A new video from Demi Moore offers a rare glimpse of Bruce Willis since the famed actor retired last year following his dementia diagnosis.
In a video shared to Instagram on Sunday (March 19), the Die Hard star can be seen surrounded by his loved ones as they celebrate his 68th birthday. The video shows Moore, plus his current wife Emma Heming Willis, his daughters, and other loved ones as they sing happy birthday to him and present him with a birthday cake.
“Happy birthday, BW! So glad we could celebrate you today. Love you and our family. Thank you to everyone for the love and warm wishes – we all feel them,” Moore wrote in the caption. The two actors were married from 1987 to 2000 and share three children: Rumer, Tallulah and Scout.
This marks Willis’ first birthday since his family publicly shared he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a disorder caused by the degeneration of the frontal or temporal lobes of the brain.
Willis’ family shared an update in his diagnosis last month with a statement released through the Association of Frontotemporal Degeneration.
“Bruce has always found joy in life – and has helped everyone he knows to do the same. It has meant the world to see that sense of care echoed back to him and to all of us,” the statement read. “We have been so moved by the love you have all shared for our dear husband, father, and friend during this difficult time.”
The update came just a year after his family officially announced he was retiring from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia, a language disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate. By then, Willis had built a decades-long career as a prolific action movie star with a hidden knack for comedy.
His current wife Emma also shared an emotional video earlier that day. Tagged #ftdawareness, the actress wrote in the caption that it was a day of “grief and sadness.”
“So today is my husband’s birthday. I have started the morning by crying. As you can see by my swollen eyes and snotty nose, I just think it’s important that you see all sides of this,” she said in the video. “People always tell me, ‘You’re so strong, I don’t know how you do it.’ I’m not given a choice. I wish I was. But I’m also raising two kids in this.”
The two have been married since 2009 and share two daughters.
