Back in March 2022, Bruce Willis’s family announced his retirement from Hollywood due to aphasia. In February 2023, the Die Hard actor’s condition was diagnosed as frontotemporal dementia, which results in severe memory loss. Demi Moore, who was married to him for 13 years, was in shock after the 12 Monkeys actor couldn’t recognize her.
Willis’s current wife, Emma Heming, and their children are open about the actor’s condition with the public. Demi Moore’s latest encounter, along with earlier revelations from Willis’s Moonlighting creator, Glenn Gordon Caron, suggests a worsening condition for the beloved actor.
Bruce Willis Couldn’t Recognize His Ex-Wife Demi Moore
Demi Moore and Bruce Willis met during the premiere of the 1987 film, Stakeout. They married in November of that year and had three children: Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah. After 13 years of marriage, the couple filed for divorce in 2000. Despite their separation, they remained friends. Willis attended Moore’s subsequent wedding to Ashton Kutcher, and both Moore and Kutcher attended Willis’s wedding to Emma Heming.
Moore continued to stay in touch with the family and was one of the first to offer support after Willis’s diagnosis. However, recent reports from Closer suggest that the Striptease actress is devastated by how far her former husband has fallen. Moore, who spent the summer vacation in Italy, visited Willis upon her return, only to discover that the actor didn’t recognize her. According to an insider close to the family, Willis’s memory of the Ghost actress has faded. The source told Closer:
“Demi kept in touch with the kids and Bruce’s wife, Emma Heming. But she had no idea he’d gone so far downhill. Demi could tell he really didn’t recognize her.”
The source also revealed that while his condition is progressively worsening, The Sixth Sense actor still recognizes his wife and children. Willis is also suffering from personality changes and mood swings as a result of his condition. He often displays aggressive behavior, while other times expressing immense joy. The disease is also affecting his bodily functions, slowing him down physically.
Bruce Willis’s Moonlighting Creator Revealed He Was Not Totally Verbal
Bruce Willis gained widespread acclaim for his role as private detective David Addison in the ABC comedy-drama, Moonlighting. The creator of the show, Glenn Gordon Caron, remained friends with the actor and visited him during his condition. While Caron believed that Willis recognized him, he revealed to The New York Post that the Pulp Fiction actor was not fully conversational. Caron told The New York Post:
“My sense is the first one to three minutes he knows who I am. He’s not totally verbal; he used to be a voracious reader — he didn’t want anyone to know that — and he’s not reading now. All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet he’s still Bruce. When you’re with him you know that he’s Bruce and you’re grateful that he’s there, but the joie de vivre is gone.”
Caron had been working to bring Moonlighting to audiences through OTT platforms, and he shared that Willis was excited about the idea too. Caron was finally able to get the series onto Hulu, where fans of the Looper actor can watch his breakout performance.
