For Bruce Willis, whose acting heroes include Robert De Niro, Gary Cooper, Steve McQueen and John Wayne, work didn't come easy at first. He waited tables, tended bars, and when he had the chance, auditioned for roles. His first real break came in 1977, when he debuted in the off-Broadway play, "Heaven and Earth." In 1980 he scored a bit role in the Frank Sinatra film, "The First Deadly Sin." Two years later he landed another minor part in "The Verdict," starring Paul Newman.
In 1984, after replacing Ed Harris in the off-Broadway hit, "Fool for Love," Willis headed west to Hollywood to audition for the Madonna vehicle, "Desperately Seeking Susan." He didn't get the part, but in a decision that would prove to be incredibly smart, stuck around an extra day so that he could audition for a new romantic comedy called "Moonlighting," set to debut the following March on ABC. The show, which aired until May 1989, was a huge hit for ABC and an even bigger launching pad for Willis.
In 1987 he returned to film when he was matched with Kim Bassinger in the comedy, Blind Date. That same year, the actor hitched himself to a future of tabloid gossip when he married another star, Demi Moore. The couple, who divorced in 2000, have three children together: Rumer Willis (b. 1988), Scout LaRue Willis (b. 1991) and Tallulah Belle Willis (b. 1994).
In the summer of 1988, "Die Hard," an action-packed flick that cast Willis as the muscle-pumping hero, John McClane, hit movie screens across the country with a bang. With Willis doing his own stunts and whipping out memorable one-liners, "Die Hard" garnered an impressive $81 million at the domestic box office and later spawned three sequels.
A year after Die Hard, Willis was at the wheel of another hit, and back in a full-on comedic role as the voice of Mikey, the ever-observant baby, in "Look Who's Talking."
Then, in 1994, Willis took on the role of the weathered but still tough boxer, Butch Coolidge, in the Quentin Tarantino-directed smash hit, "Pulp Fiction."
From there a steady run of hits followed, from a third installment of the "Die Hard" series in 1995, to the 1998 sci-fi action thriller, "Armageddon." In 1999, Willis came through with one of his more memorable roles as child psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe in the M. Night Shyamalan film, "The Sixth Sense."
In 2010, Willis starred, along with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Sylvester Stallone, in "The Expendables." In August 2012, he reunited with the film's cast to star in a follow-up film, "The Expendables 2." Within just one week, the movie had climbed to the No. 1 spot at the box office, bringing in nearly $28.6 million.
In recent years, Willis has shown no signs of slowing down, demonstrating a range that mixes muscular intimidation ("Sin City," "Live Free or Die Hard") with sharp comedic timing ("The Whole Ten Yards") that few actors can claim.
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