Rumer Willis Says She ‘Misses’ Dad Bruce Willis and Shares Sweet Throwback Photo Amid His Battle With FTD
The legendary actor’s eldest daughter, Rumer, took to Instagram to look back on a sweet childhood moment with her father.
Rumer Willis, 35, the first of Bruce Willis’ five daughters, took to Instagram ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday to share a sweet memory of the Die Hard actor and share some personal feelings. In the photo, baby Rumer wore a white sundress as her shirtless dad cradled her and doted on her. “Really missing my papa today,” she captioned the photo, alongside a teary-eyed emoji.
Bruce, who’s also dad to daughters Scout, 31, and Tallulah, 28, with ex-wife Demi Moore, and Mabel, 10, and Evelyn, 8, with current wife Emma Hemming, announced he was retiring from acting in March of 2022 due to a rare form of aphasia. He was later diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia. In October, Moonlighting director Glenn Gordon Caron revealed that the actor is no longer completely verbal.
“My sense is the first one to three minutes he knows who I am,” Glenn told The New York Post at the time. “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.”
Rumer has 1.1 million followers on Instagram, and her expression of grief amid Bruce’s battle with FTD touched many of them. “Hugs. It’s an odd kind of hard to miss someone who is still here. Dementia is a cruel beast,” wrote a follower, while another remarked, He’s still there just differently. Sending you love.” A third sympathized with, “Bruce Willis is an amazing actor and has been my hero since Moonlighting days. Sending him and your entire family much love & light. Meanwhile, FTD can go to hell!”
Rumer recently made Bruce a grandfather when she and boyfriend Derek Richard Thomas welcomed their baby daughter, Louetta Isley Thomas Willis, in April. “You are pure magic,” they wrote in part in a social media announcement. “Born at home on Tuesday April 18th. You are more than we ever dreamed of.”
