Mega-star Bruce Willis was an unlikely action hero when he first played his most famous role in 1988’s “Die Hard”. Willis found fame playing a comedic role on the TV series “Moonlighting” in 1985, and was featured in two Blake Edwards comedies, 1987’s “Blind Date” with Kim Basinger and 1988’s “Sunset” alongside James Garner. Critics cynically assessed that Willis’s stint in the spotlight would be short-lived, but his surprisingly endearing performance in the blockbuster action film proved any naysayers dead wrong.
Willis was born in 1955 on an American army base in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany. His father, a factory worker and welder, was discharged from the military in 1957 and brought the family back to Penns Grove, New Jersey where Willis was raised. Willis had a stutter when he was young, but found that it melted away while he was on stage and thus the active youngster enjoyed drama and public speaking. After high school he worked at the nearby Du Pont factory, but soon left to study drama at Montclair State University. The talented actor left after two years for New York City, where he tended bar and started an acting career. He built up some minor credits before finding stardom on “Moonlighting”, which earned him an Emmy and a Golden Globe in its first season.
“Die Hard” propelled Willis into the Hollywood stratosphere, and the film produced two successful sequels in 1990 and 1995. Most of his starring roles in the early 90s were flops, most notably the overcooked “Hudson Hawk” and the absurd action-comedy “The Last Boy Scout”. But like his co-star John Travolta, Willis received a significant boost with Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” in 1994, playing an aging small-time boxer.
Willis starred in off-and-on hits for the next few years, including Luc Besson’s sci-fi epic “The Fifth Element”, Terry Gilliam’s “12 Monkeys”, and the visually assaultive disaster film “Armageddon”. Though successful, few films were giving Willis any critical acclaim until 1999’s “The Sixth Sense”, which became a surprise blockbuster and made director M. Night Shyamalan into an unexpected brand name. Willis starred for the young director again in 2000’s “Unbreakable”.
Known as a pleasant and good-natured actor, Willis lives much of the year in Hailey, Idaho near the famous Sun Valley resort. His ex-wife Demi Moore settled with Willis in the quaint town in the 90s, and the stars still spend time together in Idaho. The gorgeous couple have three children together, and they remain close friends despite their divorce in 2000 and Moore’s marriage to rising star Ashton Kutcher.
Willis returned to comedy with the hit caper “The Whole Nine Yards”, and has continued his career as an action star with modest hits like “Hart’s War” and “Tears of the Sun”, in addition to a terrific supporting role in “Sin City” alongside Jessica Alba. He can currently be seen in “16 Blocks” alongside Mos Def, and is soon to appear in “Perfect Stranger” with Halle Berry and a fourth installment in his star-making franchise, titled “Live Free or Die Hard”. The actor is still an active musician (a pastime from his youth), and plays harmonica with his band The Accelerators.