Willis, Bruce Walter (1955– )

German-born US actor. The television series Moonlighting first displayed his gift for laconic comedy, and earned him an Emmy award in 1987. On screen, however, he has cultivated a ‘tough guy’ image, as a resourceful detective in Die Hard (1988) and its sequels in 1990, 1995, and 2007, and as a prizefighter in Pulp Fiction (1994). He demonstrated a wider capacity for dramatic roles as a psychologist in the acclaimed thriller Sixth Sense (1999).

Willis supplied the narrating voice of the baby in the successful comedy Look Who's Talking (1989) and its sequel (1990).

Other films include the thrillers The Fifth Element (1997), Armageddon (1998), and Unbreakable (2000); the comedies The Whole Nine Yards (2000) and Bandits (2001); the war films Hart's War (2002) and Tears of the Sun (2003); and the graphic novel adaptation Sin City (2005). He was married to actor Demi Moore 1987–2000. He co-wrote the story of the comedy thriller Hudson Hawk (1991), in which he starred, but the film proved to be a box-office flop.