Diagnosis of aphasia
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Bruce Willis retires from acting due to illness
Bruce Willis, actor from the USA attends the premiere of the thriller “Glass”. (archive photo)
Photo: dpa/Ian West
Los Angeles “Die Hard”, “Pulp Fiction” or “Armageddon”: Bruce Willis became famous as an action hero, but now the Hollywood star is surprisingly ending his career – at the age of 67. Colleagues are dismayed.
Bruce Willis is known worldwide as a tough action star – all the more surprising was the news of his retirement from the film business on Wednesday. Due to illness, the “Die Hard” star had to end his acting career at the age of 67. “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 affecting his cognitive abilities,” said a statement from his family, which includes Willis’ daughters Rumer and Scout along with his wife Emma Heming-Willis and ex-wife Demi Moore via Instagram on Wednesday.
Colleagues and fans reacted with dismay. Stars including Jamie Lee Curtis, Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Perkins and Cindy Crawford expressed their condolences in messages on Instagram. Director Len Wiseman (“Die Hard 4.0”) conveyed “love and strength” to Willis and his family. Willis is a “great actor, a legendary action star, an incredible father and a good friend,” producer and director Randall Emmett told People.com magazine. Last year he shot the thriller Midnight in the Switchgrass with Willis and Megan Fox.
The announcement came as a surprise to the public. Until the very end, Willis was in front of the camera non-stop, including with John Travolta in the action thriller “Paradise City”. The IMDb film database lists over a dozen projects since 2021, some of which have not yet been published.
Aphasias are language disorders, such as speaking, understanding, writing or reading, which can occur as a result of various diseases, often after a stroke. However, it is not a thinking disorder, the patients are mentally completely clear and also have their previously acquired knowledge ready.
“As a result, and after careful consideration, Bruce is retiring from a career that has meant so much to him.” It is a “very challenging time” for the family, but they are approaching this time as a “strong family unit,” it said.
Born in 1955 in Idar-Oberstein, Rhineland-Palatinate, as the son of a US soldier and his German wife, Willis grew up mainly in the USA and has worked as an actor since the 1970s. At first he mainly got roles in the theater and in TV series before he made his breakthrough in 1988 with the action film Die Hard. He plays New York police officer John McClane in the Die Hard miniseries.
In addition to action and science fiction films such as “Pulp Fiction”, “12 Monkeys”, “The Fifth Element” or “Armageddon – The Last Judgment”, Willis also acted in dramas such as “The Sixth Sense” or “Unbreakable”. ‘ and comedies like ‘Death Becomes Her’ or ‘RED – Older. Harder. Better” with. He also tried his hand at being a musician and worked as a voice actor, producer and founded the restaurant chain “Planet Hollywood” together with other actresses.
For his achievements in the industry, Willis has received awards including a Golden Globe and two Emmys, and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2013 he was awarded the highest French cultural order and thus the honorary title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.
Most recently, however, he also had to accept a disgraceful award: The organizers of the “Golden Raspberry” or “Razzies” came up with a special category for him this year, on the grounds that he had eight bad roles in 2021, including in films like “American Siege, Deadlock, and Cosmic Sin.
Willis was married to actress Demi Moore from 1987 to 2000 and they have adult daughters Rumer, Scout and Tallulah. In 2009, Willis gave his vows to British model Emma Heming, who is more than 20 years his junior. The couple have little daughters Mabel and Evelyn. Ex-wife Moore was also present at the wedding in the Caribbean.
The families are closely connected. In 2020, Willis spent several weeks with Moore and the older daughters at their family ranch in Idaho during the corona pandemic. For Willis’ 67th birthday on March 19, Moore posted a photo together on Instagram with “Happy Birthday” wishes and “gratitude” for the blended family. His wife expressed her affection. “Not only do I love him, I really like him,” Heming wrote on Instagram with heart emojis under the hashtag #birthdayboy.