By Lisa Richwine
Los Angeles: Bruce Willis is stepping away from acting after a diagnosis of aphasia, a condition that causes loss of the ability to understand or express speech, his family announced.
In a statement posted on Willis’ Instagram page on Thursday (AEDT), the 67-year-old actor’s family said Willis was recently diagnosed with aphasia and that it was impacting his cognitive abilities.
Bruce Willis attends the Motherless Brooklyn premiere in 2019.Credit: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
“As a result of this and with much consideration, Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him,” read the statement signed by Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, his ex-wife Demi Moore, and his five children, Rumer, Scout, Tallulah, Mabel and Evelyn.
“We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him,” they said. “As Bruce always says, ‘live it up’ and together we plan to do just that.”
Aphasia typically occurs after a stroke or head injury, but can also develop gradually due to a slow-growing brain tumour or a disease that causes degenerative damage. It is treated primarily with speech therapy and learning non-verbal means of communication.
The news about Willis, one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors, immediately spread online as fans reacted. His four-decade career has amassed more than $US5 billion at the box office worldwide.
Willis had been especially active in recent years. He appeared in eight movies released in 2021 alone. None of them were critically acclaimed.
He has shot numerous action thrillers that are due out in 2022, including Gasoline Alley, A Day to Die and Fortress: Sniper’s Eye.
The satirical Razzie film awards gave Willis his own special category this year, nominating him eight times for “Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie”. The one called Cosmic Sin was awarded the Razzie on Saturday.
Larry Gordon, producer of the first Die Hard movie and its 1990 sequel, said he was saddened by the news of Willis’ condition, telling the Hollywood Reporter the actor was “the consummate pro and a gutsy guy”.
On social media, his fans shared their feelings of sadness and shock after news of his diagnosis broke, and many of them paid tribute to Willis.
“His work has meant more to me than I could ever put into words,” wrote a fan with the Twitter handle Cody Leach. “If this is in fact the end of your acting career, all I can say is thank you.”
In 2006, Willis received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a Los Angeles landmark honouring the legends of film, television and music.
Born on a US military base in Germany in 1955, Willis was raised in New Jersey.
After moving to New York to pursue an acting career, he appeared in off-Broadway productions and landed a few minor roles before getting his big break playing the wise-cracking private detective David Addison in the TV show Moonlighting.
Reuters
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