Bruce Willis began his Hollywood career in the 1980s when the unknown New Yorker got a coveted role — the arrogant detective David Addison, partnered with actress Spear Sherwood, who played retired model Mattie Hayes. Blue Moonlight Detective Agency made Willis famous overnight, and fans were captivated by the chemistry of the "couple" and Willis's witty remarks. Recently, Willis, 67, announced he would retire from show business after he was diagnosed with aphasia.
In 1987, Spear Shepherd and Bruce Willis laughed at the Golden Globes ceremony at the Beverley Hilton Hotel. Blue Moonlight Detective Agency turned Bruce Willis from a New York bartender and would-be actor into a Hollywood star almost overnight.
Bruce Willis (right), in 1988's Die Hard. The film Made Die Hard has made Bruce Willis an action star. The film spawned four sequels and a cowboy-style buzzword of the era.
Bruce Willis plays a police detective in Die Hard, who goes to a Christmas party with his half-year-old wife, only to become the hero of a rescue mission. For most of the film, Bruce Willis performed barefoot, barely dressed, and did many of his own stunts. The attraction is simple: a somewhat ordinary man saves the world.
In 1995, Bruce Willis and his first wife, actress Demi Moore, pose for a photo at a newly opened Planet Hollywood restaurant in Paris. Willis and Moore have three daughters, and their home base is not in Hollywood, but in Haley, a small town near Sun Valley, Idaho. Willis is a partner at the Planet Hollywood chain.
Die Hard is a spin-off film that eventually produced five and grossed more than $1 billion worldwide. Its sequels include 1995's Die Hard 3, in which Willis co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson and played against the fierce villain played by Jeremy Irons.
The '90s were a golden age for Willis, who won awards for almost every choice. While not all of his films have received critical acclaim, the vast majority have captivated audiences, including 1998's The End of the World, which tells the story of oil drillers who save the planet in order to stop the destruction of humanity caused by meteorites.
In 1991, Willis played a down-and-out detective in The Ultimate Sleek, investigating a murder with a discredited football star (Damon Waynes, left). The film's director, Tony Scott, was successful with films such as Super Detective Beverly Hills 2 and Thunder Ambition.
Willis (left) gets up close and personal with young Brad Pitt in the 1995 dystopian sci-fi thriller Twelve Monkeys. In the film, Willis plays a man with a history who travels back to the 1990s from the 2030s and is sent to investigate and stop a plague that has caused massive human deaths.
Willis's failed work in the '90s was 1991's Hudson's Eagle, a film whose plot is both silly and incredible, telling the story of a post-release burglar whose mission is to steal da Vinci's artwork, which is in part related to the quest for world domination. Fans and critics mostly scoff at this.
At the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, at the meeting of "Moonris Kingdom", Willis was surrounded by photographers.
In 2016, Willis jokingly pretended to have a sore ankle at an awards ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Willis captivated audiences in the 1999 thriller The Sixth Sense, his debut with Hely Joe Osmont and director M. Knight Shyamaran, which tells the story of a child psychologist (Willis) whose 9-year-old patient claims he can talk to the dead. The turning point for the film remains one of the best films in Hollywood history.
Willis seemed omnipresent in the '90s, and he played a memorable role in a film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who was emerging at the time. In 1994's Pulp Fiction, Willis played a boxer who escaped from the gangster he betrayed.
Willis has "gone into space" several times in his career, including Luc Besson's The Fifth Element, starring Ian Holm and Mira Jovovich.
In The Fifth Element, Willis mingles with a group of mutant aliens with guns, a breakthrough by chris Tucker, who was not well known at the time.
Willis and Jackson in 2000's Unbreakable. The two eventually starred in five films, including Pulp Fiction.
In 2003, Willis and Moore brought their daughters Talula, Rummer and Scott, as well as Ashton Kutcher to the premiere of "Thunderbolt 2" at the Grauman Chinese Theatre. Willis is close to his ex-wife, Moore.
Willis (right) shakes hands with Ernest Borgning in the 2010 film Red Flame Battlefield.
Wells and Stallone. The duo co-starred with action superstars such as Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Shange Winton, Duff Longell, Jet Li and other action stars in the "Daredevil" series of movies.
The 2019 film "Mr. Glass" brought Willis and director Shyamalan back together, with Willis playing a superhuman security officer who also starred Samuel Jackson and James McAvoy.
Shyamalan (left), Sarah Paulson, Willis, Jackson, McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy attend the UK premiere of Mr. Glass.
Willis and Maggie Q attend the press conference for Die Hard 4. The Die Hard movie series accounted for five of the more than 100 films he shot in his long career.
One of Willis' latest feature films is Edward Norton's black crime thriller The Brooklyn Mystery. Movie stars William Dafoe, Willis and Norton attend the premiere of the 2019 New York Film Festival.
Willis fantasized about himself as a blues singer, and inspired by the spirit of the late "blues brother" John Belusi, he created another self who could sing, named Bruno, and he even released an album, Bruno Returns. Willis occasionally immerses himself in his musical passion.
Later in Willis's career, he increasingly opted for high-paying jobs that required only a day or two of shooting. In Hunting Hour, Willis plays a familiar character, a former police officer who is jailed for trumped-up charges.
Willis plays a wanted man in Deadlock Rescue, leading a group of mercenaries to occupy an energy factory, holding everyone inside hostage, leaving a retired elite commando as the only person who can save the world.
In 2015, Bruce Willis and his daughter Tallulla celebrated their 60th birthday in New York.
Ahead of the 2019 baseball game against the Milwaukee Breweries, Willis spoke with Philadelphia Phillies player Reece Hoskins during batting practice. After his opening ball bounced towards the Phillies receiver, he was booed by fans.
Willis and his second wife, model and actress Emma Herming. In addition to his and Moore's three daughters, Willis and Herming have two daughters.
Willis made an appearance in his Broadway debut, Danger. In nearly 40 years, Willis has starred in more than 100 films since he made his debut on the screen. Now the hero is twilight, but may he be healthy, safe and happy!