Feb. 16 (UPI) — Actor Bruce Willis has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, his family reported on Thursday.
Ex-wife Demi Moore shared the diagnosis on Instagram on behalf of the Willis family, who also released a statement on the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration website.
Willis went public with a diagnosis of aphasia in March as he stepped back from acting. The updated diagnosis provides specificity, but no treatment.
“Bruce always believed in using his voice in the world to help others,” the statement read. “He would want to respond by bringing global attention and a connectedness with those who are also dealing with this debilitating disease.”
According to the AFTD, Frontotemporal Dementia is the most common form of dementia affecting people under 60. Now 67, Willis had been experiencing difficulty communicating and remembering lines.
Willis’s last leading role was in 2019’s Glass, the sequel to 2000’s Unbreakable. He also had a supporting role in Motherless Brooklyn that same year.
Since 2019, Willis has been in cameo roles for which he filmed no more than one or two days.
His breakthrough role as David Addison on TV’s Moonlighting led to movie roles, including the Die Hard franchise. Willis played his Die Hard character, John McClane, in a 2020 commercial for Die Hard batteries.
Other film roles include Pulp Fiction, Armageddon, Moonrise Kingdom, Looper and his biggest hit, The Sixth Sense. Willis also released two albums in the ’80s and continued to perform harmonica and vocals for cast and crew.
