Walter Bruce Willis was born in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany, to Marlene and David Willis, a military family that later moved to New Jersey.

Willis married actress Demi Moore, with whom he had three daughters: Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah.

Willis and Demi Moore divorced. He later married Emma Heming in 2009.

Willis retired due to aphasia diagnosis. In 2023, he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.