As Pierce Brosnan Celebrated 25 Years With His Wife, He Chose To Come Clean About His Marriage

For almost a decade, Pierce Brosnan played James Bond – a man not noted for his fidelity. But off screen, the actor has been a long-time devotee to just one woman: his wife Keely Shaye Smith. The pair have been together for 25 years, in fact, and on their anniversary Brosnan decided that he had something he wanted to say about his spouse.

Brosnan may have the looks of a playboy, but he’s actually anything but. And although the star has won plenty of female attention for his roles in Remington Steele, Dante’s Peak, The Thomas Crown Affair and the James Bond series, he’s seemingly only ever had eyes for the women he married.

Yes, Brosnan has actually been married twice. He met his first wife, Cassandra Harris, back in 1974 when he was still an aspiring actor; the future star got to know her through David Harris, a nephew of famous actor Richard Harris. “I saw [Cassandra] coming down the staircase and I thought, ‘What a beautiful-looking woman,’” Brosnan told Cigar Aficionado in 1997.

Then Harris became Brosnan’s wife in 1980, and they went on to have one child together; Brosnan also adopted her children, Charlotte and Chris, in 1986. And, interestingly, she was the one who had first suggested to Brosnan that he should play James Bond one day.

After 17 years together, Brosnan overcome his grief at her passing as his life and career continued. Firstly, he met another woman, a journalist named Keely Shaye Smith, who would later become his second wife. And secondly, he was given the role that would define him as an actor: James Bond in GoldenEye.