Bruce Willis Obituary News: ‘Die Hard’ actor Bruce Willis “no longer able to communicate verbally”; What happened to Bruce Willis?
Mia Phillips
Updated on April 01, 2026
Bruce Willis Illness: ‘Die Hard’ actor Bruce Willis “no longer able to communicate verbally”; What happened to Bruce Willis?
Actress Demi Moore apparently went to see her ex-husband Bruce Willis and had a heartbreaking experience.
It’s said that the actor’s fight with frontotemporal dementia has gotten to the stage where he can no longer identify her. He occasionally still recognizes his children and wife, Emma Heming Willis.
“He’s not totally verbal; he used to be a voracious reader — he didn’t want anyone to know that — and he’s not reading now. All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet he’s still Bruce,” said Caron.
In the final years of his career, Willis starred in many low-budget independent thrillers and science fiction films He worked primarily with the production companies Emmett/Furla Oasis, headed by Randall Emmett, and 308 Entertainment Inc, headed by Corey Large. Emmett/Furla Oasis produced 20 films starring Willis.
On March 30, 2022, Willis’s family announced that he was retiring because he had been diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder typically caused by damage to the area of the brain that controls language expression and comprehension. The Golden Raspberry Awards retracted its Willis category, saying it was inappropriate to award a Golden Raspberry to someone whose performance was affected by a medical condition. At the time of his retirement, Willis had completed 11 films awaiting release.
On February 16, 2023, Willis’s family announced that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. According to Dr. Gregg Day, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus, difficulties with language and comprehension, as well as misinterpretation of instructions, can be symptoms of FTD.
In October 2023, Moonlighting creator Glenn Gordon Caron said Willis was “not totally verbal” and that dementia had robbed the once voracious reader of his language skills, but he believes Willis still recognizes him.
