Bruce Willis' star potential was ridiculed by the rest of the world, but Fox's actions were more damaging to the actor's burgeoning reputation.
Die Hard | Best of Bruce Willis | 20th Century Fox
For a period in the development of Hollywood's entertainment boom, Bruce Willis was a name that flew under the radar of every studio in town. The actor was only as good as a crazed, agile private detective on the small screen — a role that hardly reflected his intended career as an indomitable movie star.
At the same time, as a TV star, he was far from billable in a feature film, let alone in a leading role. The industry was teeming with the likes of Tom Cruise and Robert Redford and Willis didn't fit into that category. His association with the comedy genre hardly improved his image when considering actors in the action arena.
Betrayed by his television popularity and reduced to an off-beat actor in an off-beat series – it was the start of Bruce Willis' epic Hollywood journey that made him the industry's most profitable A-list action star overnight.
