Heartbreaking update on Bruce Willis's battle with dementia from a close friend
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The tragic decline of beloved actor Bruce Willis from his diagnosis with aphasia to the progression into frontotemporal dementia (FTD) continues to break hearts across Hollywood and beyond.
Bruce, 68, rose to fame in the 1980s comedy-drama TV series Moonlighting and became a bonafide movie star with his role as hard-boiled New York cop John McClane in the wildly popular Die Hard franchise.
His charismatic presence and wry sense of humour endeared him to millions of fans who flocked to see his movies, which is why the news of his FTD diagnosis came as such a shock.
FTD is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that is known to impact a person’s behaviour, personality, language, and movement.
The star has since left the limelight, and now, good friend and creator of Moonlighting, Glenn Gordon Caron, has given insight into Bruce’s current situation.
'I have tried very hard to stay in his life,' Glenn said.
'I'm not always quite that good, but I try, and I do talk to him and his wife [Emma Heming Willis], and I have a casual relationship with his three older children.'
'The thing that makes [his disease] so mind-blowing is [that] if you've ever spent time with Bruce Willis, there is no one who had any more joie de vivre than he.'
Glenn described Bruce as someone who loved life and enjoyed waking up every morning and living life to the fullest.
He also shared that he sensed that Bruce knew who he was for the first one to three minutes. However, the actor 'is not totally verbal' and has been 'seeing life through a screen door'.
'He used to be a voracious reader. He didn't want anyone to know that,' Glenn continued.
'He's not reading now. All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet he's still Bruce.'
'When you're with him, you know that he's Bruce, and you're grateful that he's there.'
'But the joie de vivre is gone,' Glenn heartbreakingly admitted.
Moonlighting, Glenn’s 1980 show in which Bruce Willis starred as Detective David Addison together with Cybill Shepherd, who played Maddie Hayes, was considered the actor’s big break.
'I know he's really happy that the show is going to be available for people, even though he can't tell me that,' Glenn said.
'When I got to spend time with him, we talked about it and I know he’s excited.'
'The process [to get Moonlighting on Hulu] has taken quite a while and Bruce's disease is a progressive disease, so I was able to communicate with him, before the disease rendered him as incommunicative as he is now, about hoping to get the show back in front of people.'
His current wife, Emma Heming Willis also celebrated the show’s debut by posting on social media saying: 'You bet our family will be watching tomorrow. David Addison and Maddie Hayes forever.'
You can read Emma’s full post below:
Source: Instagram/@emmahemingwillis.
Members, what was your favourite Bruce Willis show or film? Let us know in the comments below!
Bruce, 68, rose to fame in the 1980s comedy-drama TV series Moonlighting and became a bonafide movie star with his role as hard-boiled New York cop John McClane in the wildly popular Die Hard franchise.
His charismatic presence and wry sense of humour endeared him to millions of fans who flocked to see his movies, which is why the news of his FTD diagnosis came as such a shock.
FTD is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that is known to impact a person’s behaviour, personality, language, and movement.
Bruce Willis has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and is now reportedly incommunicative. Image source: Instagram/@rumerwillis.
The star has since left the limelight, and now, good friend and creator of Moonlighting, Glenn Gordon Caron, has given insight into Bruce’s current situation.
'I have tried very hard to stay in his life,' Glenn said.
'I'm not always quite that good, but I try, and I do talk to him and his wife [Emma Heming Willis], and I have a casual relationship with his three older children.'
'The thing that makes [his disease] so mind-blowing is [that] if you've ever spent time with Bruce Willis, there is no one who had any more joie de vivre than he.'
Glenn described Bruce as someone who loved life and enjoyed waking up every morning and living life to the fullest.
He also shared that he sensed that Bruce knew who he was for the first one to three minutes. However, the actor 'is not totally verbal' and has been 'seeing life through a screen door'.
'He used to be a voracious reader. He didn't want anyone to know that,' Glenn continued.
'He's not reading now. All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet he's still Bruce.'
'When you're with him, you know that he's Bruce, and you're grateful that he's there.'
'But the joie de vivre is gone,' Glenn heartbreakingly admitted.
Moonlighting, Glenn’s 1980 show in which Bruce Willis starred as Detective David Addison together with Cybill Shepherd, who played Maddie Hayes, was considered the actor’s big break.
'I know he's really happy that the show is going to be available for people, even though he can't tell me that,' Glenn said.
'When I got to spend time with him, we talked about it and I know he’s excited.'
'The process [to get Moonlighting on Hulu] has taken quite a while and Bruce's disease is a progressive disease, so I was able to communicate with him, before the disease rendered him as incommunicative as he is now, about hoping to get the show back in front of people.'
His current wife, Emma Heming Willis also celebrated the show’s debut by posting on social media saying: 'You bet our family will be watching tomorrow. David Addison and Maddie Hayes forever.'
You can read Emma’s full post below:
Source: Instagram/@emmahemingwillis.
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