Bruce Willis is 'not totally verbal' amid health battle, 'Moonlighting' creator says

(KTLA) -- Bruce Willis is struggling with communication while battling frontotemporal dementia, his friend and "Moonlighting" creator, Glenn Gordon Caron, said in a recent interview.

Caron made the statement while discussing the popular 1980s television show, which is now streaming on Hulu.

“I know he’s really happy that the show is going to be available for people, even though he can’t tell me that,” Caron, 69, told The New York Post in an interview published Wednesday.

“The process has taken quite a while and Bruce’s disease is a progressive disease, so I was able to communicate with him before the disease rendered him as incommunicative as he is now," Cameron said.

The "Die Hard' and "Pulp Fiction" star stepped away from acting in March 2022 after being diagnosed with aphasia that has since progressed to frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

FTD is caused by damage to neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, according to the National Institutes of Health. Some symptoms may include emotional problems, trouble communicating, or difficulty walking.

Despite his current health challenges, Caron said Bruce is "still Bruce."

“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," Caron said. "All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet he’s still Bruce.”

Caron told the Post that he still tries to see Willis every month or so.

“I have tried very hard to stay in his life. He’s an extraordinary person," Caron said.