Short Biography

Pierce Brosnan is an Irish actor who first came to American living rooms as Remington Steele, playing the imposter of a fictitious detective who flirted with Stephanie Zimbalist for five seasons. After the series ended, he played James Bond in four popular 007 films.

Most biographies list Brosnan as being born in 1953, but he has occasionally confided to friends that he is two years older than that. His father deserted the family when Brosnan was an infant, and his mother went to nursing school, leaving young Pierce in the care of assorted friends and family for several years. As a young man, Brosnan began his acting career in the theater, working in London`s West End. One of his first film parts was a tiny role in 1980`s The Mirror Crack`d with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson, and directed by the longtime Bond-flick director Guy Hamilton.

Brosnan eventually met and married a Bond girl, Cassandra Harris, who appeared in Roger Moore`s For Your Eyes Only as well as several episodes of Remington Steele. She had gotten the last name Harris some years earlier, when she married the brother of actor and left-the-cake-out-in-the-rain singer Richard Harris. When Cassandra Harris died of ovarian cancer in 1991, Brosnan adopted her two children. Brosnan`s father also resurfaced when Brosnan became a star with Remington Steele.

Brosnan was originally offered the role of Bond in 1986, for The Living Daylights, but the makers of Remington Steele would not release him from his contract. He made six more episodes of Steele before the series was cancelled, then snagged the role of Bond almost a decade later with GoldenEye in 1995, when Timothy Dalton was let loose. Brosnan`s last turn as Bond came with Die Another Day, in 2002.

While not wearing the Bond tuxedo, his successful films include The Tailor of Panama, After the Sunset, and the 1999 remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. His flops include the silly volcano film Dante`s Peak, and the remarkably unromantic romantic comedy Laws of Attraction with Julianne Moore.

In May 2003, Brosnan bought a $1,000 bong from the Dementia head shop in Malibu, California. In 2004, he took the test, swore the oath, and became an American citizen. His son Christopher has been arrested at least twice on charges of petty theft.

Miscellaneous Information

Friends and Family

Sean Brosnan [Associate] (Son)

William Charmichael [Step Father] (Brosnan quickly embraced his mother`s new husband as a father figure)

May Smith [Mother] (Brosnan`s mother moved to London, England, for work, after his father had abandoned the family)

Thomas Brosnan [Father] (He was a carpenter)

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