‘Die Hard’ actor Bruce Willis diagnosed with brain disorder aphasia; to retire from acting

Los Angeles: The prolific Hollywood action star Bruce Willis is set to step down from his acting pedestal after being diagnosed with Aphasia - a disorder that affects the brain's language center and a person's ability to understand or express speech.

His family came forward on social media and put the following statement “Bruce's amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities. As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him. This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support. 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. As Bruce always says, “Live it up” and together we plan to do just that. Love, Emma, Demi, Rumer, Scout, Tallulah, Mabel, & Evelyn”.

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A post shared by Emma Heming Willis (@emmahemingwillis)

The post was accompanied with a comical photo of a younger, smirking Willis wearing a bathrobe, sunglasses, a gold chain with a cross and a towel around his head.

Willis, who turned 67 this month, is most famous for his role as the heavily renowned rough yet clever, John Rambo of the New York City Police Department John McClane in the highly successful 1988 Christmas flick “Die Hard” movie series.

Following the success of “Die Hard” he proceeded to portray the iconic action hero in five sequels from 1988 to 2013.

He has also starred in critically acclaimed films like “Pulp Fiction” (1994), supernatural psychological horror “Sixth Sense”, the superhero film “Unbreakable” and “Moonrise Kingdom” (2012).

While thought of primarily as a movie star, he has received more accolades for his work on television: For his role as the private detective David Addison (played opposite Cybill Shepherd) in “Moonlighting” — an ABC comedy-drama-romance that ran from 1985 to 1989 — he earned three Golden Globe nominations, winning one, and two lead actor Emmy nominations, winning one.

He also won a guest actor in a comedy Emmy in 2000 for his role as Paul Stevens, the father of Ross Geller's much-younger girlfriend, on the NBC series “Friends.”

While the actor has starred in some high budget Hollywood flicks 2015 such as 2019's 'Glass' and 'Motherless Brooklyn', his filmography has mostly been an onslaught of B-movie action productions, including “Breach,” in 2020, and “Fortress,” in 2021.

According to his IMDb page, Willis currently has nearly 10 movies in post-production. (UNI)

(Photo Source: Instagram/Bruce Willis)