Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE (born May 16, 1953) is an Irish actor and producer best known for portraying James Bond in four films from 1995 to 2002: GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. Since leaving the role, Brosnan has gone on to star in films such as Evelyn and Seraphim Falls. In 1996, he also formed, along with Beau St. Clair, a Los Angeles-based production company named Irish DreamTime.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. Brosnan 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. 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 later trained for three years as an actor at the Drama Centre, London.Brosnan married 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. 1983). Harris died of ovarian cancer in 1991, after eleven 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 the IFTA Awards ceremony in Dublin due to his stepfather's serious illness.
On September 23, 2004, Brosnan became a naturalized citizen of the United States, but he has retained his Irish citizenship. Brosnan has said 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 dyed-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 primarily in Malibu, California and has homes in Hawaii and North Dublin.
