Die Hard Hero

Background:

"Fifty is the new forty. I always thought my best work would come in the years forty to sixty if I was fortunate enough to hang around, and it is hard to stick around." Bruce Willis

Box office movie star actor Bruce Willis, gained his initial recognition while portraying David Addison, costarring with Cybill Shepherd, in the ABC's popular sitcom Moonlighting (1985-1989). Willis received super-stardom after playing the lead role of John McClane in the runaway success action film Die Hard (1988) and in its sequels, Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990) and Die Hard 3: With a Vengeance (1995). The 50-year-old actor was also widely known starring in such blockbuster films as Pulp Fiction (1994), Armageddon (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999), Bandits (2001), and Tears of the Sun (2003). More recently, Willis can be seen in the films The Whole Ten Yards (2004), Hostage (2005), and Sin City (2005).

Ex-husband of stunning actress Demi Moore, Willis' off screen life has been linked to several names. Before his marriage to Demi, Willis was reported to have lived with talk show host Geraldo Rivera's ex-wife, Sheri Rivera. In 1999, he dated Spanish model Maria Bravo Rosado and once was sweetly linked with actress Lara Flynn Boyle (born on March 24, 1970). After 10 months of being involved with model and TV host Brooke Burns, the couple parted ways in June 2004.

Despite the romance between former thirteen-year-wife Demi Moore and younger actor Ashton Kuthcher, Willis and Kutcher stated that they have a very good relationship. Kutcher shared, "I don't think people know how close we are. I think they're like, 'Oh yeah, they're just saying that.' But he's literally like, worn my underwear... He had one of our four-wheelers stuck in the river behind the house in Idaho. It was stuck down in there and he came in. It was the middle of the winter and the girls were with him and he was soaking wet in this ice-cold water. So he came in and I like, gave him my clothes. We like hang out all the time. He's great."

Most School Spirit

Childhood and Family:

The eldest child of the Willis family, Walter Bruce Willis was born on a military camp in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany, to parents David Willis (welder, mechanic) and Marlene Willis. At age 2, Bruce's working-class family relocated to Penns Grove, New Jersey, after David Willis was dismissed from the military in 1957. Bruce spent his childhood in New Jersey with his three younger siblings, sister Flo, and brothers David (producer) and Robert (died at age 42 of pancreatic cancer).

Bruce Willis attended the Penns Grove High School in Penns Grove, New Jersey, where he became the student council president and was named the student with the "Most School Spirit." Though he was an active and outgoing teenager, Bruce suffered from a severe stuttering problem that could hinder him performing on stage. Interested in theater, Bruce studied drama at the Montclair State College in Montclair, New Jersey, where he received his honorary doctorate.

In a simple wedding in Las Vegas, Nevada, Bruce married actress Demi Moore (born on November 11, 1962) and remarried her in front of friends and family members on November 21, 1987. After eleven years of marriage the couple separated in June 1998 and filed for divorce in October 2000. Sharing with Demi, Bruce has three daughters, Tallulah Belle Willis (born on February 3, 1994), Scout LaRue Willis (born on July 20, 1991), and Rumer Glenn Willis (born on August 16, 1988)

"I'm much more proud of being a father than being an actor." Bruce Willis

Bruce now resides in Hailey, Idaho, where he owns The Mint bar and the Liberty Theater. He is also the owner of the abandoned Hailey Drug Store.

Moonlighting Magic

Career:

"You can't undo the past... but you can certainly not repeat it." Bruce Willis

Formerly doing odd jobs ranging from being a transporting crew member at the Du Pont factory, waiting tables, bartending, and playing the harmonica with local band Loose of Goose, Bruce Willis, nicknamed Bruno, received a tiny acting role as a bodyguard. Impressed by acting, Bruce later signed up for the drama program at Montclair State College and performed in a class production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Bruce decided to pursue his acting career and flew to New York, where he became a bartender again while joining numerous auditions and finally landed his first off-Broadway job on a production of Heaven and Earth. He began to get noticed after starring in an off-Broadway production of Fool for Love in 1984 and subsequently landed on television, which included a role in an episode of Miami Vice and a job on a Levi's promotion.

After gaining two unaccredited roles in the big screen films The First Deadly Sin (1980) and The Verdict (1982), Bruce received his first breakout role of wise guy detective David Addison, costarring with actress Cybill Shepherd, in the ABC huge hit mystery-comedy series Moonlighting. From 1985 to 1989, Bruce played the role and his impressive acting work nabbed him an Emmy and Golden Globe Award in 1987. The series also helped Bruce receive more casting offers.

Willis played workaholic Walter Davis, costarring Kim Basinger, in Blake Edwards' romance-comedy Blind Date (1987), starred as the 60s rock legend Bruno Radolini in James Yukich's biopic, The Return of Bruno (1988), and reunited with Blake Edwards in his western, Sunset (1988, teamed with James Garner).

The runaway success of the crime-action Die Hard (1988) hurled Bruce's name toward superstardom. He was globally known for his role of New York cop John McClane in John McTiernan's adaptation of Roderick Thorp's novel with the same title. The film became the 1980's most watched film and it spawned the following sequels, Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990) and Die Hard 3: With a Vengeance (1995), in which Bruce reprised his role. In the rest of the 1980s, Bruce played a paranoid Vietnam War veteran in Norman Jewison's In Country (1989) as well as provided his voice for Mikey in the animated films Look Who's Talking (1989) and Look Who's Talking Too (1990).

Bruce added to his acting resume by starred in such films as Brian De Palma's Bonfire of the Vanities (1990, opposite Tom Hanks), Mortal Thoughts (1991, alongside Demi Moore and Glenne Headley), the action-comedy Hudson Hawk (1991, in which he also helped write), and played mobster Bo Weinberg in Billy Bathgate (1991). After portraying actor Damon Wayans' detective partner Joe in Tony Scott's action-comedy The Last Boy Scout (1991), Bruce landed on the average success films Death Becomes Her (1992), The Color of Night (1994), and Four Rooms (1995). He also acted in blockbusters like Striking Distance (1993, with Sarah Jessica Parker), Pulp Fiction (1994, with John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson), Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys (1995, co-starring Brad Pitt), Walter Hill's Last Man Standing (1996), and Luc Besson's The Fifth Element (1997, opposite the perfect Milla Jovovich).

More box office hit films came in the 1990s. Bruce netted lead roles in such films as The Jackal (1997, costarring Richard Gere, Diane Venora and legend Sidney Poitier), Mercury Rising (1998), and most notably in Michael Bay 's smash sci-fi action hit Armageddon (1998). Willis also worked behind the screen by becoming the executive producer for Alan Rudolph's Breakfast of Champions (1999), a movie adapted from Kurt Vonnegut's novel. However, Bruce continued to portray distinguished roles, including child psychologist Malcolm Crowe in M. Night Shymalan's smash hit film The Sixth Sense (1999), for which he won the People's Choice Awards for Best Actor. Also in that year, Bruce shared the screen with Michelle Pfeiffer in Rob Reiner's romance comedy, The Story of Us.

Entering the 2000s, Bruce starred as murderer Jimmy "The Tulip" in the comedy The Whole Nine Yards and played Russell Duritz in the well-received The Kid. With his career flourishing, Willis starred in several movies like playing invincible David Dunn in M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable (2000, with Robin Wright-Penn and Samuel L. Jackson), starring in Barry Levinson's Bandits (2001, opposite Billy Bob Thornton and Cate Blanchette), MGM's thriller-drama Hart's War (2002, alongside Colin Farrell), Grand Champion (2002), and Tears of the Sun (2003). As for his more recent films, moviegoers can watch Willis in The Whole Ten Yards (2004), Hostage (2005), and Sin City (2005). Bruce also received acclaim on the small screen. He was noticed for his recurring roles in the hit NBC's series Friends in 2000, which handed him an Emmy award.

Bruce will keep gracing the silver screen. He is scheduled to work in a string of upcoming films including Alpha Dog (as drug dealer Jesse James Hollywood's father), Lucky Number Slevin (costarring Josh Hartnett, Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley), Solace (as a psychic physician), 16 Blocks, Die Hard 4.0, and Over the Hedge.

"I'm staggered by the question of what it's like to be a multimillionaire. I always have to remind myself that I am." Bruce Willis

Awards:

• Hasty Pudding Theatricals: Man of the Year, 2002
• American Cinematheque Gala Tribute: American Cinematheque Award, 2000
• Emmy Awards: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, Friends, 2000
• Blockbuster Entertainment: Favorite Actor - Suspense, The Sixth Sense, 2000
• Blockbuster Entertainment: Favorite Actor - Sci-Fi, Armageddon, 1999
• Emmy Awards: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Moonlighting, 1987
• Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical, Moonlighting, 1987