Walter Bruce Willis born March 19, is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series Moonlighting β and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero for his portrayal of John McClane in the Die Hard franchise β In the last years of his career, he starred in many low-budget direct-to-video films, which were poorly received.
Willis retired in due to aphasia , and was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in As a singer, Willis released his debut album, The Return of Bruno , in , followed by two more albums in and He made his Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of Misery in He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Willis has described his background as a "long line of blue-collar people".
Willis spoke with a stutter. He was eventually elected student council president. He graduated from Penns Grove in After graduating from high school, Willis worked as a security guard at the Salem Nuclear Power Plant [ 12 ] and transported crew members at the DuPont Chambers Works factory in Deepwater. Willis enrolled in the drama program at Montclair State University , [ 14 ] where he was cast in a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Willis was cast as David Addison Jr.
Willis chose not to renew his contract when he decided to stop drinking alcohol in In the late s, Willis enjoyed moderate success as a recording artist , recording an album of pop-blues, The Return of Bruno , which included the hit single " Respect Yourself " featuring the Pointer Sisters. He released a version of the Drifters song " Under the Boardwalk " as a second single; it reached No.
Willis returned to the recording studio several times. In the early s, Willis's career suffered a moderate slump, as he starred in flops such as The Bonfire of the Vanities and Hudson Hawk , although he did find box office success with The Last Boy Scout. He gained more success with Striking Distance but flopped again with Color of Night : it was savaged by critics but did well in the home video market and became one of the Top 20 most-rented films in the United States in In , Willis also had a leading role in one part of Quentin Tarantino 's acclaimed Pulp Fiction ; [ 8 ] the film's success gave a boost to his career, and he starred alongside his Look Who's Talking co-star John Travolta.
