As a film actor, Pierce Brosnan is known as the best Bond ever.

In real life, Pierce Brosnan is known as the happiest man in Hollywood , having one of the longest and most successful marriages in the world . But few people know that the Navan native had a dark and tragic past before finding his current happiness .

Pierce Brosnan ‘s first wife and daughter die of the same disease

Brosnan moved to London at the age of 11, meeting his first wife, Australian actress Cassandra Harris, in 1977 at the age of 24. At the time, Cassandra Harris was married to film producer Dermot Harris and they had two children, 15-year-old Christopher and 14-year-old Charlotte .

Pierce Brosnan attends the USC Norris Cancer Center Gala at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on October 10, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California

Speaking about their first meeting, Brosnan said: ‘She was a beautiful woman . I just wanted to enjoy her beauty and wonder who she was .’

The couple began dating and married in December 1980. In September 1983 , Cassandra Harris gave birth to a baby boy, named Sean.

Pierce lived with Harris’s children , adopting and loving them after the children’s biological father , Dermot, died in 1986. The children later took on the surname Brosnan .

Pierce Brosnan with wife Cassandra Harris and her stepchildren, Christopher and Charlotte

In an interview, Pierce once said : ‘ We are just a normal family . First, I am Pierce, then I am Daddy Pierce. And then I become a real father . I feel so lucky that Charlotte and Chris appeared in my life’.

Sharing about his wife’s illness, Pierce said: ‘ When your partner has cancer, your life changes completely . Your schedule and reference to normal routines , as well as the way you look at life, all of these things change , because the person you love is facing death.

The chemotherapy and surgeries your partner goes through can be incredibly painful . But Cassie is so positive about life. I mean, she has the most amazing outlook on life . ‘

Cassandra did not have the chance to witness Pierce fulfill his lifelong dream of playing James Bond, as he took on the role four years after Cassandra’s death.

Unfortunately , his adopted daughter Charlotte passed away in June 2013, from the same disease that killed her mother. Notably, Charlotte’s grandmother ( Cassandra’s mother ) also died of ovarian cancer. The only thing that could comfort Pierce at that time was that he had left the filming set in Europe in time to be with his daughter before she passed away .

He was heartbroken to announce: ‘ At 2pm on June 28, my beloved daughter, Charlotte Emily, left this world , after a battle with ovarian cancer . Before closing her eyes, she was surrounded by all the people she loved: her husband Alex, her children Isabella and Lucas , and her two brothers Christopher and Sean ‘.

Pierce Brosnan, son Christopher Brosnan and daughter Charlotte Brosnan attend the “Love Affair” West Hollywood Premiere on October 13, 1994 at the DGA Theatre in West Hollywood, California

With just a glimmer of hope, Pierce Brosnan continues to live

Pierce admitted that he fell into a deep depression after the deaths of his wife and daughter. ‘Watching someone you love being eaten away by this terrible disease, that sadness becomes an indelible part of your soul ,’ he said.

Despite thinking he would never find love again, the actor finally met American journalist and former model Keely Shaye Smith at a bar in Mexico in 1994.

Pierce Brosnan and daughter Charlotte arrive at the Orange British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) at Odeon Leicester Square on February 19, 2006 in London

The couple went on to have two sons, Dylan in 1997 and Paris in 2001. Later that year, they had a traditional Irish wedding in Ballintubber. In 2021, the couple celebrated 27 years together, and Pierce paid tribute to Keely for helping him cope with his loss.

‘I know what it’s like to be a man who has lost his wife  and what it’s like to find love again. So I know there ‘s hope and I have to learn to go on with it ,’ Brosnan told the Mirror. ‘ The memory of Cassie and her fight against cancer will never be forgotten,’ he added .