Bruce Willis is an actor whose various roles have made him a household name, with characters like John McClane, Malcolm Crowe, and Butch Coolidge being some of the most iconic. However, many fans might be surprised to learn that Bruce Willis is not the actor’s birth name.
Willis, now 70, spent nearly four decades in the public eye before retiring in March 2022 following an aphasia diagnosis. His condition has since developed into frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, has shared insights about the changes in his personality and why he no longer resides in the family home with her and their daughters.
Even though Willis has stepped away from acting, his legacy endures, and fans are always eager to discover more about him, including the fact that his name is not what they might expect.
Born in March 1955 in Germany to parents Marlene and David, Willis was given a different first name. The couple included ‘Bruce Willis’ as part of their son’s name, but his first name is actually ‘Walter.’
This revelation has caught some fans off guard, with comparisons being drawn between ‘Walter Willis’ and Bryan Cranston’s Breaking Bad character, Walter White. One fan humorously suggested, “Him and Walter White should start a club and call it the bald walters….”
Another fan pondered Willis’s choice of going by ‘Bruce,’ saying, “I’d have to say going from Walter to Bruce is really a horizontal move at best. If you’re going to change it, go big!”
Transitioning from Walter to Bruce may not be the most dramatic change, but Willis is not alone in adopting a stage name. Other celebrities, like Emma Stone (born Emily) and Natalie Portman (originally Neta-Lee Hershlag), have done the same.
Before his acting career took off, Willis worked as a security guard and a private investigator. He later moved to New York, where he worked as a bartender while pursuing acting.
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Heming Willis expressed that the actor “loved what he did,” and added, “I’m happy that he was able to do it for as long as he was able to do it.”