Pierce Brosnan as James Bond 007

Pierce Brosnan

Name: Pierce Brosnan
Full/Alt. names: Pierce Brendan Brosnan
Date of Birth: Friday May 16 1952
Born: Navan, County Meath (Ireland)
Nationality: Irish

Appeared as Bond in
GoldenEye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Die Another Day (2002)

Actors who played Bond (Click below for details)
Sir Sean Connery
George Lazenby
Roger Moore
Timothy Dalton
Pierce Brosnan
Daniel Craig

James Bond Actors
Pierce Brosnan

Biography
Off-hand charm and self-deprecating comic timing were two of the qualities this dashing Irish-born leading man brought to his winning portrayal of the sophisticated, often inept, con man/private investigator Remington Steele on the long-running TV series (NBC, 1982-87) of the same name. Brosnan, a former commercial illustrator who has garnered frequent comparisons to Cary Grant, 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 and the baton was passed to Timothy Dalton.

Brosnan entered show business as a teen runaway, working with the circus as a fire eater. 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". Brosnan's theatrical breakthrough came from playwright Tennessee Williams who chose the handsome young actor to create the role of 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 Brit gangster film, "The Long Good Friday" (1980).

America first discovered the slender, dark-haired performer on TV in the miniseries "The Manions of America" (ABC, 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 Steele. Brosnan turned up on a number of specials during the series' run and one failed feature, "Nomads" (1985), in which he played a bedeviled French anthropologist. The transition to film actor proved difficult, but TV offered regular work in telefilms and miniseries. Brosnan was well cast as urbane eccentric Phineas Fogg in a miniseries adaptation of Jules Verne's novel "Around the World in 80 Days" (NBC, 1989). He became a familiar face in made-for-cable thrillers, notably playing special agent Mike Graham in "Alistair MacLean's Death Train" (USA, 1993) and "Alistair MacLean's Night Watch" (USA, 1995).

Brosnan initially found little success in features. He starred in the poorly received Ismail Merchant-produced adventure "The Deceivers" (1988) but received some positive notices for his portrayal of a Russian agent opposite Michael Caine in "The Fourth Protocol" (1987). He enjoyed a measure of popular success playing a scientist in the derivative special F/X fest, "The Lawnmower Man" (1992). Brosnan also played the supporting role of Stu, the other man, in the immensely successful if mild comedy "Mrs. Doubtfire" (1993).

It was until 1995 that Brosnan finally got his license to kill and landed the role that would be associated with him for the rest of his life, James Bond, in the film "Goldeneye." The 007 franchise was rebounding from some underperforming years during which action-heavy film series like "Lethal Weapon," "Die Hard" and "Batman" were out-Bonding the grandaddy of the genre, but Brosnan's long-awaited casting created a renewed buzz and his solid performance as an elegant-but-hard-edge 007 (combining the best elements of Sean Connery and Roger Moore's diverse appeals) revived the franchise. The actor returned for several more outings: "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997) in which he displayed abundant charisma opposite Bond girl Michelle Yeoh; "The World is Not Enough" (2000) in which his command as an action hero and sparks with Sophie Marceau balanced his chemistry-impaired relationship with Bond girl Denise Richards; and the 20th Bond outing "Die Another Day," in which he and Bond girl Halle Berry delivered the most attractive pairing since the early days of the franchise. Shortly before the release of "Die Another Day," Brosnan announced his intention to star in a fifth outing as the suave secret agent; however, in 2004 the actor revealed that he believed he had subsequently been "fired" from the role, despite--or possibly due to--his efforts to modernize and upgrade the franchise by recruiting edgier, A-list talent; for example, Brosnan had hoped he could persuade the producers to hire Quentin Tarantino to adapt "Casino Royale" into a feature film. In 2005 he told Entertainment Weekly that his role was ended with one telephone call, and that he always felt Bond was an uneasy fit for him, particularly the character's snarky one-liners. The franchize's producers countered that Brosnan asked for $30 million and gross points to reprise 007, something never granted before to any Bond actor.

His success as Bond also led to a renewed career in feature films as well, first in typically debonair supporting roles in films such as "The Mirror Has Two Faces" (1996) and "Mars Attacks" (1996), and then as a leading man in summer action fare like the volcano thriller "Dante's Peak" (1997). He also demonstrated a fondness for smaller films with an Anglo-Saxon bent such the Irish-themed "The Nephew" (1998) and the Scot-centric soccer comedy "The Match" (1999) - Brosnan also executive produced both films. He also received kudos for his performance as Archie Grey Owl, a 1930s Canadian fur trapper who adopts the ways of the Iroquois tribe in Sir Richard Attenborough's little-seen "Grey Owl" (1999). His most successful and delightful non-Bond outing came in 1999, when he played the title role of the millionaire art thief in director John McTiernan's classy remake of "The Thomas Crown Affair," a role in which he displayed considerable elegance, panache and palpable sex appeal opposite his age-appropriate leading lady Rene Russo-as he neared the age of 50 he was a bigger sex symbol than when he was in his 30s, and in 2001 People magazine named him the Sexiest Man Alive.

Other strong roles followed, included a well-received turn in the John Le Carre spy thriller "The Tailor of Panama" (2001) from director John Boorman and a robust performance in Bruce Bereford's "Evelyn" (2002), the true story of a working-class, pub-going, newly single Dublin dad who fights to regain custody of his children after his daughter and two sons are placed in Church-run orphanages by the Irish courts in the 1950s. Brosnan also produced the latter film under his Irish DreamTime production company. Next was a turn in the romantic comedy "Laws of Attraction" (2004) alongside Julianne Moore; the pair played opposing divorce lawyers who, despite their adversarial courtroom relationship, wake up to discover they've gotten married after a romantic, if alcohol-soaked, evening. Returning more to his classic form, Brosnan played a successful jewel theif struggling with retirement in the Bahamas and tempted by one more big score in "After the Sunset" (2004), a sort of "Thomas Crown Lite" venture in which benefitted from Brosnan's chemistry with co-stars Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson.


Copyright � Baseline 2006.