Overview (4)

Born March 19, 1955 in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany Birth Name Walter Bruce Willis Nickname Bruno Height 6' (1.83 m)

Mini Bio (1)

Spouse (2)

Trade Mark (9)

Frequently plays a man who suffered a tragedy, had lost something or had a crisis of confidence or conscience.



Frequently plays likeable wisecracking heroes with a moral centre



Headlines action-adventures, often playing a policeman, hitman or someone in the military



Often plays men who get caught up in situations far beyond their control



Sardonic one-liners



Shaven head



Distinctive, gravelly voice



Smirky grin.



Known for playing cynical anti-heroes with unhappy personal lives



Trivia (88)

His recording of "Respect Yourself" reached #5 in January 1987.





On 6/24/98 he and Demi Moore announced they were ending their marriage of 11 years. No reasons given.

In 10/97 he was ranked #22 in "Empire" (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.



Born on a US military base in Germany. His mother, Marlene, was German, and was born in Kassel. His father, David Willis, was American-born, and had English and smaller amounts of Dutch, French, Irish and Welsh ancestry.





As a young man his personality was very much like that of the character he played on Das Model und der Schnüffler (1985). He was always getting into trouble because of this and was bodily ejected from parties by the hosts for being obnoxious.



Has been very vocal in his support of almost every major Republican candidate in recent history except Bob Dole . He felt that presidential candidate Dole was out of line in his attacks on Demi Moore and her role in the movie Striptease (1996).



Was the first actor to ever "act" in a video game ( Apocalypse (1998)). No one before had ever done voice-work along with having their likeness and movements digitally added to the game, as well as receiving prominent billing on the game's cover.

Has stated, in 1997, 2001 and 2013, that he will no longer be doing violent action or "save-the-world" movies.





Wears his watch upside down with the face on the inside of his wrist. This is also visible in many movies he has done ( Stirb langsam - Jetzt erst recht (1995), Das Mercury Puzzle (1998), etc.) where they have not requested him to flip this over.

In May 1987 he was arrested after reportedly disturbing the peace and assaulting a police officer who was called to quiet a raucous party at his home. The charges were dropped after Willis agreed to apologize to his neighbors.



Acting helped him to overcome a debilitating childhood stutter. In an interview with "GQ" magazine in March 2013, he said, "I had a terrible stutter. But then I did some theater in high school and when I memorized words, I didn't stutter, which was just miraculous. That was the beginning of the gradual dispelling of my stutter. I thought I was handicapped. I couldn't talk at all. I still stutter around some people now".



In 2001, his younger brother, Robert Willis, died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 42.



Attended Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ.





Set a new benchmark for actors' salaries when he was paid $5 million for Stirb langsam (1988) in 1988. Eight years later, his wife, Demi Moore , set a benchmark of $12 million with Striptease (1996).

(2/02) Named Man of the Year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.



Worked in a chemical factory before going to college.





Filled in as a last-minute host for David Letterman on February 26, 2003, a show he was supposed to be the guest for. This was Letterman's first "sick day" in 20 years (other than his time off for heart surgery).

Ranked #3 in Star TV's Top 10 Box Office Stars of the 1990s. [2003]





Divides his time between Malibu, California and Hailey, Idaho. In the latter, he and now ex-wife Demi Moore were criticized by locals for buying businesses in the town and not running them properly. He owns (after buying out Moore) the Mint Bar and the Liberty Theater. He also owns the old Hailey Drug Store, but the building has been vacant and unused since the early 1990s.

The scar on his right shoulder is from surgery due to complications from a broken arm when he was age 17.





Graduated from Penns Grove High School in Penns Grove, New Jersey (near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), where he was raised. (Actor John Forsythe was born in Penns Grove.) Willis's class voted him "Most School Spirit". [1973]



(10/20/04) Sued Revolution Studios for unspecified damages related to a blow to his forehead that he received during "ultrahazardous activity" involved in the filming of Tränen der Sonne (2003). He claims that it has caused him extreme mental, physical and emotional pain and suffering.



France awarded him Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in April 2005. "France pays homage to an actor who represents the force of American cinema and the power of emotions that he invites us to share on screens throughout the world", Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres said. "I'm nervous. Bonjour Paris", he replied.



Was chosen to play John McClane in Stirb langsam (1988) because the producers felt he brought warmth and humor to an otherwise cold and humorless character. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone had turned down the role.

Has been special ambassador of his birth town, Idar-Oberstein, Germany, since his 50th birthday.





Along with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Charlton Heston , he was one of very few Hollywood celebrities to publicly support the Iraq war. While visiting the troops in 2003, he offered $1 million of his own money for the man who would capture Saddam Hussein . When Hussein was captured, it turned out that military rules prevent troops from collecting such a reward.

Served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1992. In 2000 he was unable to narrate a biographical film of previous presidents to be shown at the RNC due to scheduling conflicts.





In November 2005 he announced his intention to make a film in which American soldiers will be depicted as brave fighters for freedom and democracy. This was to be based on the exploits of the heavily decorated members of "Deuce Four", the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry, which has spent a year battling insurgents in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul. Willis attended Deuce Four's homecoming ball in Seattle, WA, where the soldiers are on leave, along with Stephen J. Eads , the producer of Armageddon - Das jüngste Gericht (1998) and The Sixth Sense (1999). The actor said that he was in talks about a film of "these guys who do what they are asked to for very little money to defend and fight for what they consider to be freedom". Willis is likely to take on the role of the unit's commander, Lt. Col. Erik Kurilla.



On 4/13/05 was honored in Paris for his contribution to the film industry by the French government. He was awarded Officer of the On Order of Arts and Letters at a ceremony in the capital, where he was presented with his honor by French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres . de Vabres said, "This is France's way of paying tribute to an actor who epitomizes the strength of American cinema, the power of the emotions that he invites us to share on the world's screens and the sturdy personalities of his legendary characters." Willis replied in French that he was "very touched" to receive his medal, adding, "Thank you France and Culture Minister for this great, great honor.".



(7/23/02) Appointed by President George W. Bush as national spokesman for Children in Foster Care.

His performance as John McClane in the "Die Hard" trilogy is ranked #46 on "Premiere: magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.





He and Linda Fiorentino were employed as bartenders in the early 1980s at the Kamikaze Club in New York City.



Married Demi Moore at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Las Vegas, NV.



Turned down the role of Sam Wheat in Ghost - Nachricht von Sam (1990) because he did not think the plot would work and that playing a ghost would be detrimental to his career. Ironically, he played a ghost in The Sixth Sense (1999), which was a critical success and is widely regarded as one of his best performances.

He apologized to Colombia after blaming the nation for America's drug problems. He insisted the US is as much to blame for the prolific trade and confessed he didn't mean to single out any one country as the supplier. He told the "New York Daily News", "I said Colombia because it was the first country to come to mind." He was dubbed "ignorant" and "ungrateful" by the Colombian president for his comments in March 2006, and advised not to base his arguments on "Hollywood clichés".





In November 2000 he urged his fans to vote for Republican candidate George W. Bush in the presidential election. He told an interviewer, "If you guys vote for Al Gore , you're out of your minds . . . Gore's a knucklehead . . . just the lying and mendacity of the last eight years of the regime that Al Gore was a part and parcel of . . . I mean, there is only so much lying the American people will take before they go, 'Uh, this doesn't seem like a good idea.' You have to look at what he does and what he stands for".

Awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6915 Hollywood Blvd. on October 16, 2006.





During the Lebanon crisis, he signed his name on an ad in the "Los Angeles Times" in support of Israel, along with Nicole Kidman and numerous other Hollywood celebrities.

Is a huge supporter of NFL team New York Jets.





Endorsed his friend and former co-star Fred Thompson in his failed bid to win the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential election.



"Maxim" magazine had named his sex scenes in Color of Night (1994) as the best sex scenes ever in film history.



Became the first actor to guest-star on Friends (1994) and win an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Guest Actor category for their performance.



Was considered for the role of Kyle Reese in Terminator (1984), which went to Michael Biehn



Thanked by the rock band Blink-182 in the liner notes of their album "Enema of the State" (1999).



On 3/21/09 he married his girlfriend of a year, Emma Heming Willis , at his home in Parrot Cay, Turks and Caicos.



Was in consideration for the role of Lester Burnham in American Beauty (1999) but Kevin Spacey , who went on to win a Best Actor Oscar for his performance, was cast instead.

Admitted to "Playboy" magazine in 1996 that he was once arrested at age 19 for possessing two joints.





Filmed his role in the mystery thriller Tödliche Gedanken (1991) in ten days.



Met Demi Moore at a screening of Emilio Estevez 's film, Die Nacht hat viele Augen (1987). Moore had broken off her engagement to Estevez the previous December after it was revealed publicly that he'd fathered another woman's two children while in a relationship with Moore; so it was a little odd for her to be there in the first place. She and Willis were married four months later.

Inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2011 for his contributions to Arts and Entertainment.





Is left-handed and is displayed in most of his films. In The Sixth Sense (1999), he learned to write with his right hand so this would not be so easily noticeable that his character was not wearing his wedding ring.



Is mentioned in Nicki Minaj 's song "Your Love".

Has regularly been named on "Best Celebrity Tippers" lists over the years. This is largely due to his early "struggling" waiter/bartender days.



On 2/12/13 he was awarded Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, the highest French culture award, in Paris, France.





Mentioned in the song "Jizz in My Pants" by The Lonely Island . One of the song's composers, Jorma Taccone , shares his birthday with Willis.



Has played five characters more than once in the movies: Hartigan from the "Sin City" films, John McClane from the "Die Hard" films, Frank from the "Red" films, Church from the "Expendables" films, and Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski from the "Whole Nine Yards" films. With his cameo as David Dunn in Split (2016) and his appearance as Dunn in Glass (2019), this counts to six characters he played more than once. If one would count his voice acting as Mikey in Kuck' mal wer da spricht! (1989) and R.J. in Ab durch die Hecke (2006), this adds up to eight characters he played more than once. He also appeared twice as Lt. Muldoon in a "Grindhouse" segment and in Planet Terror (2007). So he comes to a total of nine characters, he played more than once.



His Inside the Actors Studio (1994) interview was taped on September 10, 2001. The episode was respectfully dedicated by Willis and the Actors Studio Drama School "to the heroes who fell September 11th - and to the heroes who fight on.".



In Hailey, ID, he and [ Demi Moore ] were criticized for buying businesses in the town and not running them properly.



Was considered for the role of Henry Miller in Henry & June (1990), which later went to Fred Ward , who shaved his head for it. Willis and Ward both appeared in The Player (1992), but did not share any scenes together.

The name of his band is Bruce Willis and the Accelerators. In 2002, the band had its largest tour to date, going to 15 cities.





Both Willis and ex-wife Demi Moore were born to teen-aged mothers. Demi's mom had her at 18 and Bruce's mom had him at 19.



He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Stirb langsam (1988) and Pulp Fiction (1994).

Personal Quotes (42)

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



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



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



[3/10/05 interview in "People" magazine, on how he stays in shape] Mostly weight resistance training, almost an hour of cardio at least three times a week. I have a gym in my house in Los Angeles and a gym trailer that I can take on the road with me when I'm on location. At my house there's a very long steep driveway. I do wind sprints that kick my 50-year-old ass. It's part of my job. I have come to associate working out as work. Whenever I don't have to do it for films, I kind of slack off.



I am a sensitive guy. People think they know the real me, but they don't. And then they write things that make me sound like such a jerk.



I hate working out. I work out for films solely. I associate working out with films. As soon as they stop, I stop working out.



Fifty is the new 40. I always thought my best work would come in the years 40 to 60, if I was fortunate enough to hang around--and it is hard to stick around.



Who I am as a father is far more important to me than the public perception.



I am baffled to understand why the things that I saw happening in Iraq, really good things happening in Iraq, are not being reported on.





[on Hudson Hawk - Der Meisterdieb (1991)] I always thought it was a little ahead of its time, a little too hip for the room.

I think the rules are going to have to change for me to ever run for public office. My checkered past will always keep me out of politics. If I ever did run I would run on the platform that I did all these bad things, but I no longer do them, and during the four years of being president or whatever office it might be, I would be good and serve my country. I want to serve my country.



I'm a Republican only as far as I want a smaller government, I want less government intrusion, I want them to stop pissing on my money and your money, the tax dollars that we give 50% of, or 40% of, every year, and I want them to be fiscally responsible, and I want these goddamn lobbyists out of Washington. Do that and I'll say I'm a Republican. But other than that, I want the government to take care of people who need help, like the kids in foster care, the half-million kids who are in orphanages right now--they call them foster homes, but they're orphanages. I want them to take care of the elderly and give them free medicine, give them whatever they need. There's tons, billions and billions of dollars that are just being wasted. Okay? I hate government. I'm apolitical. Write that down: I'm not a Republican.





[February 2006] Look at what happened to James Frey in the last two weeks. That's a great book and so is the follow-up book. And just because his publisher chose to say that these were memoirs, it took it out of being a work of fiction, a great work of fiction and very well-written to this guy having to go be sucker-punched on Die Oprah Winfrey Show (1986) by one of the most powerful women in television just to grind her own ax about it. Hey Oprah, you had President [ Bill Clinton ] on your show and if this prick didn't lie about a couple of things I'm going to set myself on fire right now. James Frey is a writer, okay? He can write whatever he wants. It's fiction, and it's just hard, it's just shameful how he was treated in some of these things. It's just shameful and it's just not fair and not right . . .

I'm not an action hero anymore, and I think it would be inappropriate for me to compare anything that happens in Hollywood and the entertainment industry to the tragic loss of life on September 11th.



I spoke to the Colombians. It's fine. I get passionate sometimes. I said Colombia because it was the first country to come to mind. The drug problem has as much to do with what's going on in this country. If there wasn't a demand, there wouldn't be a supply.



I think what the United States, and everyone who cares about protecting the freedoms that the largest part of the free world now has, should do whatever it takes to end terrorism in the world and not just in the Middle East. I'm talking also about going to Colombia and doing whatever it takes to end the cocaine trade. It's killing this country. It's killing all the countries that coke goes into. I believe that somebody's making money on it in the United States. If they weren't making money on it, they would have stopped it. They could stop it in one day. It's just a plant that they grow, and these guys are growing it like it's corn or tobacco or any other thing. By the time it gets here, it becomes a billion-dollar industry. And I think that's a form of terrorism as well.



The Iraqi people want to live in a world where they can move from their homes to the market and not have to fear being killed. I mean, doesn't everybody want that?



I have zero interest in performing in films to try to convey any kind of message. My job is to be entertaining. There's a very different point of view about messages in films in Europe than there is in the States. Audiences rebel because they feel that they are being preached to.



[on his planned film about the Iraq war] The movie is about these guys who do what they are asked for very little money to defend and fight for what they consider to be freedom.





I thought about signing up but my friends told me I was too old. I called the White House, called President [ George Bush ] and asked what I could do. So I got involved with the national foster care program.

If you take guns away from legal gun owners then the only people who would have guns would be the bad guys. Even a pacifist would get violent if someone were trying to kill him or her. You would fight for your life, whatever your beliefs. You'd use a rock or tear one of these chairs out of the floor . . . Hey, maybe I've been watching too many Bruce Willis movies!



I'm always being accused of being a Hollywood Republican, but I'm not! I have just as many Democratic ideas as Republican ones. If they could build three fewer bombs every month and give the money to foster care, that would be great.



The idea of serving my country remained in my mind. Over the past few years from varying sources--"Time" magazine, books and television-- information began coming to my attention on foster care; its history and the current crisis of an antiquated system overburdened with 580,000 children who have no voice. Children need to be protected by interstate technology systems that can track placements, education, medical records and protect these children from predators traveling from state to state. I saw foster care as a way for me to serve my country in a system by which shining a little bit of light could benefit a great deal by helping kids who were literally wards of the government.



Hair loss is God's way of telling me I'm human.



[1998] Organized religions in general, in my opinion, are dying forms. They were all very important when we didn't know why the sun moved, why weather changed, why hurricanes occurred or volcanoes happened. Modern religion is the end trail of modern mythology. But there are people who interpret the Bible literally. Literally! I choose not to believe that's the way. And that's what makes America cool, you know?





I don't think my opinion means jack shit, because I'm an actor. Why do actors think their opinions mean more because you act? You just caught a break as an actor. There are hundreds--thousands--of actors who are just as good as I am, and probably better. Have you heard anything useful come out of an actor's mouth lately? Although I liked George Clooney 's documentary on Darfur.



They still haven't caught the guy that killed [ John F. Kennedy ]. I'll get killed for saying this, but I'm pretty sure those guys are still in power, in some form. The entire government of the United States was co-opted.

I happen to live in Los Angeles and it is probably one of the most toxic environments on earth. People live here and they know that the air is poisonous. They know that children are affected by the air in Los Angeles. They say that growing up in Los Angeles is the equivalent of smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes throughout your entire childhood. It's horrific when you can actually look at the air and see it.



No, I am not in favor of the war in Iraq, so let me stop you right there. I am not pro-war but what I am is that, I like to support the young men and women who are over there participating in the war.



[on Twitter] I just can't live with myself if I started twittering. I just think: "That way lies madness".





[on The Expendables (2010) sequel] I talked to Sly [ Sylvester Stallone ] and he's going for all the marbles this time, and he's going to get everybody in this time. Even Stone Cold Steve Austin , who took two bullets in the last film, is coming back. Hopefully, they'll start shooting it while we're young enough to survive!



[on the possibility of Michael Bay directing a a Die Hard film, specifically Stirb langsam 4.0 (2007)] Would have ruined DH4. Few people will work with him now, and I know I will never work with him again.



[on whether an R-rated "Die Hard" could be done without producer Joel Silver ] Fuck Joel Silver. That is because you do not understand my relationship with Joel S. We are cordial now when we bump into each other, but we have not worked together since Last Boy Scout - Das Ziel ist Überleben (1991).



I'm really pleased to continue to be asked back to do other versions and other incarnations of Stirb langsam (1988). The first one really is . . . that's all there is. Everything else is just trying to be as good as that film.



[on Stirb langsam - Ein guter Tag zum Sterben (2013)] It's a difficult title. "A Good Day to Die Har"d? It's like, have a sandwich and let's go shopping--then die hard.



I want to do Stirb langsam - Ein guter Tag zum Sterben (2013), then one final "Die Hard" movie--"Die Hard 6"--before finally hanging that white vest up for good. At the moment, I can run and I can fight on screen. But there will come a time when I no longer want to do that. That's when I'll step away from the "Die Hard" films.



[on missing a role in Full Metal Jacket (1987)] I got the call two days before we were to start the first Das Model und der Schnüffler (1985). I was crushed! I'd always been a student of the Vietnam war. As it turned out, it took them two years to complete the film and get it out. So, everything happens for a reason.

I don't cheat, lie or go out of my way to mess people over, but I'm still amazed at the venal garbage that goes on in this town. People lie about you. People want to see you fail. It's so competitive here, you can see how much people want you to fail.





[on Kim Basinger ] What sets her apart from other actresses is that she does a lot of things well. Kim is a throwback to '40s actresses. She's not afraid to act like a geek.

[on his NYC bartending days at Cafe Central, during which time he acquired the nickname "Bruno"] The bar was always six-deep. It was where a lot of celebs and movie-star types and wannabes hung out. If you're serving them drinks and you're drinking with them, it's a very fraternal feeling. They're not way up on a pedestal. It's four in the morning and they're probably half in the bag. So I didn't have to deal with that mystique.



For a long time, I don't know if there was a lot of controversy surrounding me, but it was certainly more interesting to throw rocks and dump trash on me than it was to say nice things about me. That kind of controversy sells more. And has since become, in the last ten years since they started writing about me, the norm.



Look, this is my face. If it's a curse, it's a curse. And I never said, "Hey, I'm smirking, America! Look at me! Love me!" It's a little hook that they caught on and they've found a way to turn it against me and make it some negative thing, but that's how I smile. Nothin' I can do about it.



Salary (17)