Bruce Willis Not Totally Verbal Amid Dementia Battle, Moonlighting Creator Says

Moonlighting creator Glenn Gordon Caron has shared an update on Bruce Willis health this week, telling the New York Post that the actor is not totally verbal amid his battle with frontotemporal dementia .

Caron, a friend of the 68-year-old actor, explained that Willis still knows who he is during his visits but noted some changes to him.

My sense is the first one to three minutes he knows who I am, he said.

[Willis] used to be a voracious reader he didnt want anyone to know that and hes not reading now. All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet hes still Bruce.

He continued: When youre with him, you know that hes Bruce, and youre grateful that hes there, but the joie de vivre is gone.

Caron said hes talked with him and the actors wife, Emma Heming Willis, while maintaining a casual relationship with his three older children.

I have tried very hard to stay in his life. Hes an extraordinary person, added Caron.

The thing that makes [his disease] so mind-blowing is [that] if youve ever spent time with Bruce Willis, there is no one who had any more joie de vivre than he. He loved life and ... just adored waking up every morning and trying to live life to its fullest.

Willis family announced that the actor was diagnosed with aphasia last year prior to sharing his dementia diagnosis in February .

In a recent appearance on the Today show, his wife noted the challenges that come with dementia.

Its hard on the person diagnosed. Its also hard on the family. And that is no different for Bruce, or myself, or our girls. And when they say that this is a family disease, it really is, said Emma Heming Willis, who shared that its hard to know if Willis is aware of his condition.

Exclusive: In honor of World Frontotemporal Dementia Awareness week, Bruce Willis wife Emma Heming Willis speaks to @hodakotb about the condition in her first interview since his diagnosis.

It was the blessing and the curse, Emma said of receiving Bruces diagnosis. pic.twitter.com/VY5yhVjZIf

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Exclusive: In honor of World Frontotemporal Dementia Awareness week, Bruce Willis wife Emma Heming Willis speaks to @hodakotb about the condition in her first interview since his diagnosis.

It was the blessing and the curse, Emma said of receiving Bruces diagnosis. pic.twitter.com/VY5yhVjZIf
TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 25, 2023

Caron, whose popular 80s series starring Willis hit Hulu this week , informed the actor about the shows availability on streaming.

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I know hes really happy that the show is going to be available for people, even though he cant tell me that, Caron told the Post.

When I got to spend time with him, we talked about it, and I know hes excited.

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