Bruce Willis

Actor

Name at birth: Walter Willison

Bruce Willis hit it big in 1988 as a scrappy action hero John McClane in the terrorists-in-the-skyscraper film Die Hard. Willis grew up in New Jersey and began acting in college. Partnered with Cybill Shepherd in the TV detective romance Moonlighting (1985-89), Willis became a TV star. During the show's run he made the leap to the big screen, starring in Blind Date with Kim Basinger before his turn as disillusioned cop John McClane in Die Hard. The film was a smashing success and spawned three sequels, Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990), Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995, with Samuel L. Jackson), and Live Free or Die Hard (2007). Willis followed up his Die Hard success with action films good and bad (including the notorious 1991 flop Hudson Hawk) and his 12-year marriage to Demi Moore was constant fodder for the gossip sheets. He has made a habit of taking smaller character parts as well as leading roles, including a much-appreciated appearance in Pulp Fiction (1994, with Ving Rhames). Willis has a reputation for keeping busy, and his other films include: 12 Monkeys (1995, co-starring Brad Pitt); two M. Night Shyamalan movies, The Sixth Sense (1999) and Unbreakable (2000); Bandits (2001, with Billy Bob Thornton); Hart's War (2002, with Colin Farrell; Hostage (2005); Frank Miller's Sin City (2005, with Jessica Alba); 16 Blocks (2006, with Mos Def); and Over the Hedge (2006, also with the voice of Steve Carell).

Extra credit: Willis and Moore were married from 1987-2000. They had three daughters together: Rumer Glenn (b. 1988), Scout LaRue (b. 1991), and Tallulah Belle (b. 1994). Scout is reportedly named for the youthful heroine of the book To Kill a Mockingbird... Willis recorded two blues albums in the 1980s, when he went by the musical nickname "Bruno": The Return of Bruno (1987) and If It Don't Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger (1989). He sings at times with his backup band, The Accelerators.

Willis makes an appearance with Ed Asner and Mark Hamill in our loop These Actors Do Cartoon Voices.