What To Know About Bruce Willis' Relationship With His 5 Daughters
Many fans have been heartbroken watching the decline of Bruce Willis. Since being diagnosed with aphasia, a cognitive disorder affecting the understanding of speech, his condition has progressed to frontotemporal dementia, an umbrella term encompassing the progressive form of aphasia. According to the Medical University of South Carolina, there is no known cure or treatment, and the average life expectancy after diagnosis is five years. In light of his failing health, Willis had to retire from acting in 2022 through a statement released by his family (via Instagram).
But many fans have also been heartened by the solidarity shown by Willis' family since his illness was publicly announced. His wife Emma Heming and ex-wife Demi Moore have both signed joint updates on Willis's health, such as the one released through the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration that confirmed his dementia. Elsewhere, Moore has shared photos of the blended family gathering together at Christmas on her social media. Willis' children have also been forthright about the impact his disease has had on their family and their support for their father.
Willis has five daughters — three by Moore and two by Heming. While only one has followed their father into acting, all have been in the public eye to some extent, and either they or their parents have shared details about their relationship with Willis over the years.
Rumer Glenn Willis
The oldest of the Willis daughters is the only one to join father Bruce in the acting profession. Rumer Glenn Willis was born on August 16, 1988, and her early life was spent in rural Idaho when she wasn't brought along by her father or mother — Demi Moore — to film sets (per People). Rumer has said that her parents were hesitant about letting her get any further into show business as a child. But she and her sisters naturally gravitated toward performing around the house, and she made it onto the screen at the age of 7 (alongside Moore) in "Now and Then." Her work as an adult has included a role in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and a turn as Roxie Hart on Broadway in a revival of "Chicago."
Work has also included a few stints with her dad. Rumer co-starred with her father in three films before his retirement: "The Whole Nine Yards," "Hostage," and "Air Strike." And while being the daughter of two famous actors also chasing a career in Hollywood has created its share of tabloid commentary for Rumer — she spoke to HuffPost about the impact of unflattering coverage by Perez Hilton — she's stayed close with both her parents and spent the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic with them in Idaho.
Rumer named her first child, Louetta Isley, after favorite musicians she shares with Bruce (via E! News), and she shared photos of him meeting his granddaughter on her Instagram. She also shared a post captioned "really missing my papa today" in late 2023, after the actor's frontotemporal dementia was confirmed earlier that year.
Scout LaRue Willis
"My sisters are hilarious," Rumer Willis once told People. "I'm the shy one." But her younger sister Scout Willis, born July 20, 1991, didn't take to performing in the same way as her father, mother, or sister. She has three acting credits on IMDb, all of them from her childhood, but her artistic pursuits have focused on art and music. Some of her artwork was exhibited in London in 2015 (via X, formerly Twitter), and after teaching herself to play the guitar, she released a self-titled album in 2022. In a statement (via People), she called her album's single "a love letter to sacred feminine rage." In a similar vein, Scout went about New York City topless in 2014 to call attention to Instagram's purported censorship of women's photos after her account was deleted. "I understand that people don't want to take me seriously," she wrote on xoJane, explaining the incident. "I didn't choose my public life, but it did give me this platform," she added. "A platform that helps make body politics newsworthy."
Scout's Instagram has since been restored, and since Bruce Willis' diagnosis, she's shared updates and intimate moments with her father. She rang in 2024 with a post that included a photo of her cuddling with him, and a month prior she shared an image of them having Thanksgiving together (via Today).
Tallulah Belle Willis
The youngest of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore's children, Tallulah Belle Willis told Teen Vogue that she was fairly sheltered from her parents' fame growing up. Born in 1994, she spent her earliest years on the family's Idaho ranch. And while her parents strove to make her aware of her good fortune, she didn't fully recognize their notoriety until the family moved to Los Angeles while she was in the 3rd grade. Uncomfortable with the spotlight, Tallulah only grew more uncomfortable when she found photos of herself online with derogatory comments. "I became my own worst critic," she wrote of her teenage years, during which she acted out and developed an eating disorder and substance use issues.
Tallulah credits her sister Scout with getting her to recognize she needed treatment, but her relationship with her family was strained for a few years. She admitted while appearing with her mother and sister on "Red Table Talk" that she found Moore "intimidating." But of all her sisters, Tallulah has written the most about Willis's condition. She devoted a good portion of a Vogue article to how she processed her father's diagnosis and included details of her childhood imagination making Willis into the action hero of his movies.
According to Tallulah, Willis's decline began a few years prior to diagnosis, and she admits to initially not dealing with it well due to her own traumas and a misplaced fear that her father favored his two younger daughters over her. As his condition has progressed, Tallulah told "The Drew Barrymore Show" that she stays connected to him through music and old photos (via Newsweek).
Mabel Ray Willis
Bruce Willis' children with Emma Heming are much younger than his oldest three. Mabel Ray Willis, their oldest together, was born April 1, 2012 (per People). Born in Los Angeles, she's spent much of her life in New York. Her birth — and that of her younger sister — were a factor in the family moving there in the first place. "I ...wanted to keep the kids as sheltered as we could from the paparazzi," Heming told M. Night Shyamalan for Elle Decor, "and that scene is still very prevalent in [Los Angeles]; it's not bad in New York, and it's zero up where we live."
With Willis making plain his disdain for social media well before his diagnosis, it's Heming who has shared photos and stories about Mabel through her Instagram. According to one video, Mabel has said becoming a "shark from 'Shark Tank'" is one of her career goals, and photos Heming has posted include outings to the theater, building snowmen, and going skiing. Since Willis' diagnosis, Heming has also shared clips of Mabel dancing with her father, and her name is included on joint family statements.
Evelyn Penn Willis
The youngest of Bruce Willis' daughters, Evelyn Penn Willis was born May 5, 2014 (per People). Having had five daughters in a row didn't seem to phase the actor, who told the magazine he and wife Emma Heming didn't learn the baby's sex in advance. Making clear his pleasure at having another girl, he added, "In general, I think women should be in charge of everything. Women are just much smarter than men." Heming joked on X (formerly Twitter) that Willis was "still the man of the house." A few years later, when she asked him if he wanted a son, Bruce replied, "I'd have [five] more girls right now" (via Instagram).
Even the youngest of the Willis girls has been affected by their father's disease, and Evelyn did her part to help. In an emotional series of videos shared on Instagram, Hemming related how Evelyn, in her spare time at school, learned that people with dementia can easily become dehydrated. After Evelyn duly reported the "fun fact" to her mother, Heming assured her daughter that Willis would always have plenty of water. "But that is the most loving and compassionate thing that you can do," Heming told her youngest daughter, "is to be curious and educate yourself on your dad's disease."