Posted on 08/26/2025 1:43:05 PM PDT by Twotone
Amid Bruce Willis' nearly three-year battle with dementia, the actor's brain is "failing him," and his ability to communicate is fading, according to his wife Emma Heming Willis.
"Bruce is still very mobile. Bruce is in really great health overall, you know," Heming Willis told ABC News' Diane Sawyer in the ABC special "Emma & Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey," a preview of which aired Tuesday on "Good Morning America." "It's just his brain that is failing him."
Willis' family shared publicly in 2023 that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a type of dementia that impacts one's personality and may cause behavioral changes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For the 70-year-old actor, famous for delivering one-liners in movies, the primary symptom is the loss of language, according to Heming Willis, who has written a new book about her family's experience, "The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path."
"The language is going, and, you know, we've learned to adapt," she said. "And we have a way of communicating with him, which is just a ... different way."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
I have always enjoyed him.
Die Hard is a Christmas movie!
I hope he can still say “Yippee ki yay”
At one point he bought two boxes of Girl Scout cookies for each insisted person in the US military
I loved his role in Pulp Fiction. I have enjoyed his work.
There are many dimensions to dementia, leading to different paths for different individuals.
I have known individuals whose dementia took years to degrade the mental faculties enough that the brain’s autonomous functions eventually failed the body. Mentally they failed early on but the body continued O.K. for many years. And I have known one individual whose dementia was not advanced at all for years, and then in 2-3 years took her life, with her regular body functions shutting down. Someday they may understand why the path of dementia is not the same for each individual affected by it, and when they understand that they may learn how to control it.
I believe his family has previously said that he either barely or no longer speaks. And this was a while ago.
Pat Summitt, the UT basketball coach, lasted less than five years from diagnosis to death.
Very sad.
Being very fit while the brain is failing can be dangerous for caregivers. Dementia often brings periods of anger and agitation, and when the person is physically strong it can be tough to manage.
My grandmother developed dementia in her early sixties and, because she stayed active with walking and exercise, she was still strong for her age. She was a real handful for my mom at times. I can only imagine the challenges if someone as strong as Bruce became agitated.”
Ditto. 👍
I know you meant to type enlisted. 😁👍
Bruce is a great guy. He came to my home base in Kuwait in 03 or 04. I met him for a sec for a picture opportunity. I had a mission into Iraq the next day, and my unit took him up on an orientation flight around Kuwait and let him fly the plane (C-23) a little bit that day. They got to pal around with him for a few hours. Said he was super cool. He went into Balad Iraq the next day on a c130 I think. I’ll dig up some pics on my computer in a few. I can only image host the link. Maybe you can post them here.
I liked the moonlighting show.
he phrase, which combines the exclamation “Yippee-ki-yay” with a profanity, was crafted by co-screenwriter Steven E. de Souza, who drew inspiration from the cowboy catchphrase “Yippee-ki-yah” popularized by Roy Rogers on his 1950s television show.
My wife and I sat next to him at a restaurant in Santa Monica last year. He was with two caregivers/body guards. Everyone left him alone which we were grateful for. It was very sad in person then, can only imagine now.
Loved RED 1 and 2.
The best Christmas movie ever made!
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