Los Angeles: Bruce Willis has been diagnosed with dementia, his family said Thursday, less than a year after he retired from acting because of growing cognitive difficulties.

"Since we announced Bruce's diagnosis of aphasia in spring 2022, Bruce's condition has progressed and we now have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia," a statement said.

Born on a US military base in Germany in 1955, Willis was raised in New Jersey. After moving to New York to pursue an acting career, he appeared in off-Broadway productions and landed a few minor roles before getting his big break playing the wise-cracking private detective David Addison in "Moonlighting."