Actor Bruce Willis is soon to be honored on his old stomping grounds amid his ongoing battle with dementia and aphasia.
A New Jersey rest stop on the Garden State Parkway will now bear the “Die Hard” star’s name.
Commissioners with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority reportedly approved the request from the New Jersey Hall of Fame to rename the Ocean View Service Area late last month. The rest stop is located in Cape May County, between exits 17 and 20.
Prior to becoming known for his roles in the TV series “Moonlighting” and blockbuster films like “The Sixth Sense,” Willis grew up in southwest Jersey’s Carneys Point, where he attended Penns Grove High School.
He now becomes the latest famous face to have a Garden State rest stop named after him, following Gov. Phil Murphy’s 2021 announcement that nine stops on the parkway would be renamed for Jersey icons and Hall of Fame inductees.
Previous honorees included Frank Sinatra, Whitney Houston, Jon Bon Jovi, and James Gandolfini.
Originally designated for late Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison, the Ocean View rest stop was later given to Willis after the NJ Transit Authority reportedly never received the necessary documents from the author’s estate.
The mishap led the Hall of Fame to ask that the site be renamed in honor of Willis instead, for which it did receive written consent and releases from his representatives.
A date has yet to be announced for the renaming ceremony but officials reportedly expect it to take place before April 15.
The 68-year-old actor retired in 2022 after being diagnosed with aphasia and later frontotemporal dementia, which have affected his ability to express and understand speech.
