When you think about it, Bruce Willis is far from your typical Hollywood leading man. He doesn't have that pretty boy, chiseled adonis look which accounts for most of today's major heartthrobs. Yet what he lacks in features, he more than makes up for with rugged charm and ‘everyman' appeal. Willis is easy to identify with because he looks, talks, and acts just like we do, and that sense of appeal has brought him all the way to the top. Willis was born on a military base in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany on March 19th, 1955. When his father was discharged from service in 1957, he took his family back to the United States to live, settling down in Carney's Point, New Jersey. Young Bruce was an energetic child; in fact, he often had too much energy. He was a charmer from an early age though, and was elected student body president in high school.
As a child he had a bad stutter, but he never let it hold him back. Willis eventually overcame his speech impediment when he discovered acting. While on stage, he had no problem speaking, concentrated as he was on saying his lines correctly. Eventually, his stutter completely disappeared. Bruce was involved in drama productions throughout his early schooling and enjoyed being the center of attention.
After graduating from high school, Willis did not immediately go to University. Deciding he needed a break from school, he took a job working for a Du Pont factory, transporting work crews. When an accident claimed the life of one of his fellow drivers, Willis decided that he'd had enough. Jobless, Willis lost direction for a while. He spent a lot of time hanging out at bars, and he began to fancy himself a blues musician. Bruce became quite proficient on the harmonica, and even played for a time with a local R&B group, Loose Goose.
After coasting through life for a while, Bruce finally decided that he had to do something with himself. Thinking back to how much he had enjoyed performing in high school, he enrolled in Montclair State College, where he majored in Drama. Once he had some more technical training behind him, Willis started skipping his classes more and more to head into New York for auditions. He was confident in his abilities, and yearned for real work. It was not long before he left school entirely; he quit in his Junior year and moved into a tiny apartment in New York's Hell's Kitchen district.
Acting jobs were not immediately forthcoming, so Willis took a job at a bar where he waited tables. The bar, Cafe Central, was quite the hot spot for young emerging talents, and allowed him to make some valuable contacts. When he wasn't serving drinks, Willis kept busy auditioning for numerous roles. He often crashed invitation-only auditions without an invite in hopes of impressing the casting agents with his audacity. Finally, in 1984 Willis landed a role in a Broadway play, stepping in for Will Patton in Sam Shepard's Fool For Love. His performance lead to a guest spot on the popular television series, Miami Vice and a spot in a national campaign for Levis 501 jeans.
In 1985, Willis traveled to L.A., where he was going to read for a part in Madonna's Desperately Seeking Susan. While that didn't worked out, it was while still in town that Willis read for a new ABC sitcom, Moonlighting. Not only would he land the role (against strong competition and the dissatisfaction of ABC executives), but the show would become a smash hit.
Moonlighting quickly became a notorious show. While the onscreen characters played by Willis and actress Cybill Shepherd had great chemistry, it was a well-publicized fact that off-screen the two loathed one another. People tuned in week after week to see how the drama and tension would play out. Going into the show, it was Shepherd who was the big name star, but as things would turn out, Willis would come out of it as one of Hollywood's hottest commodities.
For a time, this seemed doubtful. Bruce got more press for his controversial and freewheeling lifestyle (and run-ins with the cops) than he did for his big screen performances. His first post-Moonlighting movie, Blind Date, fell flat on its face. Further controversy fanned the flames when Bruce hooked up with actress Demi Moore (then little more than a Brat Packer). They met at the premiere of Stake Out - which starred her then-boyfriend, Emilio Estevez.
The critics were having a field day with Willis, but he managed to prove them wrong - in a big way. When Die Hard opened, no one expected much, but the film became a bonafide hit. With the John McClane character, Willis touched a nerve with audiences who were tired of the superhero antics of Sylvester Stallone and Arno ld Schwarzenegger.
The next few years saw Bruce struggle quite a bit while his wife's career skyrocketed. Demi was fast becoming the most sought-after woman in Hollywood, while Bruce appeared in a string of flops (Bonfire of the Vanities, Hudson Hawk). His only success was the sequel to Die Hard - but Bruce wanted more.
He maintained a high profile thanks to Demi, and the two were known as Hollywood's super-couple. The two were officially married on November 21st, 1987 and have three daughters together: Rumer, Scout and Tallulah. They reigned in Hollywood for a decade and maintained their happiness every step of the way. In 1997, the couple successfully sued both an American and Australian tabloid for printing stories that their marriage was in trouble. Ironically, one year later the two would separate. But, in a case similar to that of Moonlighting, Bruce emerged on top of his game after the breakup, while Demi's career has been suffering through a string of embarrassing flops.
Another Die Hard sequel helped to boost his career further, but this time Willis managed to maintain his high profile by backing it up with roles in Twelve Monkeys and The Fifth Element. After failing to capitalize off of the previous two Die Hards, Willis was not about to go for a third strike. In 1994, Bruce earned critical raves for his turn as a crooked boxer in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.
American audiences have embraced Bruce Willis as the heir-apparent to John Wayne. He's the working man's hero who consistently draws impressive numbers at the box office. The summer of 1999 offered further proof of this. The Sixth Sense was the sleeper hit of the season - easily outdoing its competition week after week (even tying a record set by Titanic for the most consecutive 20+ million weekends in a row). The initial success was largely attributed to Bruce Willis' drawing power.
Bruce Willis is a consummate Hollywood star. He has suffered through the pitfalls of stardom and has consistently come out on top, over and over again. As we go into the new millennium, Willis seems set for even more success. Unlike action heroes Sly and Arni e, Willis' John McClane is aging very well - and a fourth Die Hard is in the works (for which Willis is expected to receive an unprecedented 25 million).
