American actor Bruce Willis began his career in 1980 with an uncredited role in The First Deadly Sin . After guest-starring in a 1984 episode of Miami Vice , he appeared in the first episode of the 1985 revival of The Twilight Zone. Willis achieved fame starring in the ABC comedy-drama series Moonlighting (1985–1989), for which he received three Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. [1] [2] In 1988, he starred as John McClane in Die Hard (1988), a film that spawned four sequels that earned him international recognition as an action hero. [3]
In the following years, Willis lent his voice for the video game Apocalypse (1998), [4] the comedy film Look Who's Talking (1989), and its sequel Look Who's Talking Too (1990). In 1991, he conceived the story for Hudson Hawk , starred as Bo Weinberg in Billy Bathgate , and appeared in The Last Boy Scout alongside Damon Wayans, which earned a cult following and a nomination for the MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo. [5] Willis's additional credits include Pulp Fiction (1994), 12 Monkeys (1995), Last Man Standing (1996), The Fifth Element (1997), and Armageddon (1998). In 1999, he starred as Dr. Malcolm Crowe in the critically acclaimed The Sixth Sense (1999), which earned six Academy Award nominations. [6] His guest appearance on Friends in 2000 earned his third Emmy nomination, this time for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. [2] After appearing in Sin City (2005) and voicing the lead character in the animated film Over the Hedge (2006), he starred in Red and made a cameo appearance in The Expendables (both 2010).
By the 2010s, Willis began starring in straight-to-video films that have received mostly negative reviews from critics and moviegoers. [3] From The New York Times , Elisabeth Vincentelli analyzed several of his films and found that they generally lacked substance, with action sequences replacing "any attempts at coming up with decent plots", and featured Willis for an average of 15 minutes. [7] Willis has also starred in the 2012 films Moonrise Kingdom , The Expendables 2 , and Looper . In 2013, he made an appearance as the title character in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and hosted Saturday Night Live . Willis is also known for collaborating with writer and director M. Night Shyamalan in several of his films including the Eastrail 177 Trilogy consisting of Unbreakable (2000), Split (2016), and Glass (2019). In March 2022, Willis's family announced he was retiring from acting after he was diagnosed with aphasia, a diagnosis almost a year later revised to frontotemporal dementia. [8] [9] By the end of his career, the films he starred in had grossed over US$5 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors in the world. [10]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | The First Deadly Sin | Man entering diner | Uncredited | [11] |
1982 | The Verdict | Courtroom observer | Uncredited | [12] |
1987 | Blind Date | Walter Davis | [13] | |
1988 | Sunset | Tom Mix | [14] | |
Die Hard | John McClane | [15] | ||
1989 | In Country | Emmett Smith | [16] | |
Look Who's Talking | Mikey Ubriacco | Voice role | [17] | |
1990 | That's Adequate | Himself | [18] | |
Die Hard 2 | John McClane | [19] | ||
Look Who's Talking Too | Mikey Ubriacco | Voice role | [20] | |
The Bonfire of the Vanities | Peter Fallow | [21] | ||
1991 | Mortal Thoughts | James "Jimmy" Urbanski | [22] | |
Hudson Hawk | Hudson Hawk | Also credited with "story by" | [23] | |
Billy Bathgate | Bo Weinberg | [24] | ||
The Last Boy Scout | Joe Hallenbeck | [25] | ||
1992 | The Player | Himself | Cameo | [26] |
Death Becomes Her | Dr. Ernest Menville | [27] | ||
1993 | Loaded Weapon 1 | John McClane | Uncredited cameo | [28] |
Striking Distance | Thomas "Tom" Hardy | [29] | ||
1994 | Pulp Fiction | Butch Coolidge | [30] | |
North | Narrator and benevolent advisors | [31] | ||
Color of Night | Dr. Bill Capa | [32] | ||
Nobody's Fool | Carl Roebuck | [33] | ||
1995 | Die Hard with a Vengeance | John McClane | [34] | |
Four Rooms | Leo | Uncredited; segment: "The Man from Hollywood" | [35] | |
12 Monkeys | James Cole | [36] | ||
1996 | Last Man Standing | John Smith | [37] | |
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America | Muddy Grimes | Voice role | [38] | |
1997 | The Fifth Element | Korben Dallas | [39] | |
The Jackal | The Jackal | [40] | ||
Broadway Brawler | Eddie Kapinsky | Also producer; cancelled in production | [41] [42] | |
1998 | Mercury Rising | Art Jeffries | [43] | |
Armageddon | Harry S. Stamper | [44] | ||
The Siege | General William Devereaux | [45] | ||
1999 | Breakfast of Champions | Dwayne Hoover | [46] | |
The Sixth Sense | Malcolm Crowe | [47] | ||
The Story of Us | Ben Jordan | [48] | ||
2000 | The Whole Nine Yards | James Stefan "Jimmy the Tulip" Tudeski | [49] | |
The Kid | Russ Duritz | [50] | ||
Unbreakable | David Dunn | [51] | ||
2001 | Bandits | Joe Blake | [52] | |
2002 | Hart's War | Col. William A. McNamara | [53] | |
Grand Champion | Mr. Blandford | [54] | ||
The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course | — | Executive producer | [55] | |
2003 | Tears of the Sun | Lieutenant A.K. Waters | [56] | |
Rugrats Go Wild | Spike | Voice role | [57] | |
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle | William Rose Bailey | Uncredited | [58] | |
2004 | The Whole Ten Yards | James Stefan "Jimmy the Tulip" Tudeski | [59] | |
Ocean's Twelve | Himself | Cameo | [60] | |
2005 | Hostage | Jeff Talley | Also producer | [61] |
Sin City | John Hartigan | Segment: That Yellow Bastard | [62] | |
2006 | Alpha Dog | Sonny Truelove | [63] | |
Lucky Number Slevin | Mr. Goodkat | [64] | ||
16 Blocks | Jack Mosley | [65] | ||
Over the Hedge | RJ | Voice role | [66] | |
Fast Food Nation | Harry Rydell | [67] | ||
The Astronaut Farmer | Doug Masterson | Uncredited | [68] | |
Hammy's Boomerang Adventure | RJ | Voice role; short film | [69] | |
The Hip Hop Project | Himself | Also executive producer; documentary film | [70] | |
2007 | Perfect Stranger | Harrison Hill | [71] | |
Planet Terror | Lt. Muldoon | [72] | ||
Live Free or Die Hard | John McClane | [73] | ||
Nancy Drew | Himself | Uncredited cameo | [74] | |
2008 | Assassination of a High School President | Principal Jared T. Kirkpatrick | Direct-to-video | [75] |
What Just Happened | Himself | [76] | ||
2009 | Surrogates | Tom Greer | [77] | |
2010 | Cop Out | Jimmy Monroe | [78] | |
The Expendables | Mr. Church | Uncredited cameo | [79] | |
Red | Frank Moses | [80] | ||
2011 | The Black Mamba | Mr. Suave | Short film | [81] |
Setup | Biggs | Direct-to-video | [82] | |
Catch .44 | Mel | Direct-to-video | [83] | |
2012 | Lay the Favorite | Dink Heimowitz | [84] | |
The Cold Light of Day | Martin Shaw | [85] | ||
Moonrise Kingdom | Captain Sharp | [86] | ||
The Expendables 2 | Mr. Church | [87] | ||
Looper | Old Joe | [88] | ||
Fire with Fire | Mike Cella | Direct-to-video | [89] | |
2013 | A Good Day to Die Hard | John McClane | [90] | |
G.I. Joe: Retaliation | General Joseph Colton | [91] | ||
Red 2 | Frank Moses | [92] | ||
2014 | Sin City: A Dame to Kill For | John Hartigan | [93] | |
The Prince | Omar | Direct-to-video | [94] | |
2015 | Vice | Julian Michaels | Direct-to-video | [95] |
Rock the Kasbah | Bombay Brian | [96] | ||
Extraction | Leonard Turner | Direct-to-video | [97] | |
2016 | Precious Cargo | Eddie Pilosa | Direct-to-video | [98] |
Marauders | Jeffrey Hubert | Direct-to-video | [99] | |
Split | David Dunn | Uncredited cameo | [100] | |
2017 | Once Upon a Time in Venice | Steve Ford | [101] | |
First Kill | Marvin Howell | Direct-to-video | [102] | |
2018 | Acts of Violence | Detective James Avery | Direct-to-video | [103] |
Death Wish | Paul Kersey | [104] | ||
Reprisal | James | Direct-to-video | [105] | |
Air Strike | Col. Jack Johnson | Direct-to-video | [106] | |
2019 | Glass | David Dunn | [107] | |
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part | Himself | Voice cameo | [108] | |
Motherless Brooklyn | Frank Minna | [109] | ||
10 Minutes Gone | Rex | Direct-to-video | [110] | |
Trauma Center | Lt. Steve Wakes | Direct-to-video | [111] | |
2020 | Survive the Night | Frank Clark | Direct-to-video | [112] |
Hard Kill | Donovan Chalmers | Direct-to-video | [113] | |
Breach | Clay Young | Direct-to-video | [114] | |
2021 | Cosmic Sin | James Ford | Direct-to-video | [115] |
Out of Death | Jack Harris | Direct-to-video | [116] | |
Midnight in the Switchgrass | Karl Helter | Direct-to-video | [117] | |
Survive the Game | David Watson | Direct-to-video | [118] | |
Apex | Thomas Malone | Direct-to-video | [119] | |
Deadlock | Ron Whitlock | Direct-to-video | [120] | |
Fortress | Robert Michaels | Direct-to-video | [121] | |
2022 | American Siege | Ben Watts | Direct-to-video | [122] |
Gasoline Alley | Detective Bill Freeman | Direct-to-video | [123] | |
A Day to Die | Alston | Direct-to-video | [124] | |
Corrective Measures | Julius Loeb | Direct-to-video | [125] | |
Fortress: Sniper's Eye | Robert Michaels | Direct-to-video | [126] | |
Vendetta | Donnie Fetter | Direct-to-video | [127] | |
White Elephant | Arnold Solomon | Direct-to-video | [128] | |
Wrong Place | Frank Richards | Direct-to-video | [129] | |
Wire Room | Shane Mueller | Direct-to-video | [130] | |
Detective Knight: Rogue | Detective James Knight | Direct-to-video | [131] | |
Paradise City | Ian Swan | Direct-to-video | [132] | |
Detective Knight: Redemption | Detective James Knight | Direct-to-video | [133] | |
2023 | Detective Knight: Independence | Detective James Knight | Direct-to-video | [134] |
Assassin | Valmora | Direct-to-video | [135] | |
Year | Title | Functioned as | Notes | Ref(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Actor | Producer | Role | ||||
1980 | A Guru Comes | Yes | No | Extra | Uncredited; television film | [136] |
1984 | Miami Vice | Yes | No | Tony Amato | Episode: "No Exit" | [137] |
1985–1989 | Moonlighting | Yes | No | David Addison | Main role | [138] |
1985 | The Twilight Zone | Yes | No | Peter Novins | Segment: "Shatterday" | [139] |
1987 | The Return of Bruno | Yes | Executive | Bruno Radolini | Also writer; television film | [140] |
1989 | Roseanne | Yes | No | Himself | Uncredited cameo; episode: "Dear Mom and Dad" | [141] |
1989; 2013 | Saturday Night Live | Yes | No | Himself | Host; 2 episodes | [142] |
1996–1997 | Bruno the Kid | Yes | Executive | Bruno the Kid | Main voice role | [143] |
1997 | Mad About You | Yes | No | Himself | Episode: "The Birth Part 2" | [144] |
1999 | Ally McBeal | Yes | No | Dr. Nickle | Episode: "Love Unlimited" | [145] |
2000 | Friends | Yes | No | Paul Stevens | 3 episodes | [146] |
2004 | Touching Evil | No | Executive | — | 12 episodes | [147] |
2005 | That '70s Show | Yes | No | Vic | Episode: "Misfire" | [148] |
2018 | Comedy Central Roast | Yes | No | Himself | Television special | [149] |
Bumping Mics with Jeff Ross & Dave Attell | Yes | No | Himself | Episode: "Friday" | [150] | |
2019 | The Orville | Yes | No | Groogen | Uncredited voice role; episode: "Deflectors" | [151] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1984–1985; 1997 | Fool for Love | Eddie | Understudy (1st version) Also producer (2nd version) | [152] [153] [154] [155] |
2002 | True West | Lee | Also executive producer Filmed broadway play | [156] [157] |
2015–2016 | Misery | Paul Sheldon | 102 performances | [158] [159] |
2017 | Must | — | Producer only | [160] [161] |
2021 | My Mother's Severed Head | — | Producer only | [162] [163] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | The Fifth Element | Korben Dallas | Video game Voice role and likeness | [164] |
Apocalypse | Trey Kincaid | Video game Voice role and likeness | [165] | |
2010 | Stylo | Assassin | Music video for Gorillaz | [166] |
The Sixth Sense is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist whose patient claims he can see and talk to the dead.
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