Bruce Willis may have left the public eye, but he hasn’t left the public’s heart. The movie star, who retired from acting in 2022 and was diagnosed the following year with frontotemporal dementia, turned 71 on March 19. The milestone was noted by fans around the world, as well as by those close to him.
Ex-wife Demi Moore, who has raised three daughters with Willis, shared two tender photos in which the star receives a kiss from his granddaughter Louetta (the child of daughter Rumer Willis and her ex-boyfriend Derek Richard Thomas). “All you need is love. Happy Birthday BW,” Moore wrote in a caption.
Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, and children, from left, Rumer Willis, Tallulah Belle Willis, and Scout Willis in 2001.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Getty Images
Though Moore and Willis parted ways over two decades ago, their bond remains strong. Moore also shares a tight connection with Emma Heming, Willis’s current wife, as well as the two daughters Heming and Willis share. Heming, too, shared a birthday tribute to Willis Friday, a photo of Willis smiling from a shore. “Today we celebrate Bruce’s birthday,” she wrote, before urging supporters to donate to research to support others with her husband’s condition.
“This journey with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) has opened my eyes to the realities so many families face,” Haming writes.
Bruce Willis and Emma Heming celebrate his 60th birthday in New York City.
Kevin Mazur
“It’s what inspired me to create The Emma & Bruce Willis Fund to raise awareness of FTD, support research, and stand beside the caregivers who carry so much every day. If you’d like to honor Bruce today, please consider supporting the fund or another organization working in this space, or simply checking in on a caregiver — a small act of kindness that can mean so much.”
Bruce and Rumer Willis in 2009.
Jeffrey Mayer
Daughter Rumer Willis also marked the day, with images that included another photo of Bruce with Louetta and scenes from his breakout role in TV series Moonlighting, which aired between 1985 and 1989.
“Happy Birthday Daddio,” she wrote. “I wanted to think about you today. Dancing around, being your undeniably charming self. I love you so much.”
Originally published in Vanity Fair Italy
