis stood in front of the camera, including in cheap productions such as “Cosmic Sin”, “American Siege”, “Deadlock” or “Paradise City”, which were torn down by many critics. At this point, the disease was already noticeable during the shooting. Frontotemporal dementia leads to changes in personality and to impair memory. In addition, there are often language disorders.

Colleagues and fans expressed their sympathy when announcing the diagnosis in Instagram messages, including Melanie Griffith, Paris Hilton, Rita Wilson and Selma Blair, who suffered from multiple sclerosis. “Breaking Bad” actor Aaron Paul also expressed his sympathy. “Your father is such a damn legend,” he praised the action icon on the Instagram account of Rumer Willis.