Pierce Brosnan was born on May 16, 1953 in Navan, Meath, Ireland. He moved to London on August 12th, 1964 - the exact day that Ian Flemming, author of the Bond novels, died. Like Roger Moore, Brosnan's studied art and it is still a true passion for him. He creates oil paintings in his a spare time which are sold off for charity. He worked as a commercial illustrator who has garnered frequent comparisons to Cary Grant. As for his acting career, he gained somewhat more conventional experience as a member of an experimental London theater workshop before making his stage debut in a 1976 production of 'Wait Until Dark'. He then knew that he should be an actor.

Brosnan's theatrical breakthrough came from playwright Tennessee Williams who chose him to play McCabe in the British premiere of his Red Devil Battery Sign. Additional stage work followed before his film debut in a character turn in the well-received British gangster film, The Long Good Friday (1981).

He was discovered in America in the miniseries The Manions of America (1981) as Rory O'Manion, an Irish immigrant who makes it big in 19th century America. This successful exposure lead to his being cast as Remmington Steele in an American series running from 1982 to 1987 and really put him in the public eye. Made-for-cable thrillers, notably playing special agent Mike Graham in Alistair MacLean's Death Train (1993) and Alistair MacLean's Night Watch (1995) also showed his absolute capability for playing James Bond in the future.

Brosnan became so popular in this role that he was selected by readers polled by a national magazine as the favored actor to replace the departing Roger Moore in the highly profitable James Bond series. However, contractual obligations to Remington Steele made him unavailable to do so and the baton was passed to Timothy Dalton. He finally became James Bond in GoldenEye in 1995, and has subsequently starred in two further, very successful Bond films. Unlike previous Bonds, Brosnan has managed to star in films other than as James Bond with great success such as Dante's Peak and The Thomas Crown Affair, both with the leading role.

Pierce Brosnan was married to actress Cassandra Harris in the early 1970's, although she tragically died in 1991 of ovarian cancer. She herself had starred in the Bond film For Your Eyes Only. Pierce is now enganged to journalist Keely Shaye-Smith and has a son with her. He also has three adult children from his previous marriage.