Bruce Willis‘ longtime friend and the creator of Willis’ 1980s sitcom, Moonlighting, is offering a health update on the Die Hard star.
In an interview with The New York Post, Glenn Gordon Caron said it’s unfathomable to him this idea that Willis, 68, “now sees life through a screen door” amid his battle with dementia. Caron says he tries to visit Willis every month or so, and things are usually pretty good the first few minutes.
“My sense is the first one to three minutes he knows who I am,” Caron tells the outlet. “He’s not totally verbal; he used to be a voracious reader — he didn’t want anyone to know that — and he’s not reading now. All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet he’s still Bruce. When you’re with him you know that he’s Bruce and you’re grateful that he’s there, but the joie de vivre is gone.”
The Lucky Number Slevin star was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia last year, a progressive neurological disorder that impacts both cognition and behavior. Caron says he does his best to stay in touch with Willis while maintaining a relationship with his wife, Emma Heming Willis, and the actor’s children.
“I’m not always quite that good but I try and I do talk to him and his wife and I have a casual relationship with his three older children,” the Hollywood producer says. “I have tried very hard to stay in his life. He’s an extraordinary person. The thing that makes [his disease] so mind-blowing is [that] if you’ve 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. So the idea that he now sees life through a screen door, if you will, makes very little sense. He’s really an amazing guy.”
Caron’s health update comes after it was announced that, for the first time ever, all five seasons of Moonlighting are now streaming on Hulu. The ABC series starred Willis and Cybill Shepherd as private detectives who team up to solve quirky cases. The chemistry between the lead actors and the will they-won’t they pull of their characters kept fans hooked for all 67 episodes, but the show has never been available to stream until now.
Moonlighting, which aired from 1985-89, was nominated for 40 Emmy Awards, winning six — including lead actor honors for Willis. It was also nominated for 10 Golden Globe Awards, with both leads taking one home.
Caron, 69, told The New York Post that getting the show on Hulu was a long process and that he discussed it with Willis prior to his diagnosis. Now that the show’s available on Hulu, Caron says Willis is ecstatic about it, even if he can’t communicate those exact feelings.
“I know he’s really happy that the show is going to be available for people, even though he can’t tell me that,” Caron shares. “When I got to spend time with him we talked about it and I know he’s excited.”
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