Bruce Willis is a $250 million American actor, producer, and “musician.” Bruce has regularly been one of Hollywood’s highest-paid leading males. He has made hundreds of millions of dollars in film salaries alone between the late 1980s and the present.
His earnings from 1999’s The Sixth Sense reached $114 million, courtesy of a sizable portion of the film’s box office receipts. His first compensation was $14 million.
As of this writing, that is the second-highest sum made by a single performer in a film. Although technically, Keanu Reeves received $156 million across TWO Matrix films. Thus, one might argue that Bruce’s payout for The Sixth Sense is the greatest in Hollywood history.
Bruce Willis Childhood
Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany. His mother worked as a bank teller, while his father served in the United States military. Willis was raised in Penns Grove, New Jersey.
After graduating from high school, Bruce worked as a security guard at a nuclear power plant. He then worked as a driver for a DuPont business, driving employees. He worked briefly as a private detective before deciding to pursue acting full-time.
Bruce studied theatre at Montclair State University before deciding to pursue acting full-time in New York City during his junior year. In New York, he primarily tended bar while auditioning unsuccessfully, but he did act as an extra in Paul Newman’s 1982 film The Verdict.
He relocated from New York to Los Angeles in 1984. After relocating to California, he began landing tiny parts on television programs such as Miami Vice and The Twilight Zone.
Bruce Willis Success
Bruce auditioned for and was cast as David Addison Jr. on what would become Moonlighting in 1985. Between 1985 and 1989, Bruce drew on his prior expertise as a private detective to star opposite Cybill Shepherd.
The program elevated Willis to international stardom and garnered him an Emmy and a Golden Globe nomination for Outstanding Lead in a Drama Series. He was so well-known that Seagram engaged him to sell their Golden Wine Cooler in a series of television commercials.
Willis was compensated $7 million over two years for his efforts in the campaign. That equates to around $17 million today, once inflation is factored in. Willis terminated his contract with Seagrams in 1988 after quitting drinking.
Die Hard
Willis began receiving film parts after being elevated to the A-List. In 1988, he made his film debut as John McClane in Die Hard. The performance solidified his fame as a television and cinema star. He made $5 million for Die Hard 1, $7.5 million for Die Hard 2, $15 million for Die Hard 3, and $25 million for Die Hard 4.
Bruce has made at least $52 million from the Die Hard franchise, even before inflation is factored in. After inflation, the figure is closer to $70-80 million.
Bruce Willis Additional Notable Films
Bruce contributed his voice acting talents to Look Who’s Talking in 1989. He earned $10 million for his efforts. He added another $10 million to his fortune with the sequel.
Bruce accepted a significant wage cut in 1994, taking an $800,000 salary to feature in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. The performance revitalized Bruce’s career and re-established him as a trustworthy A-list movie actor.
He received critical acclaim for his work on 1995’s 12 Monkeys and popular acclaim for the same year’s The Fifth Element. Sin City, Red, Moonrise Kingdom, The Expendables 2, Looper, Unbreakable, Split, and Glass are among the other films.
Willis has received mixed reviews from critics, but he has also delivered a handful of box-office mega-hits. Worldwide, the four Die Hard films made more than $1.1 billion. Armageddon grossed $553 million in 1998, making it the highest-grossing picture of the year.
He also garnered critical and financial praise for his performance in The Sixth Sense, which grossed $673 million and is his highest-grossing film.
He has received two Emmy nominations (one for his work on Moonlighting and another for a guest appearance on Friends) and a Golden Globe nomination (for Moonlighting).
Bruce Willis Private Life
In 1987, Willis married actress Demi Moore. Before their divorce in 2000, they had three kids (Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah Belle). Willis cut a $90 million settlement cheque when Bruce and Demi divorced!
In 2009, he married model Emma Heming. He and Heming have two daughters. Over the years, Bruce and Demi have maintained a cordial connection. He was a guest at her wedding to Ashton Kutcher, while she was a guest at his wedding to Heming.
Willis is also a musician, releasing three rock albums to positive acclaim.
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Bruce Willis Residential Real Estate
Bruce Willis has amassed a lot of incredibly valuable properties throughout the world over the years.
Bruce and Demi Moore spent $7 million in 1990 on a 7,000-square-foot penthouse in New York City’s San Remo skyscraper. Soon afterward, they acquired a second two-bedroom apartment in the same building.
Demi obtained this apartment as part of their divorce settlement. In 2015, she listed it for a mind-boggling $75 million. She sold the property for $45 million in 2017.
In 2014, he fetched $16.5 million for the sale of his previous Beverly Hills property. He sold a New York City penthouse for $18 million in April 2018.
He advertised a vast house in Turks & Caicos for $33 million in March 2019. The 7.4-acre estate has a 13,500-square-foot private complex with numerous guest cottages, a yoga studio, a children’s play structure, beach volleyball, and four swimming pools.