Bruce Willis filmography
American actor Bruce Willis began his career in 1980 with an uncredited role in The First Deadly Sin. After guest-starring in a 1984 episode of Miami Vice, he appeared in the first episode of the 1985 revival of The Twilight Zone. Willis achieved fame starring in the ABC comedy-drama series Moonlighting (1985–1989), for which he received three Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. In 1988, he starred as John McClane in Die Hard (1988), a film that spawned four sequels that earned him international recognition as an action hero.
In the following years, Willis lent his voice for the video game Apocalypse (1998), the comedy film Look Who's Talking (1989), and its sequel Look Who's Talking Too (1990). In 1991, he conceived the story for Hudson Hawk and appeared in The Last Boy Scout alongside Damon Wayans, which earned a cult following and a nomination for the MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo. Willis's additional credits include Death Becomes Her (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), 12 Monkeys (1995), The Fifth Element, The Jackal (both 1997), Armageddon, and The Siege (both 1998). In 1999, he starred as Dr. Malcolm Crowe in the critically acclaimed The Sixth Sense, which became his highest-grossing film. His guest appearance on Friends in 2000 earned him his third Emmy nomination, this time for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. After appearing in Sin City (2005) and voicing the lead character in the animated film Over the Hedge (2006), he starred in Red and made a cameo appearance in The Expendables (both 2010).
By the 2010s, Willis began starring in straight-to-video films that received mostly negative reviews from critics and moviegoers. From The New York Times, Elisabeth Vincentelli analyzed several of his films and found that they generally lacked substance, with action sequences replacing "any attempts at coming up with decent plots", and featured Willis for an average of 15 minutes. Willis also starred in the 2012 films Moonrise Kingdom, The Expendables 2, and Looper. In 2013, he made an appearance as the title character in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and hosted Saturday Night Live. Willis was also known for collaborating with filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan on The Sixth Sense and the Eastrail 177 Trilogy, consisting of Unbreakable (2000), Split (2016), and Glass (2019). In March 2022, Willis's family announced his retirement after he was diagnosed with aphasia, a diagnosis revised almost a year later to frontotemporal dementia. The films that Willis starred in throughout his career grossed over US$5 billion collectively worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors in the world.