Glenn Gordon Caron, the creator of 1980’s sitcom Moonlighting, has an update on Bruce’s condition
68-year-old Bruce Willis’ longtime friend is going public with an update about his condition. In March of 2022, fans were devastated after hearing that the Die Hard star had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. This is a progressive neurological disorder that affects cognition and behavior.
In an interview with The New York Post, Glenn Gordon Caron said it’s heartbreaking to him knowing that Willis “now sees life through a screen door” as he continues to battle the effects of dementia. The writer says that he does his best to see Willis every month, but each visit gets harder to withstand after just a few minutes of being there.
“My sense is the first one to three minutes he knows who I am,” Caron explains. “He’s not totally verbal; he used to be a voracious reader — he didn’t want anyone to know that — and he’s not reading now. All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet he’s still Bruce. When you’re with him you know that he’s Bruce and you’re grateful that he’s there, but the joie de vivre is gone.”
Caron says that he has also been maintaining a relationship with his wife, Emma Heming Willis, and Willis’ children.
“I’m not always quite that good but I try and I do talk to him and his wife and I have a casual relationship with his three older children,” Caron adds. “I have tried very hard to stay in his life. He’s an extraordinary person. The thing that makes [his disease] so mind-blowing is [that] if you’ve ever spent time with Bruce Willis, there is no one who had any more joie de vivre than he. He loved life and … just adored waking up every morning and trying to live life to its fullest. So the idea that he now sees life through a screen door, if you will, makes very little sense. He’s really an amazing guy.”
This update comes shortly the announcement that all 67 episodes of Moonlighting are now available for streaming on Hulu. The show stars Willis and Cybill Shepherd as private detectives who solve cases together. This the first time ever that the show is available to stream.
“I know he’s really happy that the show is going to be available for people, even though he can’t tell me that,” Caron shares. “When I got to spend time with him we talked about it and I know he’s excited.”
Our thoughts and prayers continue to stay with Bruce Willis and his family during this difficult time.