Inside Bruce Willis’ Health Journey: What to Know About the Actor’s Frontotemporal Dementia

Makena GeraWed, May 27, 2026 at 3:59 PM UTC

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Bruce Willis on November 4, 2019 in Shanghai, China
Credit: VCG/VCG via Getty -

Bruce Willis was diagnosed with aphasia in 2022, before it progressed into frontotemporal dementia (FTD)

His wife, Emma Heming Willis, has shared updates on the actor's health

Willis' blended family, which includes ex-wife Demi Moore and their shared children, continuously show their support for him and one another

Bruce Willis was diagnosed with a life-changing cognitive disorder at 67 years old.

In March 2022, the prolific actor’s family announced that he had been diagnosed with the cognitive condition aphasia, which progressed to the more specific diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The neurodegenerative condition can cause speech impairment, personality changes and motor skill loss, all of which Willis has experienced in the years following his diagnosis, according to health updates shared by his family.

Willis’ loved ones have been caring for him throughout his health journey — including his wife Emma Heming Willis and their two daughters, Mabel and Evelyn, and his ex-wife Demi Moore and their three daughters, Rumer, Scout and Tallulah.

While their relationship with Willis has changed due to his condition, they have used their platforms to raise awareness about the degenerative disease and the role of caregivers. “We’re going to come out, we’re going to be loud about it, and we’re going to make a difference.” his wife Emma told PEOPLE in May 2025.

Emma has also said that they’ve “adapted” to Willis’ health changes alongside him. “He has a way of connecting with me, our children that might not be the same as you would connect with your loved one, but it’s still very beautiful,” she said on the podcast Conversations with Cam in January 2026. “It’s still very meaningful. It's just — it’s just different. You just learn how to adapt.”

More recently, in May 2026, Emma shared another update. “We’re doing well. My husband is supported and loved. We’re doing the best we can under the circumstances,” she told Today.

Here’s everything to know about Bruce Willis’ health journey with frontotemporal dementia.

Willis was first diagnosed with aphasia in 2022 at age 67, stepping away from his acting career

Bruce Willis in 'Die Hard' (1988) ; Bruce Willis attends a photocall for "R.E.D." on October 18, 2010 in Berlin, Germany
Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock ; Sean Gallup/Getty

In March 2022, Willis’ family announced that he had been diagnosed with aphasia, which progressed to a more specific diagnosis of FTD.

Willis’ family revealed his aphasia diagnosis on Instagram, sharing that the neurodegenerative condition was “impacting his cognitive abilities” and they were moving “through this as a strong family unit.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, aphasia is a disorder often caused by brain damage that impacts a person’s ability to communicate — including affecting their ability to form complete sentences or understand conversation, and may cause them to speak in unrecognizable words or phrases.

In their shared announcement, Willis’ family said that he was retiring from acting, writing that he was “stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.”  Willis’ final projects, filmed before his official diagnosis, included Gasoline Alley, Fortress: Sniper's Eye, Wire Room and Paradise City alongside Pulp Fiction costar John Travolta.

Willis was later diagnosed with FTD

In February 2023, Willis’ family announced on social media that his condition had progressed, and they received the more specific diagnosis of FTD.

According to the Mayo Clinic, frontotemporal dementia is an all-encompassing term for a group of brain disorders which can cause speech issues, personality changes and loss of motor skills. There is currently no cure for FTD.

Willis’ wife Emma, who wrote the book The Unexpected Journey about her experience taking on the role of caregiver for Willis, told PEOPLE in September 2025 about the “isolating” period that the family faced early in Willis’ diagnosis while trying to keep his condition private.

“FTD doesn’t scream, it whispers. It’s very gray to know where Bruce stopped and where his disease kicked in ... I started noticing his stutter started to come back [and] conversations weren’t really aligning anymore. It was hard to put my finger on why and what was happening,” she says of the early days of Willis’ condition, adding that there was “relief” in the official diagnosis of FTD.

Due to the effects of his condition, Willis is “not aware” of his diagnosis

Bruce Willis on April 4, 2019 in New York City
Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty

Willis’ wife Emma has said that as a result of his condition, Willis isn’t aware of his diagnosis.

“I think that’s the blessing and the curse of this, is that he never connected the dots that he had this disease, and I’m really happy about that,” Emma said on Cameron Oaks Rogers’ podcast, Conversations with Cam, in January 2025. “I’m really happy that he doesn’t know about it.”

While Willis’ family has been outspoken about his health — sharing updates and raising awareness about the cognitive disorder — Willis himself has not spoken out as a result of his speech and cognitive impairment caused by dementia.

Willis’ speech and cognitive abilities have declined as a result of his FTD

Willis has experienced impaired speech and cognitive difficulties as a result of his FTD. However his family has said that Willis is still the same father and husband amidst the diagnosis.

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Emma has said that despite Willis’ impaired speech, it hasn’t impacted their love for each another. “Sometimes, love does not need words. I can just sit there with Bruce, and we look at each other and we laugh and smile and that, to me, is more than anything,” she told PEOPLE in September 2025.

Emma has also said that their daughters, Evelyn and Mabel, have found news ways to be present with Willis as well.

“You can see the tenderness of it. The girls don’t need him to be this or do that,” she told The Sunday Times in September 2025. “They have really adapted to his disease and they know how to move around him.”

She also told the outlet that the girls find comfort in Willis’ past films, specifically Over the Hedge and Moonrise Kingdom, and that the family has developed “our own language, our own way to be with each other."

Emma added, "It’s just about sitting with him, walking with him, listening to him as he tries to verbalize in his own language."

His daughter Tallula has said that though he can’t communicate verbally, Willis is still able to recognize his loved ones, and “lights up” when he sees her and his family.

Willis’ blended family has been there for him throughout his health journey

Rumer Willis, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Scout Willis, Emma Heming Willis and Tallulah Willis on September 23, 2019 in Los Angeles, California
Credit: Stefanie Keenan/Getty

Willis’ blended family has come together to support him during his health journey. He is “surrounded by love and care and he is doing really well with an unkind disease,” Emma told Today in December 2025.

His daughter Rumer posted on her Instagram Stories in November 2025 explaining that she spends a lot of time with her father — and although he can’t communicate verbally, he shows his love in other ways.

“I’m so grateful that when I go over [to his home] and I give him a hug, whether he recognizes me or not, he can feel the love I’ve given him and I can feel it back from him.” she said.

Speaking to CNN in December 2024, ex-wife Moore shared that the “recognition that we’re a family, and we’ll always be a family, just in a different form” has been important since their divorce in 2000.

“That form may kind of evolve and change ... it has to require everybody to be coming together. And it’s lovely,” she continued.

Willis moved out of his family home in 2025

In 2025, Emma made the difficult decision to move Willis out of the family home into his own one-story house nearby.

Emma shared the decision in the ABC News special, Emma and Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey and later opened up about why the decision was essential for their family.

“Dementia plays out differently in everyone’s home and you have to do what’s right for your family dynamic and what's right for your person,” Emma told PEOPLE in September 2025. “It’s heartbreaking to me. But this is how we were able to support our whole family, [and] it has opened up Bruce’s world.”

The family refers to Willis’ home as their “second home,” where they often spend time with him. “Our children are thriving, and so is Bruce, and that is the most important,” she said on Conversations with Cam. “We are over there all the time. It is our second home, and it’s a place where we make memories and that house supports Bruce’s every need.”

Willis’ wife launched a fund for dementia research and caregiver support in March 2026

Bruce Willis and Emma Heming on October 11, 2019 in New York City
Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty for Film at Lincoln Center

Emma announced the launch of a philanthropic fund supporting dementia research in March 2026.

The Emma & Bruce Willis Fund for Dementia Research and Caregiver Support, which is housed at the Entertainment Industry Foundation “works to confront frontotemporal dementia by raising awareness, funding promising research, and supporting caregivers,” according to its website.

“Through this fund, my hope is to help deepen understanding of FTD and ensure families facing it feel seen, supported, and less alone,” Emma said of the fund while accepting an award from The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration on behalf of herself and Willis. “Bruce has always led with generosity and heart, and I know he would be proud to see this effort helping families facing this disease.”

Willis’ family has also committed to raising awareness for the disease in other ways, from attending fundraisers to public advocacy to Make Time Wellness, Emma’s brain health brand that she founded in 2023.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”