Editing Bruce Willis (section)

==Early life and education==
Walter Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in [[Idar-Oberstein]] in what was then [[West Germany]].<ref>{{cite magazine | title= Monitor| magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]| date=March 22, 2013| issue= 1251| page= 25}}</ref> His mother, Marlene,<ref>{{cite news | author-link= Army Archerd | last= Archerd | first= Army | date= December 11, 2003 | url= https://variety.com/2003/scene/markets-festivals/inside-move-flu-kos-smart-set-yule-bash-1117897071/ | title= Inside Move: Flu KOs Smart Set yule bash | work= [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]].com | access-date= September 25, 2019 | archive-date= September 25, 2019 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190925173445/https://variety.com/2003/scene/markets-festivals/inside-move-flu-kos-smart-set-yule-bash-1117897071/ | url-status= live }}</ref> was German, from [[Kassel]],<ref name= "bbcnews">{{cite news| title= Surprise German visit from Willis| publisher= BBC| date= August 8, 2005| url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4132632.stm| access-date= May 9, 2009| quote= His mother Marlene was born in the nearby town of Kassel.| archive-date= April 3, 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090403001556/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4132632.stm| url-status= live}}</ref> and his father, David Willis, was an American soldier.{{Cn|date=January 2025}} He has a younger sister, Florence, and two younger brothers, Robert (deceased) and David.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://variety.com/2001/scene/people-news/robert-willis-1117802168/ | title=Robert Willis | date=July 1, 2001 | access-date=June 23, 2011 | work=Variety | archive-date=August 17, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817232005/http://variety.com/2001/scene/people-news/robert-willis-1117802168/ | url-status=live }}</ref> After being discharged from the military in 1957, his father relocated the family to his hometown of [[Carneys Point Township, New Jersey|Carneys Point, New Jersey]]. Willis has described his background as a "long line of [[Blue-collar worker|blue-collar]] people".<ref name=tca>Stated on ''[[Inside the Actors Studio]]'', 2001</ref> His mother worked in a bank and his father was a welder, master mechanic and factory worker.<ref name= biography.com>{{cite web| title=Bruce Willis|  work=[[Biography.com]] | publisher= [[FYI (TV channel)|FYI]] / [[A&E Networks]])| url= http://www.biography.com/people/bruce-willis-9533244| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151120020449/http://www.biography.com/people/bruce-willis-9533244| archive-date= November 20, 2015| url-status=live| access-date=February 16, 2016}}</ref>

Willis spoke with a [[stutter]].<ref name=tca/> He attended [[Penns Grove High School]] in [[Carneys Point Township, New Jersey|Carneys Point Township]], where his schoolmates nicknamed him "Buck-Buck".<ref name= "NYTPennHS">{{cite news| last=Petersen| first=Melody| title=Bruce Willis Drops Project, Leaving Town More Troubled| work=The New York Times| date=May 9, 1997| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/09/nyregion/bruce-willis-drops-project-leaving-town-more-troubled.html| access-date=May 9, 2009| archive-date=June 8, 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608194036/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/09/nyregion/bruce-willis-drops-project-leaving-town-more-troubled.html| url-status=live}}</ref><ref name= "BWillisUncut">{{cite news|work=[[Reader's Digest]] |title=Bruce Willis: The Uncut Interview |url= http://www.rd.com/images/content/021102/bruce_willis_interview.pdf |year= 2002 |access-date= May 9, 2009 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090325080423/http://www.rd.com/images/content/021102/bruce_willis_interview.pdf |archive-date=March 25, 2009 }}</ref> Willis joined the drama club, and found that acting on stage reduced his stutter. He was eventually elected student council president. He graduated from Penns Grove in 1973.<ref name=biography.com />

After graduating from high school, Willis worked as a security guard at the [[Salem Nuclear Power Plant]]<ref name= "DailyShow07">{{cite episode |title=Bruce Willis |series=[[The Daily Show]] |network=[[Comedy Central]] |airdate=June 26, 2007 |url=http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-26-2007/bruce-willis |access-date=September 22, 2009 |archive-date=May 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520162606/http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-26-2007/bruce-willis |url-status=live }}</ref> and transported crew members at the [[DuPont]] Chambers Works factory in [[Deepwater, New Jersey|Deepwater]].<ref name= "WashPostTragic">{{cite news| last=Segal| first=David| title=Bruce Willis's Tragic Mask| newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]| date=March 10, 2005| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22175-2005Mar9.html| access-date=May 9, 2009| archive-date=April 2, 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402054623/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22175-2005Mar9.html| url-status=live}}</ref> He turned to acting after working as a [[private investigator]],{{Cn|date=January 2025}} a role he would later play in the comedy-drama series ''[[Moonlighting (TV series)|Moonlighting]]'' and the action-comedy film ''[[The Last Boy Scout]]''.

Willis enrolled in the drama program at [[Montclair State University]],<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/-pwvctnQUYM Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20180301211844/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pwvctnQUYM&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media|title=Bruce Willis Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions|date=March 1, 2018| url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pwvctnQUYM| magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|access-date=April 21, 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> where he was cast in a production of ''[[Cat on a Hot Tin Roof]]''. He left the school in 1977, and moved to New York City, where he supported himself in the early 1980s as a bartender at various nightspots in Manhattan including Kamikaze, Cafe Central & Chelsea Central,<ref>{{cite book | last = Curley | first=Mallory | title = A Cookie Mueller Encyclopedia | publisher = Randy Press | year = 2010 | page = 260}}</ref><ref name=MorningCall>{{cite news|url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1996-02-24-3076896-story.html|title=Spotlight on Linda Fiorentino & John Dahl: Director, Actress Make an 'Unforgettable' Team|first=Amy|last=Longsdorf|newspaper=[[The Morning Call]]|location=Allentown, Pennsylvania|date=February 24, 1996|access-date=June 25, 2020|archive-date=June 25, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200625212815/https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1996-02-24-3076896-story.html|quote=[Linda] Fiorentino supported herself by working at the Kamikaze nightclub, where her fellow bartender was Bruce Willis. 'He was a good partner,' she says approvingly.|url-status=live}}</ref> while living in the [[Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan|Hell's Kitchen]] neighborhood.<ref name= "Turan">{{cite news |last1=Turan |first1=Kenneth |title=Bruce Willis Looks for the Man Within the Icon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/01/movies/motion-pictures-bruce-willis-looks-for-the-man-within-the-icon.html |access-date=February 14, 2019 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 1, 1990 |archive-date=February 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214174304/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/01/movies/motion-pictures-bruce-willis-looks-for-the-man-within-the-icon.html |url-status=live }}</ref>