Romanian postcard by Polsib S.A., Dibiu. Photo: S.C.P. Vizual S.R.L., Bucuresti.
German collector card by Kino, 1990.
Italian postcard by CIAK. Photo: Alberto Tolot / UnoPress.
British postcard by Memory Card, no. 78. Samuel Jackson, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, and Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). Caption: Lobby card.
French postcard, Ref. C 674. Photo: Timothy White for Esquire.
Acting as therapy for his stammer
Walter Bruce Willis was born in 1955 in a basement in Idar-Oberstein in Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany. He was the son of US soldier David Willis and his German wife, Marlene Kassel. He spent the first two years with his parents in Germany before the family moved to the United States in 1957. Together with his three younger siblings, he grew up in New Jersey.
As therapy for his stammer, he took up acting during his school years. After finishing high school, he took acting classes at Montclair State College and worked part-time at a chemical plant to pay for his lessons. Willis moved to New York to become an actor. Initially, these were roles in plays.
He became famous for his role as private eye David Addison in the romantic detective series Moonlighting (1985-1989), in which he co-starred with Cybill Shepherd. The TV series was honoured with an Emmy and a Golden Globe. As a singer, Willis had a top 10 hit in the Netherlands in 1987 with the song 'Under the Boardwalk', a cover of The Drifters. Another single, 'Respect Yourself', was a big hit in the United States and reached no. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1989, he released his last LP, If It Don't Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger.' The record features blues and rhythm-and-blues songs.
He also began a film career. He worked twice with director Blake Edwards, the comedies Blind Date (1987) with Kim Basinger and Sunset (1988) with James Garner.
In 1988, he broke through as a film actor in the role of the police officer John McClane in the action film Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988). He played John McClane, who only obeys his own rules and always has a casual quip on his lips. McClane single-handedly battled a gang of ruthless international thieves in a Los Angeles skyscraper. He reprised the role of McClane in the sequel, Die Hard 2 (Renny Harlin, 1990), set at a snowbound Washington's Dulles International Airport as a group of renegade Special Forces soldiers seek to repatriate a corrupt South American general. Excellent box office returns demanded a further sequel, Die Hard with a Vengeance (John McTiernan, 1995), this time co-starring Samuel L. Jackson as a cynical Harlem shop owner unwittingly thrust into assisting McClane during a terrorist bombing campaign in New York.
French postcard by Editions Musicartes, no. EM478.
American postcard by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Photo: Touchstone Home Video. Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). Caption: "He was dead before he ever stepped into the ring." The Boxer.
British postcard, no. MM 387. Samuel Jackson, Uma Thurman, John Travolta and Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994).
Vintage postcard by Memory Card, no. 175. Photo: Bruce Willis in 12 Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, 1995).
Vintgage postcard by Iauiuasinu, no. 0041. Photo: Norman Jean Roy.
Large-scale financial disasters that were savaged by the critics
Apart from his action films, such as the Die Hard series and The Last Boy Scout (Tony Scott, 1991), Bruce Willis had little commercial success until the mid-1990s. He tried to relativise his action image with roles in comedies such as the voice of Mikey, the baby in the popular family comedies Look Who's Talking (Amy Heckerling, 1989) and its sequel Look Who's Talking Too (Amy Heckerling, 1990), also starring John Travolta and Kirstie Alley.
The Bonfire of the Vanities (Brian De Palma, 1990) and Hudson Hawk (Michael Lehmann, 1991) were both large-scale financial disasters that were savaged by the critics. In 1994, he was cast by Quentin Tarantino in Pulp Fiction in the role of boxer Butch. His performance was praised by critics.
This was followed by further box office hits such as the apocalyptic thriller 12 Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, 1995), the Science-Fiction opus The Fifth Element (Luc Besson, 1997) and Armageddon (Michael Bay, 1998) with Ben Affleck. With films such as The Sixth Sense (M. Night Shyamalan, 1999) and Unbreakable (M. Night Shyamalan, 2000) with Samuel L. Jackson, he then devoted himself increasingly to dramas but also remained loyal to comedies and action films.
After some flops, Willis bounced back into the spotlight in the critically applauded Frank Miller graphic novel turned movie Sin City (Frank Miller, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, 2005), the voice of RJ the scheming raccoon in the animated hit Over the Hedge (Tim Johnson, Karey Kirkpatrick, 2006) and the high tech Die Hard 4.0 (Len Wiseman, 2007). In 2006, Bruce Willis received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. According to the American Forbes Magazine, he was one of the best-paid actors in Hollywood at the time. Between June 2007 and June 2008, he received fees totalling USD 41 million.
Bruce Willis quit acting in 2022 when he was diagnosed with aphasia. In 2023, his family reported that Willis had frontotemporal dementia. Willis was married to actress Demi Moore from 1987 to 2000. They have three daughters, Rumer (1988), Scout LaRue (1991) and Tallulah Belle (1994). In 2009, Willis remarried 23 years younger actress cum model Emma Heming (1978). Together, they have two daughters.
French postcard, Ref. 1141. Bruce Willis in Le cinquième élément / The Fifth Element (Luc Besson, 1997).
English postcard by Cinema. French poster by Gaumont for Le cinquième élément / The Fifth Element (Luc Besson, 1997).
Dutch freecard by John v.d. Burg Indoor Media BV. Photo: Disney. Bruce Willis in The Kid (Jon Turteltaub, 2000).
German postcard by Edgar Medien AG, no. 7.687. Image: Buena Vista / Miramax. Bruce Willis in Sin City (Frank Miller, Quentin Tarantino (special guest director), Robert Rodriguez, 2005). Caption: Your stupid talk really gets on my nerves!
French postcard. Image: Miramax. Photos: Rico Torres. French poster for Sin City (Frank Miller, Quentin Tarantino (special guest director), Robert Rodriguez, 2005).
Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch, German and English) and IMDb.