After being diagnosed with aphasia, a language condition caused by brain damage that limits a person’s capacity to communicate, Bruce Willis’ family has declared that he is quitting acting. The Golden Globe award winner has left millions of fans around the globe devastated by the news of his retirement from acting.
Rumer, Bruce’s 33-year-old daughter, announced the news on Instagram on Wednesday, March 30th.
Rumer captioned a throwback photo of Bruce, 67, which said:
“To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities. As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.
This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion, and support. We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him.
As Bruce always says, ‘Live it up’ and together we plan to do just that.”
Do you recall David Addison as a detective on Moonlighting? Willis’ important career break came when he was cast in the part of Addison. The show was successful with audiences for the first three seasons, but then numbers began to decline. However, Bruce Willis’ first big prize came from the series: an Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series. He also won a Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy. Moonlighting was one of the first dramedy series on television.
Bruce Willis also starred in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, one of his first ultra-hip films. In 1999, he starred as Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, in the film Sixth Sense. Six Academy Award nominations were given to the picture. While Willis’ career witnessed a downward slide in recent years, he is still considered to be one of the greatest actors to grace the industry.
And yes, there have been many other films, but Bruce Willis will forever be our John McClane!
Willis wasn’t the director’s first pick for the part of John McClane. Both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone passed on the role of John McClane. They made a poor decision. Die Hard made $140 million at the box office. That was the tenth highest worldwide that year, and the highest for an action film. From 1988 through 2013, Willis played the part five times. Die Hard 2, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Live Free or Die Hard, and A Good Day to Die Hard were the others.
