Bio
Pierce Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor and producer best known for portraying James Bond in four films: GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002).
In television he is best known as the title character in the action series Remington Steele, playing the role from 1982-1987.
Early Life
Born an only child to Thomas and May (née Smith) in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland Brosnan was brought up in nearby Navan, County Meath. He was educated in the local school, which was run by the De La Salle Brothers.
Brosnan's mother moved to London, England for work after his father abandoned the family; in 1964, at the age of eleven, he joined her. His mother subsequently divorced his father and married a British World War II veteran (William Charmichael) who was quickly embraced as a father figure by his young stepson.
It was Charmichael who took Brosnan to see his first Bond film, Goldfinger.
He was educated at Elliott School, a state secondary modern school in Putney, West London. Brosnan would have his first 'crush' on his geography teacher during his time at school. "She wore these very tight skirts...a great arse and a great pair of tits."
When he attended high school, his nickname was 'Irish'. After school, Brosnan desired to be an artist and started training in commercial illustration at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.
When he was 16 a circus agent saw him busking as a fire eater and hired him. He trained for three years as an actor at the Drama Centre, London.
Career
Early career
After graduating, Brosnan got a job in 1975 as an acting assistant stage manager at York Theatre Royal, making his first stage appearance in Wait Until Dark.
Within six months, he was selected by playwright Tennessee Williams to play the role of McCabe in the British première of The Red Devil Battery Sign. His performance caused a stir in London and Brosnan still has the telegram sent by Williams, stating only "Thank God for you, my dear boy".
He continued his career making brief appearances in films such as The Long Good Friday (1980), The Mirror Crack'd (1980) and in television series such as The Professionals and Play for Today.
He became a television star in the United States with his leading role in the popular mini-series Manions of America starring with Kate Mulgrew, David Soul and Linda Purl.
He followed this with his 1982 portrayal of Robert Gould Shaw II in the Masterpiece Theatre documentary that chronicled the life of Virginia-born Lady Nancy Astor - the first woman to sit in British Parliament.
His portrayal of the love deprived Shaw garnered Brosnan a 1985 Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1982, Brosnan shot to popularity in the United States playing the ruggedly handsome title role in the popular romantic detective series Remington Steele, starring opposite Stephanie Zimbalist as agency creator Laura Holt.
The Washington Post noted that same year that "Pierce Brosnan could make it as a young James Bond." In 1986 Brosnan was actually offered the role of James Bond before the Remington Steele series could be completed, but he was unable to break the contract with the producers.
In 1987 he starred alongside Michael Caine in the film The Fourth Protocol. In 1992, he shot a pilot for NBC called Running Wilde, playing a reporter for Auto World magazine whose stories cover his own wild auto adventures.
Jennifer Love Hewitt played his daughter, but the series wasn't picked up and the pilot never aired.
That same year he starred in the science-fiction film The Lawnmower Man and the following year he appeared in the comedy film Mrs Doubtfire.
James Bond (1995 - 2002)
Brosnan was first related to the James Bond role when he visited his wife Cassandra Harris on the set of For Your Eyes Only. According to a 1986 report, Albert "Cubby" Broccoli said "if he [Brosnan] can act...he's my guy" to replace then-Bond Roger Moore.
It was reported around this time, by both Entertainment Tonight and the National Enquirer, that Brosnan was up for inheriting another role of Moore's; that of The Saint, Simon Templar.
He verified the rumours in a 1993 issue of Orange Coast magazine but said "it's still languishing there on someone's desk in Hollywood." The film was finally made in 1997 with Val Kilmer in the title role.
In 1986, with Roger Moore's retirement from the Bond role, Timothy Dalton was approached once again, after previously having turned it down in 1967, 1969, 1980, and the 1986 film adaptation of Brenda Starr kept Dalton from being able immediately to accept it again.
A number of actors were then screen-tested for the role - notably Sam Neill - but ultimately passed over by Albert Broccoli. Brosnan, whose television series Remington Steele had just ended, was offered the role, but publicity revived Remington Steele and forced Brosnan to back out of the role of James Bond, due to his contract with the show.
Dalton then became available and accepted the role for The Living Daylights (1987), which was a box-office success; his second turn as 007, Licence to Kill (1989) was a disappointment at the American box office, and legal squabbles about ownership of the film franchise resulted in the cancellation of a proposed third Dalton film in 1991 (rumoured title: The Property of a Lady).
It would put the series on a six-year hiatus.
GoldenEye was originally written with Dalton as Bond, but he turned it down, which left the door open for Brosnan in 1994. On June 7, 1994, Brosnan was officially announced to be the fifth actor to play James Bond.
Brosnan's appointment as Bond brought things full circle for the actor, who stated in interviews that the very first movie he ever saw was Goldfinger and that Sean Connery's performance as Bond had inspired him to enter show business.
Aware of the danger of being typecast as James Bond, Brosnan asked EON Productions, when accepting the role, to be allowed to work in other projects between Bond films. The request was granted, and for every Bond film, Brosnan appeared in at least two other mainstream films, including several he had produced.
Brosnan, along with producing partner Beau St. Clair, also formed a film production company in 1996, entitled 'Irish DreamTime'. For a time, rumour was that his Bond contract forbade him from wearing a dinner suit in any non-Bond film; that rumour was false.
Brosnan played a wide range of roles in-between his Bond film appearances, ranging from a nerdy scientist in Tim Burton's Mars Attacks!, a vulcanologist in Dante's Peak and the title role in Grey Owl, a biopic about the eponymous Canadian conservationist.
Brosnan was signed for a three film deal with an option of a fourth, and first appeared as agent 007 in 1995's GoldenEye, to much critical praise.
James Berardinelli described Brosnan as "a decided improvement over his immediate predecessor" with a "flair for wit to go along with his natural charm", but added that "fully one-quarter of Goldeneye is momentum-killing padding."
GoldenEye made over $26-million during its opening weekend in the USA, and during its release made around $350-million worldwide. It had the 4th highest worldwide gross of any film in 1995 and, taking inflation into account, was the most successful Bond film since Moonraker.
Brosnan returned in 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies and 1999's The World Is Not Enough, to virtually the same success. In 2002, Brosnan appeared for his fourth and final time as Bond in Die Another Day.
Shortly after the film's release, the media began questioning whether or not Brosnan would reprise the role for a fifth and final time, (in the later titled Casino Royale).
Brosnan kept in mind that both aficionados and critics were unhappy with Roger Moore playing the role until he was 58, but here he received popular support from both critics and the franchise fanbase for a fifth installment.
For this reason, he remained enthusiastic about reprising his role after his initial contract expired, despite earlier reservations about doing so.
Throughout 2004, it was rumoured that negotiations had broken down between Brosnan and the producers, to make way for a new and younger actor. This was denied by MGM and EON Productions.
In July 2004 Brosnan announced to Entertainment Weekly that he was quitting the role, stating "Bond is another lifetime, behind me.", though this is thought to be a failed negotiating ploy. In October 2004, Brosnan had been quoted as considered fired from the role.
Although Brosnan had been rumoured frequently as still being in the running to play 007, he had denied it several times, and in February 2005 he posted on his website that he was finished with the role.
In spite of this, rumours continued to circulate that he was in negotiations with the producers, up until Daniel Craig was signed and announced on October 14, 2005.
Brosnan has given his support to Craig in the role. In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Brosnan was asked "What do you think of the new James Bond, Daniel Craig, and will you be watching Casino Royale?", he replied "I'm looking forward to it like we're all looking forward to it. Daniel Craig is a great actor and he's going to do a fantastic job".
He later reaffirmed his comments while giving an interview to the International Herald Tribune, stating "(Craig's) on his way to becoming a memorable Bond."
During his tenure on the James Bond films, Brosnan also took part in James Bond video games. In 2002, Brosnan's likeness was used as the face of Bond in the James Bond video game Nightfire (Bond was voiced by Maxwell Caulfield).
In early 2004, Brosnan starred in the James Bond video game Everything or Nothing, again allowing his likeness to be used as well as doing the voice-work for the character; it was his last performance as James Bond.
2004 - present
Brosnan's first post-Bond role was that of Daniel Rafferty in 2004's Laws of Attraction in which Garreth Murphy of entertainment.ie described Brosnan's performance as "surprisingly effective, gently riffing off his James Bond persona and supplementing it with a raffish energy".
In the same year, Brosnan starred in After the Sunset alongside Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson. The film opened to generally negative reviews; it currently holds a 17% rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website.
Brosnan's next film was 2005's The Matador. Shaking off the sophisticated secret agent image, Brosnan starred as Julian Noble, a jaded assassin who meets a travelling salesman (Greg Kinnear) in a Mexican bar.
The film was better received than After the Sunset and garnered positive reviews. Roger Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times called Brosnan's performance the best of his career.
Brosnan was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, for his work in the film but lost out to Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line).
Brosnan's first film of 2007 was Seraphim Falls, in which he starred alongside Liam Neeson. The film was released for limited screenings on January 26, 2007. The film gained average reviews with several praising both Brosnan and Neeson's acting.
Brosnan's upcoming projects include Butterfly on a Wheel and Married Life. Pre-production has started on The Topkapi Affair, the sequel to 1999's The Thomas Crown Affair. The sequel will use Eric Ambler's novel The Light of Day and the 1964 adaption, Topkapi, as a basis.
In December 2005 Brosnan was reported to be attached to star in The November Man, an adaption of Bill Grainger's novel, There Are No Spies. Since then, no further details have been announced and it is unknown whether the project is still going ahead.
Brosnan will also be financially backing Caitlin, a film about Caitlin MacNamara, wife of poet Dylan Thomas. The title role will be played by Miranda Richardson and Brosnan will have a small part as Thomas' literary agent, John Brinnin.
Brosnan's co-star in Die Another Day, Rosamund Pike, will also appear.[
Also in 2008, Brosnan will join Meryl Streep in a film adaption of the ABBA musical Mamma Mia!. He will play Sam Charmichael, one of three men rumoured to be the father of lead Amanda Seyfried. Streep will play her mother.
Judy Craymer, producer to the film, said "Pierce brings a certain smooch factor, and we think he'll have great chemistry with Meryl in a romantic comedy."
In 2009 Brosnan will star in The Big Biazarro, directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall. The film is an adaption of the Leonard Wise novel of the same name. He plays a card player who mentors a headstrong protégé.
Brosnan has also spoke recently of making a Western film with fellow Irishmen Gabriel Byrne and Colm Meaney.
Personal Life
Family
Brosnan married the Australian actress Cassandra Harris in 1980 and adopted her two children, Charlotte (b. 1971) and Christopher (b. 1972), after their father died in 1986. Brosnan and Harris had one son together, Sean (b. 1984).
Harris died of ovarian cancer in 1991, after 11 years of marriage.
In 2001, Brosnan married American journalist Keely Shaye Smith, and they have two sons, Dylan Thomas (b. 1997) and Paris Beckett (b. 2001).
In February, 2007, Brosnan pulled out of attending of the IFTA Awards ceremony in Dublin due to his stepfather battling a serious illness.
On September 23, 2004, Brosnan became a naturalised citizen of the United States, but he has retained his Irish citizenship. Brosnan has said on being Irish that "My Irishness is in everything I do. It's the spirit of who I am, as a man, an actor, a father. It's where I come from."
Brosnan was asked by a fan if it annoyed him when people get his nationality confused. He said: "It amuses me in some respects that they should confuse me with an Englishman when I'm died-in-the-wool, born and bred Irishman...I don't necessarily fly under any flag. But no, it doesn't bother me."
He currently resides in Malibu, California and has a home in Hawaii. He also has a house in North Dublin.
Causes
Brosnan supported John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election, and is a vocal supporter of gun control and same-sex marriage.
An outspoken environmentalist, Brosnan was named 'Best-dressed Environmentalist' in 2004 by the Sustainable Style Foundation.
Brosnan first became aware of nuclear disarmament when he was nine years old. During the 1990s, he participated in news conferences in Washington DC to help Greenpeace draw attention to the issue.
From 1997 to 2000, Brosnan and wife Smith worked with the NRDC and IFAW to stop a proposed salt factory from being built at Laguna San Ignacio. The couple had also been fighting the Cabrillo Port Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility that was proposed off the coast of Malibu; the State Lands Commission denied the lease to build the terminal.
During Harris' illness, Brosnan took to painting again in his spare time, producing colourful landscapes and family portraits. Profits from sales of giclée prints of his works are given to a trust to benefit some of his favourite charitable causes.
Since her death, Brosnan has been an advocate for awareness and in 2006, he was announced as a spokesperson for Lee National Denim Day, a breast cancer fundraiser which raises millions of dollars and raises more money in a single day than any other breast cancer fundraiser.
Awards
In July 2003, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Brosnan an honorary OBE for his 'outstanding contribution to the British film industry'. As an Irish citizen, he is ineligible to receive the full OBE honour, which is awarded only to a citizen of Britain or of one of the Commonwealth of Nations member countries.
In 2002, Brosnan was also awarded an Honorary degree from the Dublin Institute of Technology and, two years later, the University College Cork.
He was also honoured in Berlin with the Golden Camera award for both artistic achievement and environmental activism.
Source: Wikipedia