Bruce Willis health update: Doctors dismissed early dementia because Hollywood legend suffered severe stutter

Bruce Willis used to fill snack bowls on the set of Saturday Night Live before shooting to fame, according to Bill Murray.

Former SNL regular Murray has revealed he first encountered the Die Hard star when he was hired to work as a page behind-the-scenes of the hit sketch show before landing his big break in TV series Moonlighting in the 1980s - and Murray has revealed his buddy's main responsibility was making sure the actors had enough snacks.

During an appearance on 'Watch What Happens Live', Bill explained: "Bruce Willis was a page at NBC when I was on Saturday Night Live. This sounds like insane s***, his job was to come and go to the dressing rooms and refill the M Ms and pretzels in the actors’ rooms."

The actor reconnected with Willis after he became a star in his own right and the Die Hard actor fondly recalled his time working on SNL.

Murray added: "I remember when I met him after he was already a successful guy, he said: 'You and Gilda [Radner] were nice to me'."

The pair later went on to work together on the big screen in 2012 movie Moonrise Kingdom and Murray added: "Moonrise Kingdom was a really beautiful, lovely film. And I got to work with and have a wonderful time with [him] ...

"Bruce Willis is a good guy, a good f****** guy. He was a good friend."

As well as working with Murray, Willis also returned to Saturday Night Live as the host - presenting the show in both 1989 and 2013.

Willis has now retired from acting after being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a degenerative disease, which causes behavioural changes and communication difficulties, and recently marked his 70th birthday.

Earlier this year, his wife wife, Emma Heming Willis, 46, claimed her husband's first symptoms were initially dismissed by health professionals because he'd spent years battling a speech impediment.

Speaking to Town and Country magazine, Emma explained: "He had a severe stutter as a child. He went to college, and there was a theatre teacher who said, 'I’ve got something that’s going to help you.'

"Bruce has always had a stutter, but he has been good at covering it up. So, when he began to experience difficulties with language, it seemed like it was just a part of his stutter.

"Never in a million years would I think it would be a form of dementia for someone so young."