Screenshot: The Fifth Element/Sony
Bruce Willis’ family revealed on Instagram Wednesday the 67-year-old actor is “stepping away” from acting following a diagnosis of aphasia, a condition affecting the ability to either understand language or to communicate (or both).
As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.
Fans were quite to express their concern for the actor on social media, and to share their favorite Bruce Willis performances. Ever since his breakout performance in the TV series Moonlighting, and especially after his transition into film with 1988's Die Hard, Willis has been a reliable big-screen presence. (In the late ‘80s itwas incredibly rare for actors to move between media—and it’s hard to think of an actor who did it nearly as successfully.)
In many of his most popular roles, he plays a slightly cynical, working class “everyman” who tends to do the right thing, even if it takes a little prompting. That persona (and, OK, a fair bit of crap in his filmography), left him pigeonholed in the eyes of some filmgoers and critics, but it’s worth remembering he’s appeared in an impressive number of bona fide, genre-spanning classics. He’s hardly a Daniel Day-Lewis-esque chameleon, but more of a Humphrey Bogart-type: always recognizable, but often surprising, with equal affinities for action, comedy, and drama. Some of his best roles are memorable because of the way Willis and his collaborators play into or subvert our expectations. If his career is well and truly coming to an end, he’s left us an impressive and varied legacy—including these 15 essential performances.
(Unfortunately, his breakout performance in the genre-defying, fourth-wall breaking ‘80s TV hit Moonlighting is nearly impossible to watch: the show isn’t streaming, the DVDs are long out of print, and my mom’s VHS tapes melted years ago.)
