Meet Emma Heming Willis, Bruce Willis' wife of 14 years who is caring for him after his dementia diagnosis

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Elana KleinJun 9, 2023, 19:22 IST
Meet Emma Heming Willis, Bruce Willis' wife of 14 years who is caring for him after his dementia diagnosis

Emma Heming Willis and Bruce Willis in 2019.VCG/Getty Images

  • Bruce Willis' family shared in February 2023 that he'd been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.
  • His wife of 14 years, model and actress Emma Heming Willis, provides care for him.

Close to a year after his family announced that he would be stepping away from acting due to cognitive decline caused by aphasia, Bruce Willis' wife, Emma Heming Willis, provided her husband's fans with updates about his increasingly poor health.

In February 2023, Heming Willis announced that the actor had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. Symptoms of the incurable condition are similar to those of Alzheimer's — patients experience memory loss and difficulty understanding and producing language.

Heming Willis has commented on her experience becoming the caregiver of her husband of 14 years. "You know, I have my moments. It just depends. I'm hanging in there and doing the best that I can. And, turning my pain into purpose," she said in a 2023 interview with certified dementia practitioner Gertrude Jordan.

Here's a look inside the life of Emma Heming Willis, and her relationship with Bruce Willis.

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Emma Heming, now 44, was born on the island of Malta before growing up in London and California.

Emma Heming, now 44, was born on the island of Malta before growing up in London and California.
Emma Heming Willis in 2008.Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

On her personal website, she said she lived on the "small but beautiful" island of Malta, which lies south of Italy in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, until her parents got divorced when she was a child. Her mother is Guyanese and her father is English, she wrote.

After her parents split up, she moved to London and then Southern California with her mother.

"My mother has been the ultimate guide in my life – she is the rock that I cherish, respect and admire," she wrote on her website.

In her 20s, she worked as a model, walking catwalks around the world and fronting high-profile designer campaigns.

In her 20s, she worked as a model, walking catwalks around the world and fronting high-profile designer campaigns.
Emma Heming Willis and Bruce Willis at Paris Fashion Week in 2010.Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Heming Willis' modeling career went full force after she won a modeling competition in London, "The British Elle Supermodel," in the early 1990s.

"For the next 15 years I had the privilege of walking the runways in New York, Paris, and Milan for Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Emanuel Ungaro, Dior, and Victoria's Secret," she wrote on her website, adding that she was also the face of a Dior campaign, and was featured in commercials for Clairol and Redken hair products.

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She later began working as an actress and landed a role in the film "Perfect Stranger" — alongside her future husband — in 2007.

She later began working as an actress and landed a role in the film "Perfect Stranger" — alongside her future husband — in 2007.
Emma Heming Willis in 2009.Ray Tamarra/Getty Images

In 2001, Heming Willis began her acting career. She played minor parts in "Perfume" and "Entourage," before landing a role in "Perfect Stranger," which starred Bruce Willis and Halle Berry. In 2013, she acted alongside her husband once more in "RED 2."

However, she first met Willis at the gym in 2007.

However, she first met Willis at the gym in 2007.
Emma Heming Willis and Bruce Willis in 2008.James Devaney/Getty Images

"In 2007, I met my husband-to-be, Bruce, at our mutual trainer's gym," Heming Willis wrote on her website.

In a joint interview with People in 2020, the couple discussed the day they met.

"When we first met, I was surprised at how charming and how funny he was – and extremely handsome," Heming Willis told the magazine. "That was my first thought of you."

"I was already in love with her," Bruce Willis added.

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Emma Heming and Bruce Willis got married in 2009.

Emma Heming and Bruce Willis got married in 2009.
Emma Heming Willis and Bruce Willis in 2009.Jean Baptiste Lacroix/Getty Images

The two got married two years later, in 2009, at their shared home in Turks and Caicos, according to Emma's website.

On their 13th wedding anniversary, Heming Willis shared a photo on Instagram of the couple on their wedding crying as they listened to speeches made by their loved ones. "13 years ago, those wedding speeches really sent us over the edge," she wrote in the caption.

Bruce Willis was married to Demi Moore from 1987 to 2000. The two are still close friends, and have reportedly grown closer since Willis was diagnosed with dementia in March 2022.

The couple has two daughters together, in addition to Willis' three daughters from his previous marriage.

The couple has two daughters together, in addition to Willis' three daughters from his previous marriage.
Emma Heming Willis and Bruce Willis in 2014.Jason LaVeris/Getty Images

The couple shares two daughters, 11-year-old Mabel Ray Willis and 9-year-old Evelyn Penn Willis. On her website, Heming Willis describes her daughters as a "source of inspiration."

Willis also has three older daughters — 34-year-old Rumer Glenn, 31-year-old Scout LaRue, and 29-year-old Tallulah Belle — with his ex-wife, Demi Moore. Heming Willis has a good relationship with her husband's ex and their daughters, often sharing updates to Instagram showing them spending time together.

Willis is apparently over the moon about being the father of five daughters. For Father's Day in 2021, Heming Willis shared a photo on Instagram with the caption, "Bruce's response when asked if he'd like to have a son?… "I'd have 5 more girls right now." Happy Father's Day to this proud #girldad."

"I can't imagine having five boys," Bruce Willis told People in 2020. "I can't imagine having one boy."

After becoming a mother, Heming Willis became an ambassador for Room to Grow, a charity that helps children in poverty, according to People.

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The couple has collaborated on business endeavors and has developed three fragrances together.

The couple has collaborated on business endeavors and has developed three fragrances together.
Bruce Willis and Emma Heming Willis in 2019.Jim Spellman/Getty Images

Around the same time the couple tied the knot, the Willises began collaborating to create three fragrances, two of which were nominated for Duftstars Awards.

Their first fragrance, "Bruce Willis," was released in 2010 and nominated for the prestigious German award. Two years later, they created a women's fragrance, "Lovingly," which was "a declaration of [Bruce's] love to his wife" and "is intended for modern, style-conscious women who radiate a certain sensuousness," according to Business Wire.

She showed her support for her husband when he was diagnosed with aphasia in 2022.

She showed her support for her husband when he was diagnosed with aphasia in 2022.
Emma Heming-Willis and Bruce Willis in 2019.VCG/Getty Images

In March 2022, Bruce Willis was diagnosed with aphasia, which negatively impacts cognitive function. Loss of speech and difficulty with writing and understanding language are two symptoms of the condition, according to Insider.

One of his daughters, Rumer, shared the update on her father's health in an Instagram post and said he would be "stepping away" from acting.

"This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support," she wrote in the caption, in a letter signed by Willis' entire family.

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Heming Willis updated her followers on her husband's worsening condition in February 2023, announcing that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.

Heming Willis updated her followers on her husband's worsening condition in February 2023, announcing that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.
Bruce Willis and Emma Heming Willis in 2018.Steve Granitz/Getty Images

Heming Willis alerted her followers of her husband's updated diagnosis on Instagram.

"Our family wanted to start by expressing our deepest gratitude for the incredible outpouring of love, support and wonderful stories we have all received since sharing Bruce's original diagnosis," she wrote in the caption.

"Since we announced Bruce's diagnosis of aphasia in spring 2022, Bruce's condition has progressed and we now have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia (known as FTD)," she continued.

"Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces. While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis," she said.

She continues to provide her Instagram followers with updates on her husband's health, while supporting causes that help fight his condition.

She continues to provide her Instagram followers with updates on her husband's health, while supporting causes that help fight his condition.
Emma Heming Willis at the AFTD Hope Rising Benefit in 2023.Sean Zanni

Heming Willis shared an Instagram post on her husband's 68th birthday, pleading with his fans to continue sending support.

"My birthday wish for Bruce is that you continue to keep him in your prayers and highest vibrations because his sensitive Pisces soul will feel it," she wrote alongside a video montage of clips of the happy couple.

Around the same time, in March 2023, she attended the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) Hope Rising Benefit, which helps fight frontotemporal dementia and provides support to those affected by the condition.

On May 26, 2023, Heming Willis shared another Instagram post, expressing her disappointment that trials for a potential treatment for frontotemporal dementia had been discontinued.

"Yesterday I read that Wave Life Sciences ended their clinical trial that could potentially treat frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS.)," she wrote in the caption. "Where I'm not sure it could have helped us over here, it doesn't really matter, it still feels like a gut punch."

She urged her followers to fight for a treatment for her husband's condition. "Please keep that momentum going, build on the learnings/findings and don't give up on this loving community," she continued. "Our family will continue to keep the faith and never lose hope."

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In honor of the couple's most recent wedding anniversary, Heming Willis discussed the difficulties of being a caregiver to a romantic partner.

In honor of the couple's most recent wedding anniversary, Heming Willis discussed the difficulties of being a caregiver to a romantic partner.
Emma Heming Willis and Bruce Willis in 2013.Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

On the couple's 14th anniversary, Heming Willis wrote on Instagram, "[My anniversary] got me thinking about how hard these types of 'special occasions' can be on caregivers," she wrote. "When usually our person would acknowledge the event, now their changing brains just can't."

She offered advice to those looking for ways to support people who provide care to loved ones.

"If you know someone that is looking after someone else, don't ask what you can do, just do," she added.

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