Current Events > Bruce Willis "not totally verbal", according to friend

(+) Yeah! (+)

Actor Bruce Willis and Moonlighting creator Glenn Gordon Caron remain close friends. The pair worked together on the hit television series for five seasons. Willis, who stepped away from acting in 2022 following an aphasia diagnosis, is not totally verbal according to Caron, but hes still Bruce, the director shared with the New York Post.

In early 2023, Willis family announced that his condition progressed to frontotemporal dementia.

Early this week, Caron spoke with the New York Post on how he makes an effort to visit The Sixth Sense actor at least one time every month.

Im not always quite that good but I try and I do talk to him and his wife and I have a casual relationship with his three older children, Caron told the New York Post. I have tried very hard to stay in his life.

According to Caron, the disease has taken away Willis joy for life.

"Hes an extraordinary person. The thing that makes (his disease) so mind-blowing is (that) if youve ever spent time with Bruce Willis, there is no one who had any more joie de vivre (joy of living) than he, the director continued, per the New York Post. He loved life and just adored waking up every morning and trying to live life to its fullest.

When youre with him you know that hes Bruce and youre grateful that hes there, he noted, but the joie de vivre is gone.

During his visits with Willis, it takes the actor a handful of minutes to recognize Caron, but he still remembers him. Caron says that Willis is no longer able to communicate like he did and explained that it is as if he now sees life through a screen door.

My sense is the first one to three minutes he knows who I am, Caron told the New York Post. Hes not totally verbal; he used to be a voracious reader he didnt want anyone to know that and hes not reading now. All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet hes still Bruce.

Last month, Emma Hemming Willis shared updates on Bruce Willis health
In an appearance on the Today Show last month, Emma Hemming Willis wife of Bruce Willis shared an update on her husbands health and how the condition has impacted their family.

Dementia is hard, Heming Willis said on Today. Its hard on the person diagnosed, its also hard on the family. And that is no different for Bruce, or myself, or our girls. When they say this is a family disease, it really is.

She added that it is hard to know if the actor is aware of his disease.

There are so many beautiful things happening in our lives, its just really important for me to look up from the grief and the sadness so I can see what is happening around us and Bruce would really want us to be in the joy of what is, said Heming Willis, per Today. He would really want that for me and our family.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/not-totally-verbal-creator-moonlighting-220936142.html

This is so sad.

His birthday video earlier this year was depressing.

Just 68 as well. Sad

Crazy how you can just lose your memories or any clue about whats going on. Terrifying

Dementia has got to be the worst way to go.

Really sad for everyone involved

This is awful.

And the worst part is that they're not even sure if he even knows he has a problem.

My dad is going through basically the same thing & it's horrible. I'm glad Willis has his family to support him.

That's tragic

:(

It's awful that this happens to anyone.

If there's one good thing that Disney has done lately, it's to fork out the cash for the music clearance rights for Moonlighting so that it's finally available for everyone to see how great Bruce is in it. It's just a shame they only did it because he was sick.

I hope his loved ones continue to be at his side. Dementia is the worst.

It's a horrible way to go, and I feel bad for his loved ones. That said, I can't feel sad for him, knowing all the issues he has caused over the years.

^ what happened?

Tremendous bummer :(

boxoto posted...

^ what happened?

There are just stories of him just being a miserable prick to people, that's all. Kevin Smith has an entire bit about working with him during Cop Out, and how he'll never work with him again. He then goes into talking about how working with Johnny Depp was the exact opposite of working with Willis.

That he's just difficult to work with as he got older.

Ivany2008 posted...

There are just stories of him just being a miserable prick to people, that's all. Kevin Smith has an entire bit about working with him during Cop Out, and how he'll never work with him again. He then goes into talking about how working with Johnny Depp was the exact opposite of working with Willis.

That he's just difficult to work with as he got older.

So being difficult to work with is justification for what he is going through now?

Real shit take there/

ghettoraider81 posted...

So being difficult to work with is justification for what he is going through now?

Real shit take there/

Yeah, dementia / alzheimer's is one of those things that you genuinely wouldn't wish on your worst enemy if you have any experience dealing with it through a loved one.

ghettoraider81 posted...

So being difficult to work with is justification for what he is going through now?

Real shit take there/

Want to reread my original message before you decide to throw me on the fire there bud? As someone who actually went through what his family members are going through now I think I have a bit more understanding than others. I feel bad that he's going through this, I do. It's not something anyone should experience. But I can still voice the opinion that I don't like the guy. I just don't make it the focal point of conversation, and just mentioned why I don't like the person, and it has nothing to do with his current state, but how he was during a healthy state.

And as I've mentioned, I've actually gone through that with my own family. My grandfather had dementia before he passed, and my aunt was an advanced Schizophrenic with early onset dementia/Alzheimer's. We forgave her for her actions while she was sick, but that doesn't mean we forgave her for her actions when she wasn't sick or was medicated.

You can be both mind you. You can feel bad for someone and still dislike the person, which is what I'm trying to say here.

I can't remember the exact quote but Fullmetal Alchemist once asked something why they would want to be human with all of our flaws.

This and what Micheal J. Fox is going through continually reminds me of that quip.

Coming from someone who was once asked why they like Superman over Batman and told them it was because he was 'bulletproof', but deep down it is likely because I could never picture Supergirl with bad joints or unable to punch through walls.

Ivany2008 posted...

Want to reread my original message before you decide to throw me on the fire there bud? As someone who actually went through what his family members are going through now I think I have a bit more understanding than others. I feel bad that he's going through this, I do. It's not something anyone should experience. But I can still voice the opinion that I don't like the guy. I just don't make it the focal point of conversation, and just mentioned why I don't like the person, and it has nothing to do with his current state, but how he was during a healthy state.

And as I've mentioned, I've actually gone through that with my own family. My grandfather had dementia before he passed, and my aunt was an advanced Schizophrenic with early onset dementia/Alzheimer's. We forgave her for her actions while she was sick, but that doesn't mean we forgave her for her actions when she wasn't sick or was medicated.

You can be both mind you. You can feel bad for someone and still dislike the person, which is what I'm trying to say here.

Ivany2008 posted...

It's a horrible way to go, and I feel bad for his loved ones. That said, I can't feel sad for him, knowing all the issues he has caused over the years.

You flat out said you cant feel bad for him.

Like you were personally affected by him being difficult to work with

Get over yourself, its a shitty thing to say.

Ivany2008 posted...

It's a horrible way to go, and I feel bad for his loved ones. That said, I can't feel sad for him, knowing all the issues he has caused over the years.

*tips fedora*

Crimsoness posted...

Dementia has got to be the worst way to go.

Really sad for everyone involved

For real :/

Yeah that's quite a take saying you dislike a guy you don't know just because Kevin Smith (another guy you don't know) said he was a dick like a decade ago.

That's fucking depressing man

Ivany2008 posted...

Kevin Smith has an entire bit about working with him during Cop Out, and how he'll never work with him again.

In retrospect, Kevin Smith seems to attribute it partially to early symptoms of dementia. Forgetting lines, problems with delivery, etc.

Sad stuff.

Serious_Cat posted...

In retrospect, Kevin Smith seems to attribute it partially to early symptoms of dementia. Forgetting lines, problems with delivery, etc.

and that's a fair way to put it.

Ivany2008 posted...

There are just stories of him just being a miserable prick to people, that's all. Kevin Smith has an entire bit about working with him during Cop Out, and how he'll never work with him again. He then goes into talking about how working with Johnny Depp was the exact opposite of working with Willis.

That he's just difficult to work with as he got older.

So Bruce Willis annoyed someone once and you can't feel bad for him because of it?

That's an absolutely psychotic mentality to have...

"I don't make it a focal point but I put it in this topic instead of another"

Sad, I was hoping he could retire with a couple small cameos, but this shit just hit so fucking fast.

He did his Alpha Dog and 4 Rooms roles for free, even though it was against SAG rules.
Truly a legend

boxoto posted...

Hes not totally verbal; he used to be a voracious reader he didnt want anyone to know that

I can understand why, but it's awful that our shitty, overcrowded-with-teabillies culture encourages that kind of thing. A certain chunk of the nation definitely would have thought less of him and also would've gone out of their way to defame him if they knew he was well-read.

itcheyness posted...

So Bruce Willis annoyed someone once and you can't feel bad for him because of it?

That's an absolutely psychotic mentality to have...

I already broke this down, read the post following that one. I actually lived through this shit.

My Aunt was exactly like him. Treated people like shit when she was sane, and when she was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's we are supposed to feel bad for her? It took 2 years of therapy for my uncle to even be able to leave his house after she passed. And that bit with Kevin Smith was only one instance. There are others that were reported.

I'm not telling you how you should feel. You can feel however you want. I'm just saying my own personal feelings on the matter, from a different perspective. And I'd like to end those feelings with this post.

Ivany2008 posted...

I already broke this down, read the post following that one. I actually lived through this shit.

My Aunt was exactly like him. Treated people like shit when she was sane, and when she was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's we are supposed to feel bad for her? It took 2 years of therapy for my uncle to even be able to leave his house after she passed. And that bit with Kevin Smith was only one instance. There are others that were reported.

I'm not telling you how you should feel. You can feel however you want. I'm just saying my own personal feelings on the matter, from a different perspective. And I'd like to end those feelings with this post.

And we are telling you that your personal feelings about a person you never met yourself make you a kinda terrible person.

Ivany2008 posted...

It's a horrible way to go, and I feel bad for his loved ones. That said, I can't feel sad for him, knowing all the issues he has caused over the years.

Fuck off with this BS.