Secret of Bruce Willis' Dementia Diagnosis Revealed: 'Die Hard' Icon's Wife Emma Heming Says Return of His Childhood Stutter Was Sign of Decline
The first sign of Bruce Willis's dementia was his childhood stutter returning, says his wife Emma Heming.
Oct. 30 2024, Published 5:23 p.m. ET
Bruce Willis' wife has revealed the Die Hard actor's childhood stutter returning signalled the start of his battle with dementia.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Emma Heming, 46, made the admission in a new interview in which she also praised her "blended family" with the Hollywood star, 69, for supporting her through his health struggles.
Willis and second wife Heming married in 2009 and share two daughters.
On the first signs of his decline, Heming said: "For Bruce, it started with language.
"He had a severe stutter as a child. He went to college, and there was a theater teacher who said, 'I've got something that’s going to help you.'
"From that class, Bruce realized that he could memorize a script and be able to say it without stuttering.
Willis's health has deteriorated in recent years.
Heming says her 'blended' family with Willis has helped her through tough times.
"That's what propelled him into acting. Bruce has always had a stutter, but he has been good at covering it up.
"As his language started changing, it (seemed like it) was just a part of a stutter, it was just Bruce.
"Never in a million years would I think it would be a form of dementia for someone so young."
Heming married Willis in 2009 and the couple share two young daughters - Mabel Ray, 12, and Evelyn Penn, 10.
Actress and model Heming admits their kids have grown up seeing their father's health deteriorate and when they were old enough to start noticing, that's when she felt the time was right to them the honest truth about his condition - frontotemporal dementia, which can impact language skills, behavior patterns, and movement.
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Heming says she's been open with her young children about the Die Hard star's condition.
Heming explains: "This disease is misdiagnosed, it's missed, it's misunderstood, so finally getting to a diagnosis was key so that I could learn what frontotemporal dementia is and I could educate our children.
"I've never tried to sugarcoat anything for them.
"They’ve grown up with Bruce declining over the years. I'm not trying to shield them from it."
Willis has three children from his previous marriage to Striptease actress Demi Moore, 61.
Heming has a healthy relationship with not only Willis’ ex-wife, but also his grown up daughters, Rumer, 33, Scout, 33, and Tallulah, 30.
And she says her "blended family" have been on hand to support her as she nurses Willis' health, after he was diagnosed with the condition in 2023.
Speaking to Town and Country Magazine, Heming said: "The family respects the way I'm looking after him; they really support me.
"If I need to vent, if I need to cry, if I need to rage - because all of that can happen and it's okay to have those feelings - they are always there to listen. I’m so thankful that we are this blended family.
"They're very supportive, very loving, and very helpful, and a lot of people don’t have that."
Heming admits it’s heartbreaking she may never be able to fulfil "plans" she made with the former action star.
She added: "We had so many plans, so many beautiful things we wanted to do with our girls, so many things that we wanted to experience together.
"You just rip that page out completely, and then how do you rewrite the story?
"I'm learning how to take some control back. It might not be the most beautiful story I could have thought of, but there are cracks of light.
"There's been an enormous amount of strength and a lot of beautiful things that have come from this diagnosis, and I'm trying to throw it back into the pot so other people can know that they will be okay over time."
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