Bruce Willis' Forgotten Collaboration with Frank Sinatra Revealed As Star Continues 'Losing Battle' With Dementia

Frank Sinatra is best known for his classic hits and impact on music, but the crooner also appeared on the big screen – and a then little known Bruce Willis crossed paths with him.

One of the movie star's earliest roles was in the 1980 Faye Dunaway film The First Deadly Sin in which Willis played a very small role, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

In the critically panned crime thriller, Sinatra plays soon-to-be-retired police inspector Edward Delaney, who is looking to catch a serial killer in New York City – all while trying to care for his sick wife, played by Dunaway.

However, at one point in the film, Willis – then 25 years old – shows up and plays the character of "Man entering diner as Delaney leaves."

And while he barely spent anytime on the screen, Willis recalled just how memorable his experience alongside the Fly Me to the Moon singer was.

He previously said: "I got to hang around the set, and they were shooting nights, and Frank Sinatra would come out. We were shooting in a bar, so we’d just get him talking, and all of the young actors just try to ask… him questions and just get him telling us stories.”

According to Willis, Sinatra even shared a story about making the 1953 film From Here to Eternity, which landed him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

While filming, Sinatra recalled how co-star Ernest Borgnine encouraged him to hit him over the head with a barstool as hard as he could to get their on-screen fight underway.

Willis was not known at all at the time, as The First Deadly Sin was his first ever on-screen appearance, and it would take another five years fo him to land his breakthrough role in the sitcom Moonlighting alongside Cybill Shepherd.

"I have always considered myself an actor, not a star of anything. There’s no rule book. It’s very frightening," the Die Hard star once said.

After a lengthy career which featured such classics as The Sixth Sense, The Fifth Element, Pulp Fiction, Unbreakable and more, the 70-year-old took a step back from Hollywood after being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a brain disease that affects patients' behavior and ability to speak.

Willis starred in his final film, Assassin – which was intended for release in September 2022 under the title Die Like Lovers but was pushed back into 2023.

Following his devastating diagnosis, Willis' wife, Emma Heming, his three daughters, and his ex-wife Demi Moore have all gathered to support the ailing star.

A source told RadarOnline.com: "It can look kind of performative when the family posts pictures of Bruce surrounded by Emma, Demi or their daughters, but it's coming from a genuine place.

"Demi isn't doing this for clicks or public relations, she's doing it because Bruce deserves to be appreciated and around his family during this difficult period."

They added: "She's convinced she is making a difference by staying by his side even though he's not able to communicate much beyond a chuckle or a grin."

In March 2025, Moore lost out to Mikey Madison, 25, for the Best Actress trophy at the Oscars for her film The Substance – and a previous insider revealed the actress really wanted to win it for Willis.