Pierce Brosnan

Brosnan was married to Australian actress Cassandra Harris from 1980 until her death from ovarian cancer in 1991. They had one son, Sean, and Brosnan adopted Harris's children from a previous marriage, Charlotte and Christopher, after their father died. Charlotte died of ovarian cancer in 2013.

Brosnan met journalist Keely Shaye Smith in Mexico in 1994, and they have been married since 2001. They have two sons, Dylan and Paris. Brosnan has retained his Irish citizenship and became a United States citizen in 2004.

After leaving school, Brosnan trained in commercial illustration before studying acting for three years at the Drama Centre London. He graduated in 1975 and began working at the York Theatre Royal, where his stage debut was in Wait Until Dark. Tennessee Williams selected him for the British premiere of The Red Devil Battery Sign, and Brosnan later appeared in Franco Zeffirelli's production of Filumena opposite Joan Plowright and Frank Finlay.

His early screen work included The Long Good Friday, The Mirror Crack'd and the miniseries The Manions of America. He received a Golden Globe nomination for playing Robert Gould Shaw II in Nancy Astor. In 1982, he took the leading role in NBC's romantic detective series Remington Steele, which made him a television star in the United States and ran until 1987.

Brosnan was first offered the opportunity to succeed Roger Moore as James Bond in 1986, but his contract with Remington Steele prevented him from accepting the role. Timothy Dalton was cast instead. After Dalton left the series, Brosnan was announced as the fifth actor to play Bond in 1994.

His first Bond film was Martin Campbell's GoldenEye in 1995. Brosnan returned as 007 in Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997, The World Is Not Enough in 1999 and Die Another Day in 2002. The films established him internationally as Bond, with his performances combining the character's polished style with a more human and vulnerable quality. He also provided his likeness and voice for the video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing.

While making the Bond films, Brosnan expanded into other genres. He starred in Dante's Peak, Mars Attacks!, Grey Owl and The Thomas Crown Affair, the latter of which he also produced through Irish DreamTime, the company he founded with Beau St. Clair. His performance as Julian Noble, a weary assassin in The Matador, earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

Brosnan played Sam Carmichael in Mamma Mia! in 2008 and reprised the role in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again in 2018. Other notable roles included a former British prime minister in The Ghost Writer, Chiron in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, a retired CIA agent in The November Man, Eli McCullough in the television series The Son, and Doctor Fate in Black Adam. He later appeared in The Last Rifleman, Fast Charlie, The Great Lillian Hall, Black Bag, The Thursday Murder Club and the television series MobLand.

Brosnan has served as an ambassador for UNICEF Ireland since 2001 and has supported campaigns concerning children, cancer awareness and same-sex marriage. During the 1990s, he joined Greenpeace news conferences opposing nuclear weapons testing and boycotted the French premiere of GoldenEye in support of the organisation's campaign.

He and Keely Shaye Smith worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the International Fund for Animal Welfare to oppose a proposed salt factory at San Ignacio Lagoon. They also joined a campaign against a proposed liquefied natural gas facility off Malibu. Brosnan has raised money through sales of his paintings, with proceeds benefiting environmental, children's and women's health charities, and he has served on the advisory board of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.