The daughters behind actor Bruce Willis and why they're all rallying round as dementia diagnosis revealed

The movie action hero of the 80's and 90's, they'll never be another man who can bring a sense of strength and warmth, and even humour, to the genre. Bruce Willis was the 'everyman' in his action films, which have included Die Hard, The Fifth Element, Armageddon, Unbreakable and Sin City.

Willis’s family announced this week (Friday 17 February) that the actor has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, which is known as FTD. The announcement came almost a year after Willis was first diagnosed with aphasia, leading him to 'step away' from acting.

Before the dawn of Willis, stars of gung-ho 80's movies had been built like invincible machines. His appeal was different: funnier, more vulnerable, more human. He ended up more than earning the $5m film producers Gordon and Silver paid him for Die Hard.

"In this crazy world we live in, Bruce was worth the money, every penny,” Gordon told The New York Times in 1988. "For the project to work, you have to feel that the character might not make it, and Bruce is more Everyman than most of your major stars."

He was never afraid to take risks in acting, as well as knock out the blockbusters. He enjoyed toying with more interesting parts to play.

The huge success of Pulp Fiction helped rejuvenate Willis’s career after notable flops The Bonfire of the Vanities and Hudson Hawk, but he continued refusing to play it safe.

There were mind-bending science-fiction capers like Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys in 1995 and Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element in 1997. He still found time to headline massive blockbusters like Michael Bay’s oil-drillers-in-space disaster epic Armageddon, the planet’s highest-grossing film of 1998.

Willis changed tack yet again in 1999, receiving the best reviews of his career for starring as a child psychologist in M Night Shyamalan’s spooky psychological thriller The Sixth Sense.

Behind every balanced movie star is a strong family unit. Bruce Willis was first married to the actress Demi Moore in 1987 and they had three daughters together: Rumer, Scout and Tallulah. They divorced in 2000 and it was a difficult time for Bruce.

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.

Despite this, Bruce and Demi have stayed close and enjoy a strong friendship. He married model Emma Heming in 2009, and Demi was one of the wedding guests. They have two daughters: Mabel and Evelyn.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Bruce was seen in social media posts staying at his ex-wife Demi's house in 2020 rather than with his present wife, Emma. He was seen with his daughters and their partners, as well as other family friends at the home of Demi. This was apparently due to a medical emergency with one of Emma and Bruce's daughters and they went on to join Bruce and Demi and family once travel restrictions were lifted.

Rumer Willis

Rumer (34) was raised in the small town of Paducah, but she still got a taste of life in the spotlight at a young age. When she was just five, she made her onscreen debut in her mom's coming-of-age film Now and Then, but was credited under the name Willa Glen. A few years later, she appeared on the big screen again in Striptease, where she portrayed Moore's onscreen daughter.

Growing up, Rumer continued to periodically appear in films, including Willis' The Whole Nine Yards and Hostage. As a high schooler, she moved to Los Angeles, where she attended Wildwood Secondary School.

Rumer has appeared in many films, including There's Always Woodstock, Hello Again and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, as well as TV series like The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Pretty Little Liars and Empire. She's also participated in quite a few reality shows like The Masked Singer and Dancing with the Stars, where she was crowned champion alongside her partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy.

In 2017, Rumer opened up about her decision to get sober, although she later clarified that her choice had nothing to do with substance abuse. She explained that she had originally decided to take part in 'sober January' and then realised it was something she didn't want to stop.

In December 2022, Rumer announced that she's expecting her first child with boyfriend Derek Richard Thomas by sharing a series of bump photos on Instagram.

Moore shared the same photos on her Instagram and wrote: "Entering my hot kooky unhinged grandma era."

Scout Willis

The former couple's second daughter, Scout (31), was born in Sun Valley, Idaho, close to where the family had settled down with Rumer. Like her sister, Scout spent her younger years out of the spotlight, although she did appear in Moore's 1995 film The Scarlet Letter and Willis' 1999 film Breakfast of Champions.

As a teenager, Scout moved to L.A. with her family and later enrolled at Brown University. After graduating with a degree in Literary Arts in 2013, Scout turned her attention to more artistic endeavours.

She took part in a London exhibition that featured her self-portraits and later shared topless photos of herself as a commentary on body politics and Instagram's censorship of women. As part of her effort to start a discussion, she walked around New York City topless - pointing out that it was legal to do so while Instagram's rules censored nudity.

Scout has been focusing her attention on music, which conveys similar themes to her art. While she did release an EP in 2012 as part of the duo Gus + Scout, she didn't decide to fully pursue music for another decade. After teaching herself to play guitar in 2016, she released her debut single, 'Love Without Possession' in 2021.

The following year, she released 'Woman at Best', which she called an "ode to feminine creativity, sexuality and freedom." In June 2022, she released her self-titled full-length album.

Tallulah Willis

Tallulah (29) struggled with living life in the spotlight as a teenager, telling told Teen Vogue that by the time she turned 13, she had become her own worst critic. Reading comments about her appearance online only heightened her insecurities, and it eventually triggered an eating disorder.

By the time she was in college, "the depression became overwhelming" and she was regularly using drugs. Her sisters encouraged her to get help, and not long after, Tallulah voluntarily entered a treatment centre. Looking back on that time, Tallulah shared that becoming sober was "the most important thing" she'd ever done and she was forever grateful to the "powerful human beings" who "hoisted" her from her hole.

In 2019, she joined Moore and Rumer on an episode of Red Table Talk, and admitted she was still getting to know her "intimidating" mother. Tallulah explained that Moore had always held back and refrained from sharing her past, making her "feel very far away from her." But after reading Moore's memoir, she got to know her mum on a different level and realised they were more alike than she thought.

In 2021, Tallulah announced her engagement to director Dillon Buss, whom she had gone Instagram official with the year prior. While the private couple haven't shared much about their relationship history, Dillon did join Tallulah's family while they were quarantining together during the early days of the pandemic.

Tallulah is now focused on forging a career in the fashion industry, and she launched her own clothing brand, Wyllis, during the pandemic. The line, which includes pieces that feature Tallulah's art, works to promote mental health awareness and self-empowerment. Tallulah told PEOPLE that she hopes Wyllis will become "synonymous with safety, with awareness, with sensitivity, with kindness."