Bruce Willis the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006. Walter Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in the town of Idar-Oberstein, West Germany. His father, David Willis, was an American soldier. His mother, Marlene, was German, born in Kassel. Willis is the oldest of four children with a sister named Florence and two brothers, Robert (deceased) and David. After being discharged from the military in 1957, Willis's father took his family back to Carneys Point Township, New Jersey. Willis has described himself as having come from a "long line of blue collar people". His mother worked in a bank and
Allen Willis arrival in the Bay Area, Allen studied under photographer Ansel Adams at what is now called the San Francisco Art Institute. In 1955, he produced, directed, filmed and edited the 16-millimeter film "Have You Sold Your Dozen Roses?" with San Francisco poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Willis was also an early collaborator with Melvin Van Peebles around this time. In 1963, Willis was hired by San Francisco public television station KQED, which according to the East Bay Media Center, made him the first African American in broadcast journalism in California. For the next 25 years, Willis would direct a number of award-winning