John McClane John McClane John McClane is the main protagonist of the "Die Hard" film series. He is portrayed by Bruce Willis. He is known for his sardonic one-liners, including the famous catchphrase "Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker". John McClane was originally based on the fictional character Detective Joe Leland from Roderick Thorp's bestselling novel, "Nothing Lasts Forever". Other aspects are derived from Frank Malone from Walter Wager's novel "58 Minutes" (adapted as "Die Hard 2"). "Die Hard" villain Hans Gruber describes him as "just another American... who thinks he's John Wayne," to which McClane replies that he "was always partial to Roy Rogers." He
Bruce Willis would play in the television series "Moonlighting" and the 1991 film "The Last Boy Scout"), Willis turned to acting. He enrolled in the Drama Program at Montclair State University, where he was cast in the class production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". Willis left school in his junior year in 1977 and moved to New York City, where in the early 1980s he supported himself as a bartender at the West 19th Street art bar Kamikaze. He performed as an extra in Paul Newman's closing summation scene in "The Verdict" in 1982. Willis left New York City and