Die Rich: How Bruce Willis Built His $250 Million Fortune
You hear Bruce Willis and what automatically comes to mind? High-powered weapons, Christmas, and Die-Hard. While his name may be mostly synonymous with hardcore film franchises like Die Hard and The Expendables, he has a long list of eclectic movie genres that he has either has leading roles in or has been featured in. Born in 1955, one little-known fact about Bruce Willis is that he was actually born in Idar-Oberstein, Germany. When he was two years old, his father, an American soldier, moved back to New Jersey with his wife, Marlene, who was German, and their family. Another fun fact about one of Hollywood's greatest actors with a net worth of $250 million is that, as a child, he suffered from a speech impediment (bet you would've never guessed that from watching him on-screen) which he was able to overcome through his passion for acting on stage. Throughout his career, Bruce Willis has collaborated with celebrities such as Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Chris Tucker, and Steve Buscemi.
As we've mentioned previously, acting was more than a driving passion for Willis - it transformed his way of speaking and restored his confidence as a youngster. He realized that acting on stage reduced his stuttering problem, and it was here that he knew he was a natural. Upon graduating high school in 1973, he worked hard to maintain his independence, doing everything from security guard work to driving and even working as a private investigator. When all was said and done, he returned to acting, enrolled himself in a drama program with Montclair State University, and was cast in a play titled Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. However, his urge for Showbiz was too great, and in his junior year at Montclair University, he dropped out to audition for different acting gigs while supporting himself as a bartender in New York.
Sensing greater opportunities in the west, the Armageddon actor moved to Los Angelos, California in 1984. Almost immediately, he made his TV debut in one of the most popular TV series of the 1980s, Miami Vice, as a gun runner named Tony Amato. Then, in 1985, he successfully auditioned for a minor role in Twilight Zone.
In the same year, Willis applied his experience as a private investigator when he played the role of David Addison Jr. in the TV comedy series, Moonlighting, which he starred in with Cybill Shepherd and Curtis Armstrong. His time on the show added to his portfolio as a comedic actor and gained him a considerable amount of recognition. In addition, he made his first $5-7 million in his first few years on the show after the Canadian whisky brand, Seagram, hired him for an advertising campaign with the company. Despite becoming a millionaire seemingly overnight with the Seagram advertisement, Willis declined to renew his contract because he quit drinking alcohol in 1988. But there was on love lost, or rather, there was no lost opportunity. For Bruce Willis, the best of his acting career was yet to come.
Following his five-season stint on Moonlighting, winning him an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, he also caught enough attention to land him his first lead role in the 1987 feature film, Blind Date, alongside Kim Basinger and John Larroquette, which grossed $39 million internationally. One year later, in 1988, is when Bruce Willis would introduce the world to John McClane in Die Hard, the action thriller that would mark the turning point in his acting career. He shared the screen with Alan Rickman, who played the role of the antagonist, Hans Gruber. Being his first major box office movie, the film grossed a whopping $140 million worldwide.
The Die Hard film series also became a billion-dollar franchise, producing four more installments. They include Die Hard 2 (1990) which grossed $240 million globally; Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995), starring Samuel L. Jackson as best supporting actor, grossing $366 million; Live Free or Die Hard (2007) grossing $388.2 million; and A Good Day To Die Hard (2013), which totaled $304.7 million at the box office. According to World Stock Market, the famed actor earned a paycheck of $5 million, $7.5 million, $15 million, and $25 million for the first, second, third, and fourth movie installments, respectively.
After the success of Die Hard, Willis did a voiceover as a baby named Mikey Ubriacco in the comedy romance, Look Who's Talking (1989), starring John Travolta and Kristie Alley. The movie hit $297 million at the box office, while Willis was paid $10 million. He then reprised his role as a voiceover in the 1990 sequel, Look Who's Talking Too, earning him another $10 million. His film presence only grew throughout the 1990s. He earned $14 million from The Last Boy Scout (1990) starring Damon Wayans, $800,000 from Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994), $16.5 million from Last Man Standing (1996), and $14.8 million for the doomsday sci-fi, Armageddon (1998). A few other iconic Bruce Willis films from the 1990s include Death Becomes Her (1992) starring Meryl Streep, Twelve Monkeys (1995), The Fifth Element (1997), and The Sixth Sense (1999).
Willis broke into the new Millenium with Unbreakable (2000) starring Samuel L. Jackson and The Kid, starring Spencer Breslin and Lily Tomlin. The same year, he was also the lead actor in The Whole Nine Yards, opposite Matthew Perry and Amanda Peet, earning him a total of $55 million for that year alone. His other notable films include Tears of The Sun (2003), Surrogates (2009), Looper (2012), G.I. Joe: Retalliation (2013) starring Dwayne Johnson, and reprisal as Mr. Church in all The Expendables movie installments.
It may be an astonishment for some to know that aside from acting, Bruce Willis also had a thriving music career and even released his own studio album titled The Return of Bruno in 1987. One song from his album, Under The Boardwalk, a remake of the original song by the Drifter's, hit #2 on the British Top 40 chart. He also founded the restaurant chain, Planet Hollywood, along with business partners Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1991. In memory of his humble beginnings as a bartender, Willis also opened the Mint Bar nightclub restaurant and bar, which he later sold to investors for roughly $6 million.
When it comes to expensive real estate, the Sin City actor has bought and sold a pricey ensemble. In 2019, Willis listed a five-bedroom mansion in Turks and Caicos for $33 million, reportedly making it the second-most expensive home sale in the island's history. And just a few months prior, he sold a New York City penthouse for $18 million in addition to a home he listed in upstate New York for $13 million. Then in 2016, his ex-wife, Demi Moore, listed a New York City penthouse they bought together in 1990 for a pricey $75 million.
At 66 years old, it's no wonder why Bruce Willis has been and still is one the highest-paid actors in all of Hollywood.
Sources: World Stock Market, Wealthy Gorilla, Celebrity New Worth, Sun Valley Life, Decider
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