Bruce Willis, 68, is “not totally verbal” while living with frontotemporal dementia, according to friend Glenn Gordon Caron – but “when you’re with him, you know that he’s Bruce.”
Caron, 69, told the New York Post in an interview published Wednesday that though the “Die Hard” actor’s health is failing and “language skills are no longer available to him,” he’s “still Bruce.”
Willis starred in the 1980s TV show “Moonlighting,” which Caron created. The comedy-drama series starring Willis and Cybill Shepherd, is now streaming on Hulu, which Caron feels would make Willis “very happy.”
“I know he’s really happy that the show is going to be available for people, even though he can’t tell me that,” Caron, 69, told The Post of Willis, who is retired from acting. “When I got to spend time with him we talked about it, and I know he’s excited.”
“The thing that makes (Willis’ disease) so mind-blowing is if you’ve ever spent time with Bruce Willis, there is no one who had any more joie de vivre than he,” Caron added. “He loved life and … just adored waking up every morning and trying to live life to its fullest.
“When you’re with him, you know that he’s Bruce and you’re grateful that he’s there, but the joie de vivre is gone.”
Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Heming Willis calls dementia diagnosis ‘a blessing and a curse’
Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, 45, provided an update last month on the “Today” show, telling show co-anchor Hoda Kotb it’s “hard to know” if the award-winning actor is aware of the disease.
“It was a blessing and a curse to finally understand what was happening to him so I can be into the acceptance of what it is,” Heming Willis said. “It doesn’t make it any less painful, but just being in the know of what is happening to Bruce makes it a little bit easier.”
Willis was diagnosed in 2022 with aphasia, which affects how a person communicates, especially using speech. In February, Willis’ family announced that the condition had progressed to frontotemporal dementia.
There is no treatment or cure for the disease, which Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration CEO Susan Dickinson said during the segment could be passed on genetically in about 20-25% of people, but is also “sporadic,” meaning medical professionals don’t know what causes the condition.
Contributing: KiMi Robinson and Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY
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