The image of Bruce Willis, an athletic and wise-cracking movie star, struggling to remember his lines is a tough one. Progressive aphasia is frightening for anyone, but when it afflicts an actor who long displayed a quick wit and physical agility, it hits home in a visceral way.
Then there is the question: Was this hugely bankable star manipulated by those around him to continue working even when the time had come to step out of the spotlight and take care of himself? In the last few years, he has appeared in a remarkably high number of films. To get closer to answering that question, we need some understanding of aphasia, which can be a symptom of different aliments and have different variants with different results.
Reading the news stories — without having examined Willis or performed the necessary tests myself — suggests he is suffering from a primary progressive aphasia, which can be a symptom of early onset Alzheimer’s disease or a disorder called frontotemporal dementia.
