More than Military

BRUCE WILLIS
Actor, Musician

Walter Bruce Willis is a GI kid, the son of David Willis, an American soldier. Throughout his long and successful film career, Willis has depicted several military characters and has received multiple awards and honors for his many successful roles.

German born, New Jersey raised US actor and musician well known for his film appearances as hard edged characters. Collectively, he has appeared in films that have grossed in excess of $2.5 billion USD placing him in the top ten stars in terms of box office receipts. The young first Willis picked up an interest for the dramatic arts in high school, and was allegedly "discovered" working in a café in NYC. He then appeared in a couple of off-Broadway productions.

Willis did many minor film appearances before landing the role of private eye "David Addison" in the hit romantic comedy TV series "Moonlighting" (1985). The series firmly established Bruce Willis as a hot new talent, and landed him the role of NYC detective "John McClane" in the monster hit of 1988, "Die Hard" (1988). Willis reprised the role in the sequel "Die Hard 2" (1990) set at snow bound Washington's Dulles International Airport as a group of renegade Special Forces soldiers seek to repatriate a corrupt South American general. He starred in a further sequel "Die Hard: With a Vengeance" (1995) this time also starring Samuel L. Jackson as a cynical Harlem shop owner assisting McClane during a terrorist bombing campaign in NYC.

Willis also provided the voice of "Mikey" the baby in the very popular comedies "Look Who's Talking" (1989), and its sequel "Look Who's Talking Too" (1990).

During the 1990s, Willis also appeared in several independent productions that won him new fans and praise from the critics. He appeared in "North" (1994), as a cagey prize fighter in the Quentin Tarantino directed "Pulp Fiction" (1994), the thriller "Twelve Monkeys" (1995), the sci-fi "The Fifth Element" (1997) and the epic "The Sixth Sense" (1999).

Willis next starred in "Whole Nine Yards," "Unbreakable" (2000), and in two military dramas, "Hart's War" (2002) and "Tears of the Sun" (2003). Willis was back in the spotlight in the critically applauded movie "Sin City" (2005), and as the voice of "RJ" the scheming raccoon in the animated hit "Over the Hedge" (2006). "Die Hard" fans welcomed "John McClane" back to the big screen in the high tech "Live Free or Die Hard" (2007).

After growing up in a military family, Willis has been publicly supportive of troops of the United States armed forces. In 2002, Willis's youngest daughter, Tallulah, suggested that Willis purchase Girl Scout cookies to send to the military. Willis purchased 12,000 boxes of cookies, distributed to sailors aboard USS John F. Kennedy and other troops stationed throughout the Middle East.

In 2003, Willis visited Iraq as part of the USO tour, singing to the troops with his band, The Accelerators. Some reports from military officials suggest that Willis tried to enlist in the military to help fight the second Iraq war, but he was turned away because of his age.

Willis has said that he wants to "make a pro-war film in which American soldiers will be depicted as brave fighters for freedom and democracy..these guys who do what they are asked for very little money to defend and fight for what they consider to be freedom."

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