Bruce Willis’ family has revealed that his early symptoms of frontotemporal dementia were initially dismissed by doctors, who attributed his communication issues to a lifelong stutter. The Die Hard star, who recently turned 70 and has retired from acting, was long known for masking his speech challenges — something that may have delayed his diagnosis.
In an interview with Town & Country, Willis’ wife Emma Heming shared that he had a severe stutter as a child and learned to conceal it over the years. “When he began to experience difficulties with language, it seemed like it was just a part of his stutter,” she said. “Never in a million years would I think it would be a form of dementia for someone so young.”
Before achieving fame in the 1980s with Moonlighting, Willis had humble beginnings as a page at NBC, working behind the scenes at Saturday Night Live. Actor Bill Murray recalled the experience during a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live, saying Willis’ job included refilling M&M bowls in dressing rooms.
“Bruce Willis was a page at NBC when I was on SNL,” Murray said. “His job was to come and go to the dressing rooms and refill the M&Ms and pretzels in the actors’ rooms.” Murray also remembered Willis fondly telling him years later, “You and Gilda [Radner] were nice to me.”
The two later reunited on screen in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom (2012), a film Murray described as a “beautiful, lovely” experience with the legendary actor. Willis also returned to host SNL in both 1989 and 2013, a testament to how far he’d come from his backstage beginnings.
Now retired, Willis continues to receive care and support from his family as they navigate his FTD diagnosis — a condition that affects speech, behavior, and personality.
