Pierce Brosnan became Hollywood legend the day the first of his James Bond films hit the theaters. But not many people know that before playing the charming spy, Brosnan spent nearly four years in hospitals trying to help his wife, Cassandra, win the battle against cancer.
A love story without a happy ending
In contrast to his heartthrob character, Brosnan is a family man. In 1980, Brosnan married an Australian actress, Cassandra Harris. At the time, the woman already had two kids from a previous marriage, Charlotte and Christopher. Pierce Brosnan became a real father to the kids and even officially adopted them when their birth father died in 1986. Cassandra and Pierce also had one common child, a son, Sean.
One of the funniest things was that Cassandra, in fact, was the first in their family to star in a Bond film. She played Countess Lisl von Schlaf in the 1981’s For Your Eyes Only.
Cassandra always wanted Brosnan to play James Bond one day. Unfortunately, she did not see any of his four incredible Bond films. In 1987, the actress was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Her loving husband was there for her at every step of her battle: during surgeries, chemotherapy, and countless visits to doctors. Unfortunately, there was nothing Brosnan could do to save his beloved wife’s life and in 1991, Cassandra Harris passed away.
Her death virtually devastated the actor. When recalling these days in an interview with Esquire, Brosnan said:
I don’t look at the cup as half full, believe me. The dark, melancholy Irish black dog sits beside me from time to time.
But slowly, he managed to get his life back together and even married one more time to American journalist, Keely Shaye Smith. They welcomed two lovely boys, Dylan and Paris, and for a while, life seemed to get back to normal.
Another lost battle
Sadly, this happy bliss did not last long. In 2013, Brosnan heard the terrifying word “cancer” for the second time. His daughter, Charlotte, died from the same type of cancer that took away her mother’s life.
A year after her tragic death, Brosnan joined several other celebrities at a Stand Up For Cancer TV broadcast, reports Daily Mail.
Talking about his own heartbreak, the actor said:
To watch someone you love have his or her life eaten away bit by bit by this insidious disease, that kind of sorrow becomes an indelible part of your psyche.
It is hard to even imagine what he was going through every time one of his beloved women was fighting hard to combat the deadly disease. But despite all the pain and heartbreak, Pierce Brosnan managed to move on. Among his most recent projects, there is a TV series The Son and a romantic comedy Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
