MOONLIGHTING original press photo CYBIL SHEPHERD + BRUCE WILLIS 1989 ABC

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MOONLIGHTING original press photo CYBIL SHEPHERD + BRUCE WILLIS 1989 ABC. The album included the hit single "Respect Yourself " usingthe Pointer Sisters as guest vocalists. In 2007, he appeared in thethriller Perfect Stranger, oppositeHalle Berry, and reprised his role asJohn McClane inLive Free or Die Hard. This is an original 7x9 inch ABC press photo of Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis in Moonlighting. BACKGROUND Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress, singer, and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich 's coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges . She also had roles as Kelly in Elaine May 's The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Betsy in Martin Scorsese 's Taxi Driver (1976), and Nancy in Woody Allen 's Alice (1990). On television, her first major role was as Colleen Champion in the one season of the night-time drama The Yellow Rose (1983). Shepherd played Madelyn Hayes on the detective comedy-drama Moonlighting (1985–1989) opposite Bruce Willis , for which she won two Golden Globes for Best Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy out of three such nominations. She later starred as Cybill Sheridan on Cybill (1995–1998), for which she won her third Golden Globe Award as Best Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy. Her later television roles included Phyllis Kroll on The L Word (2007–2009), Madeleine Spencer on Psych (2008–2013), Cassie in the television film The Client List (2010), and Linette Montgomery on The Client List (2012–2013). Early life and career Shepherd was born February 18, 1950, in Memphis, Tennessee .[ 1] She is the second of three children. She had an older sister, Terry, and has a younger brother, William.[ 2] [ 3] Cybill was named with a blend of her grandfather Cy and her father Bill's names. While attending East High School ,[ 4] Shepherd won the "Miss Teenage Memphis" title and represented the city at the 1966 Miss Teenage America pageant at age 16, where she won the congeniality award.[ 5] She competed at the 1968 "Model of the Year" contest at age 18, resulting in fashion model assignments through high school and afterwards.[ 6] Cybill Shepherd in a photo from Teen from 1970 According to Shepherd's autobiography, a 1970 Glamour magazine cover caught the eye of film director Peter Bogdanovich . His then-wife, Polly Platt , claimed that when she saw the cover in a check-out line in a Ralphs grocery store in southern California, he said "That's Jacy,"[ a] referring to the role Bogdanovich was casting—and ultimately given to Shepherd—in The Last Picture Show (1971). Celebrity Her first film was The Last Picture Show , also starring Jeff Bridges and Timothy Bottoms . The film became a critical and box office hit, earning eight Academy Awards nominations and winning two. Shepherd was nominated for a Golden Globe. In 1972, Shepherd was cast opposite Charles Grodin in The Heartbreak Kid . She played Kelly, a young woman for whom Grodin's character falls while on his honeymoon in Miami. Directed by Elaine May and written by Neil Simon , it was another critical and box office hit.[ 7] Also in 1972, Shepherd posed as a Kodak Girl for the camera manufacturer's then-ubiquitous cardboard store poster displays.[ 8] In 1974, Shepherd again teamed up with Peter Bogdanovich for the title role in Daisy Miller , based on the Henry James novella. The film—a period piece set in Europe—was a box office failure. That same year, she launched a singing career, releasing a studio album Cybill Does It...To Cole Porter for MCA Records.[ 9] It was panned by Village Voice critic Robert Christgau , who wrote: "Her voice is surprisingly pleasant, but you'd never know how these songs sparkle. Since Cole didn't like to . . . do it with (or 'to') women very much, maybe the 'do' is as hostile as it sounds."[ 10] In 1975, she made At Long Last Love , a film musical directed by Bogdanovich. The film received scathing negative reviews, named by many as the worst major film of the year, and Shepherd herself received negative reviews.[ 11] [ 12] Shepherd returned with good reviews for her supporting work in Martin Scorsese 's Taxi Driver (1976). According to Shepherd, Scorsese had requested a "Cybill Shepherd type" for the role. She portrayed Betsy, a volunteer for a presidential candidate with whom Robert De Niro 's character, Travis Bickle, becomes infatuated. A series of less-successful roles followed, including The Lady Vanishes (1979), a remake of Alfred Hitchcock 's 1938 film .[ 13] Already sitting in on an acting class taught by Stella Adler , Shepherd was offered work at a dinner theater in Norfolk, Virginia , and turned to friend Orson Welles for advice. He encouraged her to get experience on stage in front of an audience, anywhere but Los Angeles or New York City,[ 14] away from the harsh big-city critics[ 15] so she moved back to her home town of Memphis to work in regional theatre.[ 16] In 1981, Shepherd appeared in a play directed by Orson Bean , Vanities , staged in St. Louis, Missouri .[ 17] Return to Hollywood In 1982, Shepherd returned to New York and to the stage when she played alongside James MacArthur in a theatre tour of Lunch Hour by Jean Kerr .[ 18] The following year, Shepherd went back to Los Angeles and was cast as Colleen Champion in the NBC television drama The Yellow Rose (1983), opposite Sam Elliott . Although critically acclaimed, the series lasted only one season. A year later, Shepherd was cast as Maddie Hayes on Moonlighting (1985–1989), a role that defined her career. The producers knew that her role depended on having "chemistry" with her co-star, and involved her in the selection of Bruce Willis . A lighthearted combination of mystery and comedy , the series won Shepherd two Golden Globe Awards .[ 19] Shepherd in 1985 She starred in Chances Are (1989) with Robert Downey Jr. and Ryan O'Neal , receiving excellent reviews. She then reprised her role as Jacy in Texasville (1990), the sequel to The Last Picture Show (1971), as the original cast (and director Peter Bogdanovich) reunited 20 years after filming the original. She appeared in Woody Allen's Alice (1990) and Eugene Levy 's Once Upon a Crime (1992), as well as several television films. In 1997, she won her third Golden Globe award[ 19] for Cybill (1995–1998), a television sitcom in which the title character, Cybill Sheridan, an actress struggling with hammy roles in B movies and bad soap operas , was loosely modeled on herself, including portrayals of her two ex-husbands and her then-teenage daughter. In 2000, Shepherd's bestselling autobiography, Cybill Disobedience: How I Survived Beauty Pageants, Elvis, Sex, Bruce Willis, Lies, Marriage, Motherhood, Hollywood, and the Irrepressible Urge to Say What I Think , written in collaboration with Aimee Lee Ball, was published.[ 20] That same year, Shepherd hosted a short-lived syndicated talk show version of the book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus , but left the show in early 2001.[ b] In 2003, she guest-starred on 8 Simple Rules as the sister of Cate Hennessy (portrayed by Katey Sagal ). She has played Martha Stewart in two television films: Martha, Inc.: The Story of Martha Stewart (2003) and Martha: Behind Bars (2005). From 2007 until it ended, Shepherd appeared on The L Word as Phyllis Kroll for the show's final three seasons. In 2008, she joined the cast of Psych as main character Shawn Spencer 's mother, Madeleine Spencer . On November 7, 2008, Shepherd guest-starred in a February episode of the CBS drama Criminal Minds .[ 21] In 2010 Shepherd appeared in an episode of No Ordinary Family [ 22] and in November of the same year she guest-starred in an episode of $♯*! My Dad Says .[ 23] Shepherd appeared alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt in the 2010 television film The Client List and then in the 2012-13 series based on the film . In July 2012, Shepherd made her Broadway debut in the revival of Gore Vidal 's The Best Man at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre alongside James Earl Jones , John Stamos , John Larroquette , Kristin Davis , and Elizabeth Ashley to positive reviews.[ 24] Shepherd appeared as a mother grieving the death of her daughter in Do You Believe? (2015), a Christian-themed movie produced by Pure Flix Entertainment .[ 25] In 2017, she took on a role as an ex-cop senior struggling with illness who unexpectedly finds love on a road trip in the direct-to-cable Being Rose . In 2023, Shepherd starred in the Lifetime film How to Murder Your Husband: The Nancy Brophy Story , where she portrayed Nancy Brophy, opposite Steve Guttenberg as Daniel Brophy, in a dramatization of the Murder of Daniel Brophy .[ 26] Personal life Shepherd began a relationship with Peter Bogdanovich on the set of The Last Picture Show , during his marriage to Polly Platt , whom Bogdanovich subsequently divorced. The relationship between the young star and her director lasted eight years. In her autobiography,[ 27] Shepherd revealed that she called her mother in 1978, crying and unhappy with the way her life and career were going. Her mother replied, "Cybill, come home." Shepherd went home to Memphis, where she met and began dating David M. Ford, a local auto parts dealer and nightclub entertainer. She became pregnant , and the couple married that year. Their daughter, Clementine Ford , was born in 1979. The marriage ended in divorce in 1982. In 1987, Shepherd became pregnant by chiropractor Bruce Oppenheim and married him. They had twins, born during the fourth season of Moonlighting .[ 28] The couple divorced in 1990.[citation needed ] She had an intimate relationship with author Larry McMurtry , whom she once called the love of her life.[ 29] In June 2012, Shepherd became engaged to psychologist Andrei Nikolajevic.[ 30] By 2015, the engagement had been called off.[ 31] Political activism Shepherd with President Ronald Reagan in 1988 Cybill Shepherd inside the "Smithsonian Castle " during the filming of Chances Are , where she plays a Smithsonian curator. She is presented with an honorary Resident Associate Program membership, by (l.) National Museum of American History (NMAH) Curator Edith Mayo and NMAH Director of External Affairs, Marilyn Lyons (1989) Throughout her career, Shepherd has been an activist for issues such as gay rights [ 32] and abortion rights .[ 33] In 2009, she was honored by the Human Rights Campaign in Atlanta with one of two National Ally for Equality awards.[ 34] She has been an advocate for same-sex marriage .[ 35] She was present at the opening of the National Civil Rights Museum in her hometown of Memphis, to which she lent financial support.[ 36] Religious beliefs Shepherd was raised Christian, but stated that she eventually "lost touch" with the religion.[ 25] In a 2007 interview with Metro Weekly , she described herself as being "a goddess -worshipping Christian Pagan Buddhist ".[ 37] In October 2014, Shepherd said that she had reconnected with her Christian faith.[ 25] Awards Emmy Awards Nominations: 1986 - Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series - Moonlighting 1995 - Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series - Cybill 1996 - Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series - Cybill 1997 - Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series - Cybill In her autobiography,[ 27] Shepherd addressed rumors that she was jealous of her co-stars Bruce Willis and Christine Baranski for winning Emmy awards while she has not: "The grain of truth in this controversy was that of course I was envious. Who doesn't want to win an Emmy?" Golden Globe Awards Wins: 1985 - Best Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy - Moonlighting 1986 - Best Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy - Moonlighting 1995 - Best Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy - Cybill Nominations: 1971 - Most Promising Newcomer (Female) - The Last Picture Show 1987 - Best Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy - Moonlighting 1996 - Best Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy - Cybill Moonlighting is an American comedy drama television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 67 episodes.[ 1] Starring Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis as private detectives , Allyce Beasley as their quirky receptionist, and Curtis Armstrong as a temporary worker (and later junior detective), the show was a mixture of drama , comedy , mystery , and romance , and was considered to be one of the first successful and influential examples of comedy drama , or "dramedy", emerging as a distinct television genre.[ 2] The show's theme song was co-written and performed by singer Al Jarreau and became a hit. The show is also credited with making Willis a star and relaunching Shepherd's career after a string of lackluster projects.[ 3] [ 4] In 1997, the episode "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" was ranked number 34 on TV Guide ' s 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time .[ 5] In 2007, the series was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-Time " .[ 6] The relationship between the characters David and Maddie was included in TV Guide ' s list of the best TV couples of all time.[ 7] Plot The series revolved around cases investigated by the Blue Moon Detective Agency and its two partners, Madolyn "Maddie" Hayes (Shepherd) and David Addison (Willis). The show, with a mix of mystery, sharp dialogue, and sexual tension between its leads, introduced Willis to the world and brought Shepherd back into the spotlight after a nearly decade-long absence. The characters were introduced in a two-hour pilot episode . The show's storyline begins with the reversal of fortune of Maddie Hayes, a former model who finds herself bankrupt after her accountant steals all her liquid assets. She is left with several failing businesses formerly maintained as tax writeoffs, one of which is the City of Angels Detective Agency, helmed by the carefree David Addison. Between the pilot and the first one-hour episode, David persuades Maddie to keep the business and run it as a partnership. The agency is renamed Blue Moon Investigations because Maddie was most famous for being the spokesmodel for the Blue Moon Shampoo Company. In many episodes, she was recognized as "the Blue Moon shampoo girl", if not by name. In his audio commentary for the season-three DVD , creator Glenn Gordon Caron says that the inspiration for the series was a production of The Taming of the Shrew he saw in Central Park starring Meryl Streep and Raúl Julia . The show parodied the play in the season-three episode "Atomic Shakespeare".[ 8] Cast Main cast Cybill Shepherd as Madolyn "Maddie" Hayes, is a chic, smart former high-fashion model. Left bankrupt when her accountant embezzles her money, she is forced to make a living by running the detective agency she owns as a tax writeoff. Using her celebrity as a former model, she brings in clients and tries to bring some order to a business previously run without any discipline. By the time he had written 50 pages for the pilot to the show, Caron says he realized he was writing the part for Shepherd.[ 9] [ 10] After reading the script, she immediately realized this was a part she wanted to do, and during her first meeting with Caron and producer Jay Daniel, remarked that it was reminiscent of a "Hawksian " comedy. The two had no idea what she was talking about, so she suggested they screen Twentieth Century , Bringing Up Baby , and His Girl Friday , three of her favorites, to see how the overlapping dialogue was handled. A week before shooting of the pilot began, Caron, Shepherd, and Willis watched Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday .[ 11] Bruce Willis as David Addison, is a wisecracking detective running the City of Angels Detective Agency. Faced with the prospect of being put out of business, he convinces Maddie that they lost money only because they were supposed to and talks her into rebranding the agency and going into business with him as her partner. Caron had to fight with ABC to put Willis in the lead role, having already signed Shepherd for the pilot and series. Caron claims he tested Willis about a third of the way through over 2,000 actors, knew "this was the guy" immediately, and had to fight through twice as many more acting tests and readings, while arguing with ABC executives before receiving conditional authorization to cast Willis in the pilot. According to Caron, ABC did not feel that viewers would find any sexual tension[ 12] between Shepherd and Willis believable. Allyce Beasley as Agnes DiPesto, is the agency's extremely loyal and quirky receptionist, who always answers the phone in rhyme. As problems arose with getting Willis and Shepherd on screen due to personal issues, the writers started to focus on the relationship between Agnes and fellow Blue Moon employee Herbert Viola. In the series finale, Agnes marries Herbert and berates Maddie and David for not being able to figure out their relationship as the entire set is dismantled, and says, "if there's a God in heaven, he'll spin Herbert and me off in our own series." Curtis Armstrong as Herbert Viola, started at Blue Moon as an employee from a temporary help agency. The producers brought Armstrong in based on his work in Revenge of the Nerds and Better Off Dead , hoping to expand the role of DiPesto by giving her a love interest, thereby taking some of the pressure off Willis and Shepherd. As Herbert begins to shine in his duties, he gets promoted to junior detective and marries Agnes in the series finale. Debuting in season three, he appeared in 36 of the series' 67 episodes. Recurring Brooke Adams appeared in season four as Terri Knowles, a single mother for whom David volunteered as a Lamaze partner in preparation for the birth of Maddie's child. Jack Blessing as MacGillicudy, a Blue Moon employee, he became a foil for Viola and a rival for DiPesto's affections. Debuting in season three, he appeared in 17 episodes. Dennis Dugan as Walter Bishop, dates then marries Maddie. Mark Harmon appeared near the end of season three as Sam Crawford, Maddie's romantic interest and a rival of David's. Virginia Madsen appeared in season five as Annie Charnock, Maddie's cousin and a short-term romantic interest for David. Charles Rocket as Richard Addison, David's brother Eva Marie Saint and Robert Webber as Virginia and Alexander Hayes, Maddie's parents Guest Barbara Bain as Emily Grayson, was in the season-two episode "My Fair David". Billy Barty appeared as himself in the season-two episode "Camille". Rona Barrett also was herself in "The Straight Poop". Richard Belzer portrayed Leonard in the season-two episode "Twas the Episode Before Christmas". Sandahl Bergman also appeared in "Big Man On Mulberry Street" in a "dream" dance sequence. Peter Bogdanovich appeared as himself in "The Straight Poop". Pierce Brosnan portrayed Remington Steele in the season-three episode "The Straight Poop". Dr. Joyce Brothers was herself in the season-four episode "A Trip to the Moon". K Callan was Carolyn Kandinsky in the season-two episode "In God We Strongly Suspect". Ray Charles also appeared in a "A Trip to the Moon" as himself. Imogene Coca was Clara DiPesto in the season-four episode "Los Dos DiPestos". Randall 'Tex' Cobb was the "Big Guy in Gas Station" in "Sam & Dave". Gary Cole as Alan McClafferty in the season-three episode "Maddie's Turn to Cry". Dana Delany as Jillian Armstrong, appeared in the season-two episode "Knowing Her". Colleen Dewhurst was Betty Russell in the season-five episode "Take My Wife, For Example". Donna Dixon acted as Joan Tenowitz in the season-three episode "Blonde on Blonde". Rick Ducommun portrayed one of David's friends in the season-three episode. Brad Dourif was Father McDonovan in the season-three episode "All Creatures Great and... Not So Great". Robert Ellenstein was Heinz in the pilot episode. Bill Erwin as Duncan Kennedy, appeared in the season-five episode "Perfetc". Mary Hart appeared as herself in the pilot episode. Sterling Holloway was the narrator in the "Atomic Shakespeare". C. Thomas Howell was a waiter (uncredited) in the season-two episode "The Lady in the Iron Mask",[ 13] and as a postal worker (uncredited) in the season-three episode "Yours, Very Deadly". Whoopi Goldberg was Camille Brand in the season-two episode "Camille". John Goodman was Donald Chase in the season-four episode "Come Back Little Shiksa". William Hickey portrayed Mr. Kendall in the season-three episode "To Heiress Human". Jeff Jarvis appeared as himself in the season-three episode "Sam & Dave". Michelle Johnson portrayed Mrs. Hunziger in the season-five episode "Plastic Fantastic Lovers". David Patrick Kelly was McBride in the season-two episode "Somewhere Under the Rainbow". Don King also appeared in "Symphony in Knocked Flat" as himself. Dan Lauria was the lieutenant in the season-two episode "Portrait of Maddie". Timothy Leary appeared as minister Wynn Deaupayne in the season-five episode "Lunar Eclipse". Mark Linn-Baker as Phil West, appeared in the season-two episode "Atlas Belched". Colm Meaney was one of Katharina's suitors in the season-three episode "Atomic Shakespeare". Sam McMurray as Moe Hyman, also appeared in "Blonde on Blonde". Demi Moore , Bruce Willis's wife at the time, was the woman in the elevator in the season-five episode "When Girls Collide". Judd Nelson also appeared in "Camille" as a police officer. Terry O'Quinn appeared as Bryant "Brian" Wilbourne also in "Take a Left at the Altar". Amanda Plummer was Jacqueline "Jackie" Wilbourne in the season-four episode "Take a Left at the Altar". Tim Robbins was a hitman in the season-one episode "Gunfight at the So-So Corral". Liz Sheridan was Selma in the pilot episode. Lionel Stander appeared as Max in the season-three episode "It's a Wonderful Job". Paul Sorvino was David Addison, Sr., in the season-three episode "The Son Also Rises". The Temptations appeared as themselves in the season-three episode "Symphony in Knocked Flat". Cheryl Tiegs was herself in "It's a Wonderful Job". Jennifer Tilly acted as Nurse Saundra in the season-five episode "Plastic Fantastic Lovers". Orson Welles appeared as himself delivering the cold open in the season-two episode "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice". It was Welles' last appearance before his death. Rita Wilson appeared as Carla in the season-five episode "Those Lips, Those Lies". Robert Wuhl was the “Nut in Holding Cell” in "Blonde on Blonde". Episodes Main article: List of Moonlighting episodes SeasonEpisodesOriginally releasedFirst releasedLast released 1 7 March 3, 1985 April 2, 1985 2 18 September 24, 1985 May 13, 1986 3 15 September 23, 1986 May 5, 1987 4 14 September 29, 1987 March 22, 1988 5 13 December 6, 1988 May 14, 1989 Format innovations The series was created by Glenn Gordon Caron, one of the producers of the similar Remington Steele , when he was approached by ABC executive Lewis H. Erlicht. Erlicht liked the work Caron had done on Taxi and Remington Steele and wanted a detective show featuring a major star in a leading role who would appeal to an upscale audience. Caron wanted to do a romance, to which Erlicht replied, "I don't care what it is, as long as it's a detective show."[ 9] The tone of the series was left up to the production staff, resulting in Moonlighting becoming one of the first successful TV "dramedies "— dramatic-comedy, a style of television and movies in which an equal or nearly equal balance of humor and serious content is used. The show made use of fast-paced, overlapping dialogue between the two leads, harking back to classic screwball comedy films such as those of director Howard Hawks . These innovative qualities resulted in its being nominated, for the first time in the 50-year history of the Directors Guild of America, for both Best Drama and Best Comedy in the same year (both in 1985 and 1986).[ 2] Breaking the fourth wall Moonlighting frequently broke the fourth wall , with many episodes including dialogue that made direct references to the scriptwriters, the audience, the network, or the series itself. (For example, when a woman is trying to commit suicide by jumping into a bathtub with a television playing The Three Stooges , Addison says, "The Stooges? Are you nuts? The network'll never let you do that, lady!") Cold opens sometimes featured Shepherd and Willis (in character as Maddie Hayes and David Addison), other actors, viewers, or TV critics directly addressing the audience about the show's production itself. These cold opens were originally born out of desperation as a way to fill air time, since the dialogue on the show was spoken so quickly and the producers needed something to fill the entire hour.[ 14] In some episodes, the production crew and sets became involved in the plot; in the final episode of the series, "Lunar Eclipse ", Hayes and Addison find out that the show is being canceled, and the office set is dismantled around them as they argue with a producer. Fantasy This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . Find sources: "Moonlighting" TV series – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2025 ) (Learn how and when to remove this message ) The series also embraced fantasy; in season two, the show aired "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice", an episode that featured two lengthy and elaborately produced black-and-white dream sequences. David and Maddie are told about a murder that occurred in the 1940s by the inheritor of the then-famous nightclub where the murder took place. Maddie and David feud over whether the man or woman who was executed for the crime was the real murderer. The two dream sequences present each detective's version of how the murder took place. They were filmed on black-and-white film stock so they would look like true period films. (The commentary on the DVD mentions that they used black-and-white film instead of color so that the network would not later use the color film.) Fearing fan reaction to a popular show being shown in black and white, ABC demanded a disclaimer be made at the beginning of the episode to inform viewers of the "black-and-white" gimmick for the episode. The show's producers hired Orson Welles to deliver the introduction, which aired a few days after the actor's death. "Atomic Shakespeare" features the cast performing a variation of The Taming of the Shrew , with David in the role of Petruchio, Maddie as Katharina, Agnes as Bianca, and Herbert as Lucentio. The episode features Shakespearean costumes and mixed the plot with humorous anachronisms and variations on Moonlighting' s own running gags. The characters perform the dialogue in (mostly) iambic pentameter , and the episode is wrapped by segments featuring a boy imagining the episode's proceedings because his mother forced him to do his Shakespeare homework instead of watching Moonlighting . Other This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . Find sources: "Moonlighting" TV series – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2025 ) (Learn how and when to remove this message ) In addition, the show mocked its connection to the Remington Steele series by having Pierce Brosnan hop networks and make a cameo appearance as Steele in one episode. The show also acknowledged Hart to Hart as an influence: in the episode "It's a Wonderful Job", based on the film It's a Wonderful Life , Maddie's guardian angel showed her an alternate reality in which Jonathan and Jennifer Hart from the earlier series had taken over Blue Moon's lease. Although Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers did not appear in the episode, Lionel Stander reprised his role as the Harts' assistant Max. Both Shepherd and Willis sang musical numbers over the course of the show. In "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice", Shepherd performed both "Blue Moon " in Maddie's dream sequence and "I Told Ya I Love Ya, Now Get Out " in David's, while in "Atomic Shakespeare", Willis sings The Young Rascals ' "Good Lovin' ". Willis also frequently broke into shorter snippets of Motown songs. "Good Lovin'", "Blue Moon", and "I Told Ya I Love Ya..." appeared on the Moonlighting Soundtrack . The episode "Big Man on Mulberry Street " centers around a production dance number set to the Billy Joel song of the same name. The sequence was directed by musical director Stanley Donen . Production Moonlighting was unusual at the time for being one of only three shows, due to FCC regulations limiting the practice, to be owned and produced in-house by a broadcast network (NBC 's Punky Brewster and CBS 's Twilight Zone revival being the others). This allowed the network greater flexibility in budgeting the show, since the "back-end potential" for profits was so much greater with not having to pay a licensing fee to the film studio or independent production company. As a result, ABC gave Caron significant control over production. Caron, however, was a perfectionist and viewed Moonlighting as the filming of a one-hour movie every week, using techniques usually reserved for big-budget films. To capture the cinematic feel of the films of the 1940s, for example, he would prohibit the use of a zoom lens, opting instead to use more time-consuming master cameras that move back and forth on a track and require constant resetting of the lights. Diffusion disks were used to soften Cybill Shepherd's features, and a special lens needed to be employed so that in a two shot , Maddie would be diffused and David would not. Much of the credit for this look and feel can be attributed to the hiring of Gerald Finnerman as the director of photography . Finnerman, a second-generation cinematographer , was brought up in the old school of cinematography by working with his father, Perry Finnerman, and later as a camera operator for Harry Stradling on such films as My Fair Lady and The Picture of Dorian Gray . Finnerman then went on to be the director of photography for the TV series Star Trek and was responsible for creating much of the mood in that show by employing black-and-white lighting techniques for color film. This background meshed perfectly with what Caron was trying to portray in the series, and earned him an Emmy nomination for the black-and-white episode "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice". Hired for the show after the pilot was shot, Finnerman became involved in virtually every aspect of the show, including the scripts, lighting, set design, and even directing some of the later episodes.[ 15] Typical scripts for an average one-hour television show run 60 pages, but those for Moonlighting were nearly twice as long because of the fast-talking, overlapping dialogue of the main characters. While the average television show took seven days to shoot, Moonlighting took from 12 to 14 days to complete, with episodes and dialogue frequently being written by Caron the same day they were shot.[ 9] This attention to detail contributed to Moonlighting being one of the most expensive television shows being produced at the time. Where most episodes would cost around $900,000 to produce, Moonlighting was running nearly double that. The season-two episode "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" could have been filmed much more cheaply by being shot in color and then decolorized, but Caron insisted on the authentic look of black-and-white film, which took 16 days to shoot, bringing the cost of the episode to the then-unheard-of sum of $2 million.[ 16] Caron often defended his filming practices in the name of giving the audience what they wanted and producing a quality product. He used the following analogy to illustrate the point, "The thinking in television which makes no damn sense to me, is that a half hour of television costs X, and an hour of television costs Y, no matter what that television is, it strikes me as an insane hypothesis. The parallel is, you're hungry, whether you go to McDonald's or whether you go to '21,' it should cost the same; they both fill your stomach. It's nonsense."[ 17] All of this attention to detail resulted in production delays and the show became notorious for airing reruns when new episodes had not been completed in time for broadcast. The first two seasons of Moonlighting focused almost entirely on the two main characters, having them appear in almost every scene. According to Cybill Shepherd, "I left home at 5 am each day. Moonlighting scripts were close to a hundred pages, half again as long as the average one-hour television series. Almost from the moment the cameras started rolling, we were behind schedule, sometimes completing as few as 16 episodes per season, and never achieving the standard 22."[ 18] Glenn Gordon Caron partly blamed Cybill Shepherd for production problems: "I don't mean to paint her as the sole bearer of responsibility for the discord. But if I said to you, 'You're going to have a great new job – it's a life-defining job – but you're going to work 14–15 hours a day, and by the way, you'll never know what hours those are – sometimes you'll start at noon and work until 3 am; other times you won't know when or where it will be [until the last minute].' It can be very difficult, it requires an amazing amount of stamina. It's easier to do if you're still reaching for the stars, it's a lot tougher if you're already a star, if you've already reached the top of the mountain."[ 19] Producer Jay Daniel talked about the difficulties between the costars in the later seasons: "Well, I was the guy that more often than not would be the one that would go into the lion's den when they were having disagreements. I'd sort of be the referee, try to resolve it so that we could get back to work. So there was that side of it. Everybody knows there was friction between the two of them on the stage. In the beginning, Bruce was just a guy's guy. Let's just say he evolved. Over the years, he went from being the crew's best friend and just being grateful for the work and all of that to realizing that he was going to be a movie star and wanting to move on. Part of that was because of his strained relationship with Cybill. That sometimes made the set a very unpleasant place to be. Cybill – I got along with her very well at times, other times I'd have to be the one who said you have to come out of the trailer and go to work. In fairness to her, she was in the makeup chair at 6:30 in the morning with pages of dialogue she hadn't seen before, she'd work very long hours, and then be back in the makeup chair at 6:30 the next morning."[ 20] The delays became so great that even ABC mocked the lateness with an ad campaign showing network executives waiting impatiently for the arrival of new episodes at ABC's corporate headquarters. One episode featured television critic Jeff Jarvis in an introduction, sarcastically reminding viewers what was going on with the show's plot since it had been so long since the last new episode. The season-three clipshow episode "The Straight Poop" also made fun of the episode delays by having Hollywood columnist Rona Barrett drop by the Blue Moon Detective Agency to figure out why David and Maddie could not get along, as the premise to set up the clips from earlier episodes. In the end, Rona convinced them to apologize to one another, and promised the viewers that there would be an all-new episode the following week. Shepherd's real-life pregnancy and a skiing accident in which Willis broke his clavicle further contributed to production delays. To counter these problems, with the fourth season, the writers began to focus more of the show's attention on supporting cast members Agnes and Herbert, writing several episodes focusing on the two so that the show would be able to have episodes ready for airing. Ratings and decline Moonlighting was a hit with TV audiences and with critics and industry insiders, with 16 Emmy nominations for the second season, in which Moonlighting tied for 20th place in the Nielsen ratings . In season three, the show peaked at 9th, then dropped off slightly to tie for 12th in the fourth season.[ 2] By the end of the final season, the show was 49th in the ratings.[ 21] The show's ratings decline is popularly attributed to episode 14 of season three, "I Am Curious... Maddie", which had Maddie and David consummate their relationship after two and a half years of romantic tension. In commentaries on the third-season DVD set, Caron disputed that the event led to the show's decline, but that a number of other factors led to the series' decline and eventual cancellation.[ 8] In the fourth season, Willis and Shepherd had scant screen time together. Jay Daniel explained that: We had to do episodes where there was no Cybill. She was off having twins. Her scenes were shot early, early on and then you had to integrate them with scenes shot weeks later. You were locked into what those scenes were because of what had already been shot with Cybill.[ 20] Bruce Willis was filming Die Hard during this period. When the film became a blockbuster , a film career beckoned and his desire to continue in a weekly series waned. In a series that depended on the chemistry between the two main stars, not having them together for the bulk of the fourth season hurt the ratings. The series lost Glenn Gordon Caron as executive producer and head writer when he left the show over difficulties with the production: I don't think Cybill understood how hard the workload was going to be. A situation arose with her, and at a certain point it became clear that… umm… suffice it to say I wasn't there for the last year and a half.[ 22] Shepherd recalled Caron left the show stating that it was either him or her, and he did not think the network would choose him.[ 23] When Maddie returned to Los Angeles near the end of the fourth season, the writers tried to recreate the tension between Maddie and David by having Maddie spontaneously marry a man named Walter Bishop (Dennis Dugan ) within a few hours of meeting him on the train back to Los Angeles. When Shepherd read the script, she strongly voiced her objection that her character would not do such a thing, but was overruled.[ 24] The move failed to rekindle the sparks between the main characters or capture the interest of the audience, which led to an even further ratings decline.[citation needed ] Others have suggested that the show lost its balance: in the first two seasons breaking the fourth wall was rare and solving cases was front and centre, but over time things became more based on unrealistic elements and relationships. Cancellation Neither of the principal stars was fully committed to the final season of the show. Bruce Willis, fresh from his Die Hard success, wanted to make more films. Cybill Shepherd, having just given birth to twins, had grown tired of the long, grueling production days and was ready for the series to end. In the 1988–1989 TV season, the show's ratings declined precipitously. The March to August 1988 Writers Guild of America strike [ 25] canceled plans for the 1987–1988 Moonlighting season finale to be filmed and aired on TV in three dimensions in a deal with Coca-Cola , and delayed the broadcast of the first new episode until December 6, 1988. The series went on hiatus during the February sweeps , and returned on Sunday evenings in the spring of 1989. Six more episodes aired before the series was canceled in May of that year. In keeping with the show's tradition of "breaking the fourth wall", the last episode (fittingly titled "Lunar Eclipse") featured Maddie and David returning from Agnes and Herbert's wedding to find the Blue Moon sets being taken away, and an ABC network executive waiting to tell them that the show has been canceled. The characters then race through the studio lot in search of a television producer named Cy, as the world of Moonlighting is slowly dismantled. When they find Cy, he is screening a print of "In 'n Outlaws", the episode of Moonlighting that had aired two weeks earlier. Once informed of the problem, Cy lectures David and Maddie on the perils of losing their audience and the fragility of romance. Cy was played by Dennis Dugan, the same actor who had played Walter Bishop in Maddie's marriage storyline — however, Dugan was also the director of the episode, so his acting credit was listed as "Walter Bishop".[ 26] David and Maddie then admit defeat and that the show is ending, but not before Maddie tells David, "I can't imagine not seeing you again tomorrow." This is followed by a clip montage of previous Moonlighting episodes, then the episode ends with a message stating, "Blue Moon Investigations ceased operations on May 14, 1989. The Anselmo Case[ 27] was never solved... and remains a mystery to this day." Syndication As the show had not produced enough episodes to gain a syndication contract, following its original run, it was not widely seen until its DVD release, although it occasionally appeared on cable channels targeting women (including Lifetime and Bravo in the U.S. and W in Canada) in the 1990s and 2000s. Bravo airings often featured new claymation promotions with Maddie and David using original audio clips from the series. The "Atomic Shakespeare" episode aired on Nick at Nite in 2005 as part of the network's 20th-anniversary celebration. The 1985 ABC Tuesday-night line-up was honored with reruns of Who's the Boss? , Growing Pains , and Moonlighting , although "Atomic Shakespeare" was from the 1986–87 season.[citation needed ] BBC Two initially carried the show in the UK from 1986 to 1989, and it ran on Sky 1 circa 1991. It has been shown on CBS Drama since November 2009. Between 2005 and 2008, the show was frequently shown on the now-defunct channel ABC1 . TVNZ aired the show in New Zealand in its entirety in the 1980s, and repeated it in 2004. In Asia, Moonlighting began airing seasons one and two on Rewind Network's HITS channel in December 2013.[ 28] On October 10, 2023, it had commenced streaming on Hulu , digitally remastered in HD .[ 29] As of January 2025, it is also streaming on Amazon Prime Video and in the UK on STV Player . Awards and nominations Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Moonlighting (TV series) Moonlighting was nominated for a wide range of awards, including nominations for 40 Emmy Awards of which it won six. It was also nominated for 10 Golden Globe Awards of which it won three. Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series Moonlighting (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero for his portrayal of John McClane in the Die Hard franchise (1988–2013).[ 1] [ 2] Willis's other credits include The Last Boy Scout (1991), Pulp Fiction (1994), 12 Monkeys (1995), The Fifth Element (1997), Armageddon (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable , The Whole Nine Yards (both 2000), Tears of the Sun (2003), Sin City (2005), The Expendables , Red (both 2010), Looper (2012), and Glass (2019). In the last years of his career, he starred in many low-budget direct-to-video films, which were poorly received. Willis retired in 2022 due to aphasia , and was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023.[ 3] As a singer, Willis released his debut album, The Return of Bruno , in 1987, followed by one more album in 1989 He made his Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of Misery in 2015. Willis has received various accolades throughout his career, including a Golden Globe Award , two Primetime Emmy Awards , and two People's Choice Awards . He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006. Films featuring Willis have grossed between US$2.64 billion and US$3.05 billion at North American box offices and was the eighth-highest-grossing leading actor in 2010. Early life and education Walter Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in Idar-Oberstein , West Germany ;[ 4] his mother, Marlene,[ 5] was from Kassel , Germany,[ 6] and his father, David Willis (1929–2009), was an American soldier.[ 7] He has a younger sister, Florence, and two younger brothers, Robert (1959–2001) and David.[ 8] After being discharged from the military in 1957, his father relocated the family to his hometown of Carneys Point, New Jersey . Willis has described his background as a "long line of blue-collar people".[ 9] His mother worked in a bank and his father was a welder, master mechanic and factory worker.[ 10] Willis spoke with a stutter .[ 9] He attended Penns Grove High School in Carneys Point Township, where his schoolmates nicknamed him "Buck-Buck".[ 11] [ 12] Willis joined the drama club, and found that acting on stage reduced his stutter. He was eventually elected student council president. He graduated from Penns Grove in 1973.[ 10] After graduating from high school, Willis worked as a security guard at the Salem Nuclear Power Plant [ 13] and transported crew members at the DuPont Chambers Works factory in Deepwater .[ 14] He turned to acting after working as a private investigator ,[ 15] a role he would later play in the comedy-drama series Moonlighting and the action-comedy film The Last Boy Scout . Willis enrolled in the drama program at Montclair State University ,[ 16] where he was cast in a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof . He left the school in 1977, and moved to New York City where he was part of the NBC's page program and worked for Saturday Night Live . [ 17] In the early 1980s he supported himself as a bartender at various nightspots in Manhattan including Kamikaze, Cafe Central & Chelsea Central,[ 18] [ 19] while living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood.[ 20] Career 1980s: Moonlighting , Die Hard and rise to fame Willis at the 61st Academy Awards in 1989 Willis was cast as David Addison Jr. in the television series Moonlighting (1985–1989), competing against 3,000 other actors for the position.[ 21] His starring role in Moonlighting , opposite Cybill Shepherd , helped to establish him as a comedic actor. During the show's five seasons, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy .[ 9] During the height of the show's success, beverage maker Seagram hired Willis as the pitchman for their Golden Wine Cooler products.[ 22] The advertising campaign paid Willis US$5–7 million over two years. Willis chose not to renew his contract when he decided to stop drinking alcohol in 1988.[ 23] In 1987, Willis obtained his first lead role in the Blake Edwards film Blind Date , co-starring with Kim Basinger and John Larroquette .[ 9] Edwards cast him again to play the real-life cowboy actor Tom Mix in Sunset (1988). The same year, he starred in an action role in Die Hard (1988) as John McClane .[ 9] He performed most of his own stunts in the film,[ 24] and the film grossed $138,708,852 worldwide.[ 25] Following his success with Die Hard , Willis had a leading role in the drama In Country as Vietnam veteran Emmett Smith and also provided the voice for a talking baby in Look Who's Talking (1989) and the sequel Look Who's Talking Too (1990).[ 26] [ 27] In the late 1980s, Willis enjoyed moderate success as a recording artist , recording an album of pop-blues, The Return of Bruno , credited to Willis's fictional alter ego , Bruno Radolini, supposedly an influential blues musician. The album included the hit single "Respect Yourself " using the Pointer Sisters as guest vocalists.[ 28] The LP was promoted by a mockumentary featuring scenes of "Bruno" performing at famous events including Woodstock . Willis released a version of the Drifters song "Under the Boardwalk " as a second single; it reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart , but was less successful in the US. Willis returned to the recording studio several times.[ 29] 1990s: Die Hard sequels, Pulp Fiction and dramatic roles Having acquired major personal success and pop culture influence playing John McClane in Die Hard , Willis reprised his role in the sequels Die Hard 2 (1990) and Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995).[ 9] These first three installments in the Die Hard series grossed over US$700 million internationally[ 30] and propelled Willis to the first rank of Hollywood action stars.[citation needed ] At one point, Die Hard 2 and Ghost , starring Willis's then wife Demi Moore , would occupy the number one and number two spots at the box office, a feat that would not be accomplished again for a married Hollywood couple until 2024.[ 31] [ 32] In the early 1990s, Willis's career suffered a moderate slump, as he starred in flops such as The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) and Hudson Hawk (1991), although he did find box office success with The Last Boy Scout (1991). He gained more success with Striking Distance (1993) but flopped again with Color of Night (1994): it was savaged by critics but did well in the home video market and became one of the Top 20 most-rented films in the United States in 1995.[ 33] Maxim also ranked his sex scene in the film as the best in film history.[ 34] In 1994, Willis also had a leading role in one part of Quentin Tarantino 's acclaimed Pulp Fiction ; [ 9] the film's success gave a boost to his career, and he starred alongside his Look Who's Talking co-star John Travolta .[ 35] In 1996, he was the executive producer and star of the cartoon Bruno the Kid which featured a CGI representation of himself. That same year, he starred in Mike Judge 's animated film Beavis and Butt-head Do America with his then-wife Demi Moore . In the movie, he plays a drunken criminal named "Muddy Grimes", who mistakenly sends Judge's titular characters to kill his wife, Dallas (voiced by Moore). He then played the lead roles in 12 Monkeys (1995), The Fifth Element (1997) and The Jackal (1997), the latter of which was a box-office success despite negative reviews. These were followed by Mercury Rising (1998) and Breakfast of Champions (1999), which were also poorly reviewed. In 1998 his voice and likeness were featured in the PlayStation video game Apocalypse .[ 36] Willis was involved in Broadway Brawler as both producer and lead actor. That production failed, and as compensation he was contracted for three films: Armageddon , The Sixth Sense and Disney's The Kid . Both Armageddon and The Sixth Sense were critical and commercial successes, with the former being the highest-grossing film of 1998 worldwide. [ 9] [ 37] [ 38] 2000s Willis in 2002 after being named Hasty Pudding Theatrical's Man of the Year Willis in June 2007 in the premiere of Live Free or Die Hard In 2000, Willis won an Emmy [ 39] for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on Friends (in which he played the father of Ross Geller 's much-younger girlfriend).[ 40] He was also nominated for a 2001 American Comedy Award (in the Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series category) for his work on Friends . Also in 2000, Willis played Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski in The Whole Nine Yards alongside Friends star Matthew Perry ,[ 41] and Russ Duritz in Disney's The Kid opposite Emily Mortimer .[ 42] Willis was originally cast as Terry Benedict in Ocean's Eleven (2001) but dropped out to work on recording an album.[ 43] In the sequel, Ocean's Twelve (2004), he makes a cameo appearance as himself. In 2005, he appeared in the film adaptation of Sin City . In 2006, he lent his voice as RJ the Raccoon in Over the Hedge . In 2007, he appeared in the Planet Terror half of the double feature Grindhouse as the villain, a mutant soldier. This marked Willis's second collaboration with the director Robert Rodriguez , following Sin City . Willis appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman several times throughout his career. He filled in for an ill David Letterman on his show on February 26, 2003, when he was supposed to be a guest.[ 44] On many of his appearances on the show, Willis staged elaborate jokes, such as wearing a day-glo orange suit in honor of the Central Park gates , having one side of his face made up with simulated birdshot wounds after the Harry Whittington shooting , or trying to break a record (a parody of David Blaine ) of staying underwater for only twenty seconds. On April 12, 2007, he appeared again, this time wearing a Sanjaya Malakar wig.[ 45] On his June 25, 2007, appearance, he wore a mini-wind turbine on his head to accompany a joke about his own fictional documentary titled An Unappealing Hunch (a wordplay on An Inconvenient Truth ).[ 46] Willis also appeared in Japanese Subaru Legacy television commercials.[ 47] Tying in with this, Subaru did a limited run of Legacys, badged "Subaru Legacy Touring Bruce", in honor of Willis. Willis has appeared in five films with Samuel L. Jackson (1993's National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 , 1994's Pulp Fiction , 1995's Die Hard with a Vengeance , 2000's Unbreakable , and 2019's Glass ) and both actors were slated to work together in Black Water Transit , before dropping out. Willis also worked with his eldest daughter, Rumer , in the 2005 film Hostage . In 2006, he appeared in the crime/drama film Alpha Dog , opposite Sharon Stone . In 2007, he appeared in the thriller Perfect Stranger , opposite Halle Berry , and reprised his role as John McClane in Live Free or Die Hard . Subsequently, he appeared in the films What Just Happened (2008) and Surrogates (2009), based on the comic book of the same name .[ 48] Willis was slated to play U.S. Army general William R. Peers in director Oliver Stone 's Pinkville , a drama about the investigation of the 1968 My Lai massacre .[ 49] However, due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike , the film was canceled. Willis appeared on the 2008 Blues Traveler album North Hollywood Shootout , giving a spoken word performance over an instrumental blues rock jam on the track "Free Willis (Ruminations from Behind Uncle Bob's Machine Shop)". In early 2009, he appeared in an advertising campaign to publicize the insurance company Norwich Union 's change of name to Aviva .[ 50] 2010s Willis in 2010 with The Expendables co-star Sylvester Stallone As of 2010, Willis was the eighth highest-grossing actor in a leading role and 12th-highest including supporting roles.[ 51] [ 52] Willis starred with Tracy Morgan in the 2010 comedy Cop Out , directed by Kevin Smith , about two police detectives investigating the theft of a baseball card.[ 53] Willis appeared in the music video for the song "Stylo " by Gorillaz .[ 54] Also in 2010, he appeared in a cameo with the former Planet Hollywood co-owners and 80s action stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film The Expendables . Willis played the role of CIA agent "Mr. Church ". It was the first time the three action stars had appeared on screen together. Although the scene featuring the three was short, it was one of the most highly anticipated scenes in the film. The trio filmed their scene in an empty church on October 24, 2009.[ 55] Willis next starred in Red , an adaptation of the comic book mini-series of the same name , in which he portrayed Frank Moses. The film was released on October 15, 2010.[ 56] Willis starred alongside Bill Murray , Edward Norton , and Frances McDormand in Moonrise Kingdom (2012). Filming took place in Rhode Island under the direction of Wes Anderson , in 2011.[ 57] Willis returned, in an expanded role, in The Expendables 2 (2012).[ 58] He appeared alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the sci-fi action film Looper (2012), as the older version of Gordon-Levitt's character, Joe. Willis teamed up with 50 Cent in a film directed by David Barrett called Fire with Fire , starring opposite Josh Duhamel and Rosario Dawson , about a fireman who must save the love of his life.[ 59] Willis also joined Vince Vaughn and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Lay the Favorite , directed by Stephen Frears , about a Las Vegas cocktail waitress who becomes an elite professional gambler.[ 60] The two films were distributed by Lionsgate Entertainment . Willis reprised his most famous role, John McClane, for a fifth time, starring in A Good Day to Die Hard , which was released on February 14, 2013.[ 61] In an interview, Willis said, "I have a warm spot in my heart for Die Hard ..... it's just the sheer novelty of being able to play the same character over 25 years and still be asked back is fun. It's much more challenging to have to do a film again and try to compete with myself, which is what I do in Die Hard . I try to improve my work every time."[ 62] That same year, Willis reprised his role as Frank Moses in Red 2 .[ 63] On October 12, 2013, Willis hosted Saturday Night Live with Katy Perry as a musical guest.[ 64] In 2015, Willis made his Broadway debut in William Goldman 's adaptation of Stephen King 's novel Misery opposite Laurie Metcalf at the Broadhurst Theatre . His performance was generally panned by critics, who called it "vacant" and "inert".[ 65] Willis was the subject of a roast by Comedy Central in a program broadcast on July 29, 2018.[ 66] Willis played himself in a cameo in the 2019 film The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part .[ 67] 2020s: Critical decline, health problems and retirement In the final years of his career, Willis starred in many low-budget independent thrillers and science fiction films.[ 68] He worked primarily with the production companies Emmett/Furla Oasis (which produced 20 films starring Willis) and 308 Entertainment Inc.[ 69] Most of the films were released direct-to-video and were widely panned.[ 68] The Golden Raspberry Awards , an annual award for the year's worst films and performances, created a dedicated category, the Worst Bruce Willis Performance in a 2021 Movie , for Willis's roles in eight films released that year.[ 70] Chris Nashawaty of Esquire described the direct-to-video films as "a profitable safe harbor" for older actors, similar to The Expendables .[ 68] Willis would often earn US$2 million for two days' work, with an average of 15 minutes' screentime per film.[ 71] He nonetheless featured heavily in the films' promotional materials, earning them the derogatory nickname "geezer teasers ".[ 72] [ 73] Those working on the films later said Willis appeared confused, did not understand why he was there and had to be fed lines through an earpiece .[ 69] Days before Willis was scheduled to arrive on set for Out of Death (2021), the screenwriter, Bill Lawrence, was instructed to reduce his role and abbreviate his dialogue. The director, Mike Burns , was told to complete all of Willis's scenes in a single day of filming.[ 69] On March 30, 2022, Willis's family announced that he was retiring because he had been diagnosed with aphasia , a disorder typically caused by damage to the area of the brain that controls language expression and comprehension.[ 74] [ 75] The Golden Raspberry Awards retracted its Willis category, deeming it inappropriate to give a Razzie to someone whose performance was affected by a medical condition.[ 76] At the time of his retirement, Willis had completed 11 films awaiting release.[ 74] [ 77] [ 78] Business activities Willis owns houses in Los Angeles and Penns Grove, New Jersey . He also rents apartments at Trump Tower [ 79] and in Riverside South, Manhattan .[ 80] In 2000, Willis and his business partner Arnold Rifkin started a motion picture production company called Cheyenne Enterprises . He left the company to be run solely by Rifkin in 2007 after Live Free or Die Hard .[ 81] He also owns several small businesses in Hailey, Idaho , including The Mint Bar and The Liberty Theater and was one of the first promoters of Planet Hollywood , with actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone .[ 82] Willis and the other actors were paid for their appearances and endorsements through an employee stock ownership plan .[ 83] In 2009, Willis signed a contract to become the international face of Belvedere SA 's Sobieski Vodka in exchange for 3.3% ownership in the company.[ 84] In 2018, Willis became the brand ambassador of the Hungarian brand Hell Energy Drink .[ 85] [ 86] Personal life Willis in June 2006 Willis's acting role models are Gary Cooper , Robert De Niro , Steve McQueen , and John Wayne .[ 87] He is left-handed.[ 88] He resides in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles with his family.[ 89] On November 21, 1987, Willis married Demi Moore at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas .[ 90] On December 20, the couple held a second reception for about 450 guests on a soundstage at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank .[ 91] They have three daughters: Rumer (b. 1988),[ 92] Scout (b. 1991),[ 93] and Tallulah (b. 1994).[ 94] Willis and Moore announced their separation on June 24, 1998.[ 95] They filed for divorce on October 18, 2000,[ 96] and the divorce was finalized later that day.[ 97] [ 98] Regarding the divorce, Willis stated, "I felt I had failed as a father and a husband by not being able to make it work." He credited actor Will Smith for helping him cope with the situation.[ 22] He has maintained a close friendship with both Moore and her subsequent husband, actor Ashton Kutcher , and attended their wedding.[ 99] Willis was engaged to actress Brooke Burns until they broke up in 2004 after ten months together.[ 21] He married model Emma Heming in Turks and Caicos on March 21, 2009;[ 100] guests included his three daughters, as well as Moore and Kutcher. The ceremony was not legally binding, so the couple wed again in a civil ceremony in Beverly Hills six days later. The couple has two daughters, one born in 2012[ 101] and another born in 2014.[ 102] In August 2025, Emma revealed that she and Willis were now living in separate homes.[ 103] [ 104] Emma said that this was due to Willis' declining health, with his new, separate one-story home being better suited to accommodate his progressing frontotemporal dementia .[ 104] [ 103] Health On February 16, 2023, Willis's family announced that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia .[ 105] According to Gregg Day, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic 's Florida campus , the symptoms include difficulties with language and comprehension, and misinterpretation of instructions.[ 106] In a statement, the family said that Willis's condition had progressed and that "challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease".[ 107] They expressed hope that media attention on Willis would raise awareness about the disease.[ 108] Emma Willis's memoir The Unexpected Journey , which focuses on her experience as her husband's caregiver, was published in September 2025.[ 109] As his condition progressed, Willis was moved to a separate, one-story home containing an on-site team providing full time support. In an August 2025 interview, Emma described the decision as made to priotitize the needs of their two daughters, and said that she believed Willis would have made the choice if he could. She said the family visits Willis "a lot" for meals and to spend other time together.[ 103]