Back in the 1980’s, Bruce Willis was getting paid enormous amounts of money to promote Seagram’s Golden Wine Cooler. And before that, before he got his break in Moonlighting, he was a bartender on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. But he eventually quit the high paying gig and alcohol altogether when he decided to find sober living in 1988. “I had been sober for a while,” he said in his 2013 interview with GQ Magazine, “But once I realized that I wasn’t gonna run myself off the pier of life with alcohol, drinking vodka out of the bottle every day,” he quit. After being diagnosed with aphasia last year, actor Bruce Willis has received a more-specific diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia, his family confirms.
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Though Willis and Moore divorced in 2000, the two continued to have a strong friendship. With the news of Little Richard’s death in 2020, Moore posted a wedding photograph of herself and Willis with Little Richard on Instagram, saying, “Bruce and I were so lucky and honored to have him officiate our wedding back in 1987 — thankful for the memories.” Rumer doesn’t blame her upbringing or her parents’ fame for her struggles, but both Bruce and Demi Moore have had issues with sobriety. In her book “Inside Out,” Moore wrote about an incident in which she had a seizure after using nitrous and synthetic cannabis at a party, frightening Rumer, per Today. Rumer and her sisters cut off communication with their mother for three years after the incident. Watching her mother relapse into drug abuse was harrowing for Rumer, partly because it reminded her of her own issues.
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Telling GQ that “fatherhood’s not a bad gig,” the actor also showed off a tattoo on his finger. Willis’ development is particularly tragic considering his early struggles with stuttering. He worked hard to overcome that impediment and now is faced with another one. But as Kiran notes, aphasia can be treated through speech rehabilitation therapy.
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This marked Willis’s second collaboration with the director Robert Rodriguez, following Sin City. Another kid-friendly Willis cameo came via 2003’s “Rugrats Go Wild,” which accompanied 12 years’ worth of episodes on Nickelodeon and two other feature films depicting how babies and toddlers view the world around them. Main character Tommy Pickles had long been accompanied by a goofy, beloved dog Spike, who didn’t talk.
Die Hard gave Willis permanent hearing damage
In an interview with GQ in 2013, Willis spoke candidly about his drinking habit. This was evident to those near Willis during the final years of his career. According to The Los Angeles Times, nearly 20 people on set with Willis suspected his mental decline. He allegedly misfired a gun loaded with blanks on the set of “Hard Kill.” His agents at the Creative Artists Agency made sure his shooting times on films were restricted to two days, and the actor often limited his time to four hours. On one occasion, Willis questioned crew members why he was on set, visibly confused. “This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support,” said his family members — which include his wife Emma Heming Willis, ex-wife Demi Moore, and his five daughters.
- One year before Willis quit drinking, his antics created a stir that landed him in trouble with the law.
- Newfound fame can sometimes lead one to believe they are untouchable –- however, one can also soon be met with a rude awakening.
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- He also said his goal late in his career was to keep his acting “looking lifelike,” despite any troubles in his personal life.
: Moonlighting, Die Hard and rise to fame
One of the biggest perks of fame is who you know, and Bruce Willis knows a lot of people in the biz. In 1994, Willis played boxer Butch Coolidge in “Pulp Fiction,” which would go on to become one of the most 3 ways to pass a urine drug test influential movies of director Quentin Tarantino’s career. Willis wasn’t the first actor Tarantino had in mind, however, and it was thanks to fellow cast member Harvey Keitel that he was even hired at all.
His beef with these key players on the project led to each of them getting fired, and eventually, the entire film was scrapped. He was a big movie star, had released a hit album, and was married to one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. In 2007, Willis did an interview with the Guardian in which he talked about the long term effects of filming the scene. Apparently, the director required very loud blanks to achieve the sound he wanted — yet as a result, Willis endured severe hearing loss.
De Souza said that Willis “took over the whole movie” and started re-writing the script. It was also based on an idea that Willis kept for 12 years, according to The New York Times. In the media, Willis was portrayed as a large personality that made the production effort difficult. According to an anonymous crew member, Willis commanded the set, leading to disagreements between him and the director, Michael Lehmann.
In the last few years of his career, he starred in many low-budget direct-to-video films, which were poorly received. Some believe in the power behind seeking sober help throughout the course of one’s life, even if it’s been years after finding sober living. Others believe that once you’re free of the grip of addiction, you’ve learned your lesson and there’s little to no chance of getting caught in the destructive cycle again.
“I suffer two-thirds partial hearing loss in my left ear and have a tendency to say, ‘Whaaa?'” he told the Guardian. Newfound fame can sometimes lead one to believe they are untouchable –- however, one can also soon be met with a rude awakening. One year before Willis quit drinking, his antics created a stir that landed him in trouble with the law. A 1987 article from the United Press International described a wild party gone wrong at Willis’s residence in Los Angeles. A neighbor called the police about the noise coming from Willis’s home, and when they went to investigate, they found a party in full swing, complete with loud music and alcohol.
In March 2022, the family of Bruce Willis announced that his 40-year career in entertainment would be coming to a sudden and permanent halt. A far cry from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, Hailey’s population consisted of just 3,700 in the year 1990. The rural community has grown steadily since, with the ultimate guide to microdosing psychedelics a current population of more than 9,000. With snow-capped mountains and frigid temperatures, Hailey was a drastic shift from the warm climate and palm tree-lined streets of L.A. The town seemed to suit Willis’s needs, however, who put much of his own time and money into improving its infrastructure.
Though the studio did hit a few snags along the way, “Apocalypse” was fairly well-received by game critics — even if almost no one remembers it now. According to an interview with the Washington Post in 2005, Willis and Keitel were neighbors while Willis was living in Los Angeles. The two struck up a conversation in which Willis mentioned that he was a big fan of “Reservoir Dogs.” Keitel revealed to Willis that he was about to do another picture with Tarantino and a day later, Keitel invited Willis to a barbecue at his home. It just so happened that the “Pulp Fiction” director was also in attendance. Fame doesn’t usually happen overnight, and Bruce Willis’s story is no different. After high school, Willis found work at a chemical factory, and later as a security guard at a nuclear power plant.
Williams rose to fame in part due to her no-boundaries approach to her life, which included sharing personal details about her health, plastic surgery and cocaine addiction — the subject of her 2003 memoir, Wendy’s Got the Heat. The statement credited Weill Cornell Medicine in New York with the care and expertise Williams received. Aphasia, a brain disorder that can lead to problems speaking or understanding words, can be a symptom. Her family told People they don’t know where she is and cannot call her themselves, but she can call them.
“This disease is seen a little earlier in life, which can make it harder because it’s an age where people have a lot of demands and responsibilities,” Day said. “They might have full-time jobs, partners, be caring for young kids. And when it affects language for someone who relies on it to make a living, it’ll make an impact.” According to reports, Willis abandoned his spokesperson role in 1988 when it was clear that his drinking was becoming an issue. The famed actor joined Alcoholics Anonymous and went entirely sober – though he told GQ that he now occasionally indulges in a glass of wine with dinner.
Bruce Willis fans likely already know some fun facts about the man himself — like his alter ego “Bruno,” or his feud with indie filmmaker Kevin Smith. But they might be surprised by how much there’s left to discover; below, some obscure facts for even the most discerning Willis admirer. His family’s announcement drew messages of support and shock from fans, as well as other actors and celebrities. Willis, who stars in “A Good Day To Die Hard,” which opens in theaters on Feb. 14, has had a long and impressive career, but he still has goals in sight. Willis, who stars in “A Good Day To Die Hard,” which opens in theaters on Feb. 14, has had a long and impressive career, but he still has goals in sight. Armstrong said in his book “Revenge of the Nerd” that Willis once divulged a mistake in his early relationship with Shepherd, which Armstrong interpreted as a sexual liaison.
Frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, refers to a collection of disorders that primarily affect the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. The diseases that fall under this umbrella are neurodegenerative, meaning they get worse over time. There are some incredibly successful individuals who you may never have suspected had a substance abuse problem. Recently, for example, Bruce Willis opened up to GQ magazine high-functioning alcoholic wikipedia about his past issue with alcohol consumption. Willis reportedly developed a drinking problem when he was hired as a spokesperson for Seagrams wine coolers in the early 80’s. Willis had an instantly-recognizable voice and a playful side to his personality, so it made sense that every now and then he’d lend his pipes to projects like “Bruno the Kid,” the “Look Who’s Talking” movies and “Over the Hedge.”