Hollywood actor Bruce Willis, 67, and Wildecker Herzbube Wilfried Gliem, 76, are a family: Elke, 73, the singer’s wife is the great cousin of the German mother Marlene, 86, of the “Die Hard” star. In an interview with the “Bild” newspaper, Gliem now talks about the health of Willis, who is suffering from dementia and was born in 1955 in Idar-Oberstein, Rhineland-Palatinate. According to the report, Gliem had known about the dementia for a long time: “Bruce’s mother keeps us up to date, we call once a month.”
Marlene told him and his wife a year ago that Bruce had dementia: “She says she’s not sure if her son still recognizes her.” Willis’ mother also reported that her son was “very slowed down in his behavior” and “always had a slight aggressiveness”. A normal conversation is also no longer possible. However, this would be normal given the clinical picture.
He is particularly sorry for Willis’s children and wife, who would suffer as relatives: “Scout and Tallulah are two very strong girls who are now there for their dad, just as he used to be there for them.” According to the report, Gliem did not mention the other daughters.
As early as March 2022, Bruce Willis’ family made it public that the actor was suffering from what is known as aphasia, which is why he would no longer appear in public in the future and that his acting career was over. Aphasia is a speech disorder after brain damage, which can have different causes.
The diagnosis was made more concrete in mid-February 2023: Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, or FDT for short. His condition has recently deteriorated. The certainty was “painful” for the family, but also a relief. There is no treatment option for the disease.
Bruce Willis has five children: Rumer, 34, Scout, 31, and Tallulah, 29, from his marriage to fellow actor Demi Moore, 60, who divorced in 2000. He was gifted with two other daughters, Evelyn, 8, and Mabel, 10, by his now-wife, former British model Emma Heming-Willis, 44.
