Eventually he beat out thousands to land the lead role on a TV series called Moonlighting which began in 1985, and over his four years on the show he picked up both a Golden Globe and an Emmy. In 1988 came Die Hard, the movie that would propel Willis to the Hollywood A-List; one of the finest action movies in history and also one of the best Christmas movies, although millions will tell you that it isn’t.

A supremely strong sequel came along two years later, but it’s the third film in the series that really stands out. 1995’s Die Hard With a Vengeance was an amazing movie, packed full of tremendous, large-scale stunts, genuine tension and a fantastic central double act with two superb comedic performances from Willis and Samuel L Jackson. 

The success of Die Hard and Willis’ huge demand as a leading man was always going to lead to a few movies that didn’t quite scale the heights, and that was certainly the case early on with films like Bonfire of the Vanities and 1991’s Hudson Hawk, the ill-advised slapstick comedy about a cat burglar who just wants a decent cup of coffee.

But that same year Willis signed up to do a movie that was much better received, at least with audiences, in the shape of The Last Boy Scout, co-starring Damon Wayans. Another action comedy, and with another excellent buddy duo at its core, it was a film that saw Willis referencing his early real life exploits as a private investigator who teams up with an arrogant American football star.

It doubled its budget at the box office and has become something of a cult classic, although critics weren’t too kind. Willis however looked back at it fondly, and told Playboy: “It’s a specific taste, but there’s an audience for it. And there was some interesting stuff in the movie. It ultimately didn’t live up to the promise of the story, but I liked the character. I know some people were offended not only by the violence but by the way the kid spoke to his father – he had a foul mouth. Sorry, Aunt Irene. It was offensive, but it made a point.”

It was indeed one of the sweariest movies released that year, but to give you an idea, it contains 102 ‘F words’ compared to The Wolf of Wall Street which contains 715 and holds the current record for the most swear words in a single film. It was certainly violent however, with the opening scene memorably showing an NFL star running onto the field and shooting three opponents, then himself.

The rest of the 1990s would prove Willis to be one of the most bankable stars in the industry, and he did work that will stand the test of time in movies as varied as Pulp Fiction, Armageddon and M Night Shyamalan’s stunning 1999 horror The Sixth Sense.

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