Discover the career path of Bruce Willis, from the first major opportunity to industry-changing achievements.
Walter Bruce Willis is a retired American actor who rose to prominence in the 1980s with the television series *Moonlighting*. He solidified his status as an action star through his iconic portrayal of John McClane in the *Die Hard* film series, which spanned from 1988 to 2013. Willis has starred in over one hundred films, establishing a long and successful career in the entertainment industry.
In 1985, Bruce Willis achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series Moonlighting.
In 1987, Bruce Willis obtained his first lead role in the Blake Edwards film Blind Date.
In 1987, Bruce Willis released his debut album, The Return of Bruno.
In 1988, Bruce Willis gained recognition as an action hero for his portrayal of John McClane in the Die Hard franchise.
In 1989, Bruce Willis had a leading role in the drama In Country and provided the voice for a talking baby in Look Who's Talking.
In 1989, Bruce Willis released his second album.
In 1989, the comedy-drama series Moonlighting ended after running for several years, where Bruce Willis held a leading role.
In 1990, Bruce Willis provided the voice for a talking baby in Look Who's Talking Too.
In 1990, Bruce Willis reprised his role as John McClane in Die Hard 2.
In 1990, Bruce Willis starred in The Bonfire of the Vanities, which was considered a flop.
In 1991, Bruce Willis starred in Hudson Hawk, which was considered a flop, although he did find box office success with The Last Boy Scout.
In 1991, Bruce Willis starred in the film The Last Boy Scout.
In 1993, Bruce Willis starred in Striking Distance.
In 1994, Bruce Willis had a leading role in Quentin Tarantino's acclaimed Pulp Fiction, which boosted his career.
In 1995, Bruce Willis played the lead role in the film 12 Monkeys.
In 1995, Bruce Willis reprised his role as John McClane in Die Hard with a Vengeance.
In 1995, Color of Night was one of the Top 20 most-rented films in the United States.
In 1996, Bruce Willis was the executive producer and star of the cartoon Bruno the Kid. Also in 1996, he starred in Mike Judge's animated film Beavis and Butt-head Do America with his then-wife Demi Moore.
In 1997, Bruce Willis played the lead role in The Fifth Element.
In 1998, Bruce Willis starred in Armageddon, which became the highest-grossing film worldwide. Also in 1998, his voice and likeness were featured in the PlayStation video game Apocalypse.
In 1999, Bruce Willis played the starring role in M. Night Shyamalan's film The Sixth Sense, which was a commercial and critical success.
In 2000, Bruce Willis and his business partner Arnold Rifkin started a motion picture production company called Cheyenne Enterprises.
In 2000, Bruce Willis starred in the films Unbreakable and The Whole Nine Yards.
In 2000, Bruce Willis won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on Friends. Also in 2000, Willis played Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski in The Whole Nine Yards.
In 2001, Bruce Willis released his third album.
In 2002, Bruce Willis donated 12,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to United States armed forces stationed throughout the Middle East, inspired by his then 8-year-old daughter Tallulah.
In 2003, Bruce Willis starred in the film Tears of the Sun.
In 2003, Bruce Willis visited Iraq as part of a USO tour, performing for the troops with his band, The Accelerators.
In 2004, Bruce Willis made a cameo appearance as himself in Ocean's Twelve.
In 2005, Bruce Willis appeared in the film adaptation of Sin City.
In 2005, Bruce Willis worked with his eldest daughter, Rumer, in the film Hostage.
In 2006, Bruce Willis lent his voice as RJ the Raccoon in Over the Hedge.
In 2007, Bruce Willis appeared in the Planet Terror half of the double feature Grindhouse as the villain, a mutant soldier.
In 2007, Bruce Willis appeared in the thriller Perfect Stranger, opposite Halle Berry, the crime/drama film Alpha Dog, opposite Sharon Stone, and reprised his role as John McClane in Live Free or Die Hard.
In 2007, Bruce Willis left Cheyenne Enterprises, a motion picture production company he co-founded, to be run solely by Arnold Rifkin after Live Free or Die Hard.
In 2008, Bruce Willis appeared on the Blues Traveler album North Hollywood Shootout, giving a spoken word performance on the track "Free Willis (Ruminations from Behind Uncle Bob's Machine Shop)".
On October 24, 2009, Bruce Willis filmed a scene with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger for the film The Expendables.
In 2009, Bruce Willis became the international face of Belvedere SA's Sobieski Vodka in exchange for 3.3% ownership in the company.
In early 2009, Bruce Willis appeared in an advertising campaign to publicize the insurance company Norwich Union's change of name to Aviva.
On October 15, 2010, the film Red, in which Bruce Willis portrayed Frank Moses, was released.
In 2010, Bruce Willis starred in the films The Expendables and Red.
In 2010, Bruce Willis was ranked as the eighth-highest-grossing leading actor.
In 2011, Bruce Willis filmed Moonrise Kingdom in Rhode Island, under the direction of Wes Anderson.
In 2012, Bruce Willis starred in Moonrise Kingdom, The Expendables 2, and Looper.
In 2012, Bruce Willis starred in the film Looper.
On February 14, 2013, A Good Day to Die Hard was released, starring Bruce Willis as John McClane for the fifth time.
On October 12, 2013, Bruce Willis hosted Saturday Night Live with Katy Perry as a musical guest.
In 2013, the last Die Hard film was released, marking the end of Bruce Willis's portrayal of John McClane in the franchise.
In 2015, Bruce Willis made his Broadway debut in William Goldman's adaptation of Stephen King's novel Misery, receiving generally negative reviews.
On July 29, 2018, Bruce Willis was the subject of a roast by Comedy Central.
In 2018, Bruce Willis became the brand ambassador of the Hungarian brand Hell Energy Drink.
In 2019, Bruce Willis played himself in a cameo in the film The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.
In 2019, Bruce Willis starred in the film Glass.
In 2021, The Golden Raspberry Awards created a category called "Worst Bruce Willis Performance in a 2021 Movie" for Willis's roles in eight films released that year, highlighting the negative reception of his direct-to-video film appearances.
In 2021, those working on films noted that Bruce Willis appeared confused on set, had difficulty understanding his presence, and required lines to be fed to him through an earpiece. His roles were reduced and filmed in single-day shoots due to these challenges.
On March 30, 2022, Bruce Willis's family announced his retirement from acting following his diagnosis of aphasia. The Golden Raspberry Awards subsequently retracted its category dedicated to his performances.