Bruce Willis’ daughter shares heartwrenching story about her father’s health
The daughter of Bruce Willis, Tallulah, has penned a poignant open letter detailing the downfall in the health of her father. Earlier this year, it was revealed that the actor had developed frontotemporal dementia, which causes issues with language and behaviour.
Willis had retired from acting just a year earlier after he was diagnosed with aphasia. The condition worsened, which led Willis to retire from the public eye, unable to talk and needing the close care of his family.
Tallulah has now written a piece for Vogue, in which she explains the first time she realised that her father’s health was seriously declining and when he had first shown the signs of early dementia.
“My family announced in early 2022 that Bruce Willis was suffering from aphasia, a brain-mediated inability to speak or to understand speech, and we learned earlier this year that that symptom was a feature of frontotemporal dementia, a progressive neurological disorder that chips away at his cognition and behaviour day by day,” Tallulah began. “But I’ve known that something was wrong for a long time.”
She continued, “It started out with a kind of vague unresponsiveness, which the family chalked up to Hollywood hearing loss: ‘Speak up! Die Hard messed with Dad’s ears.’ Later that unresponsiveness broadened, and I sometimes took it personally.”
Willis’ daughter then explained she thought that her father had lost interest in her. “Though this couldn’t have been further from the truth, my adolescent brain tortured itself with some faulty math: I’m not beautiful enough for my mother, I’m not interesting enough for my father,” she said.
She went on to describe the first moment her father’s diagnosis really hit home: “I remember a moment when it hit me painfully: I was at a wedding… and the bride’s father made a moving speech. Suddenly I realised that I would never get that moment, my dad speaking about me in adulthood at my wedding. It was devastating.”
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