Piers Brosnan OBE is one of the best known actors in the world. He has over 70 films to his credit. He first rose to prominence in the TV series Remington Steele (1982) and then to worldwide acclaim playing secret agent 007 in four of the James Bond films:  Golden Eye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World is Never Enough (1999), and Die Another Day (2002). 

A difficult childhood

Piers was born in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland. He was the only child of English mother May Smith and carpenter Thomas Brosnan. Thomas abandoned the family when Piers was still a baby. He then moved to London with his mother when he was four. Due to her busy work he was largely brought up by his maternal grandparents. After they both died, an aunt looked after him for a while. He was subsequently sent to live in a boarding house run by a woman named Eileen. He later said, 

“Childhood was fairly solitary. I never knew my father. He left when I was an infant. To be Irish Catholic in the 1950s, and have a marriage which was not there, a father who was not there… the mother, the wife suffered greatly. My mother was very courageous. She took the bold steps to go away and be a nurse in England. Basically wanting a better life for her and myself. My mother came home once or twice a year.”

After leaving school at 16, Piers began to study commercial illustration but he became fascinated by acting after attending a drama workshop. His natural talent secured him a place at The Drama Centre in London. His first professional role was in the Tenessee Williams play The Red Devil Battery Sign in 1976. Piers then took on a few theatre roles and also worked as an assistant stage manager for six years. In 1982 he moved to Southern California and his breakthrough came when he was cast as the title character in the NBC detective series Remington Steel, which ran for five years and made him a household name. 

Dealing with tragedy and disappointment

It is easy to imagine that fame and acclaim bring an easy life, but that is certainly not the case with Piers Brosnan. He has had to face considerable obstacles. He suffered a painful double tragedy when he lost both his first wife and then his daughter to cancer. In his career, his reward for bringing major box office success to the producers of the James Bond series was to be summarily dropped. The producers seem to have been spooked by the success of the more gritty spy thrillers like The Bourne Identity and they decided to sideline the dark comedy/English gentleman spy persona so well portrayed by Piers Brosnan and his predecessors Roger Moore and Sean Connery. Piers was “shocked and dismayed” at the decision to replace him at the height of his success in the film series. 

You have to have something…

Major tragedy and career issues have a habit of causing long-term havoc in our lives, but the actor had an ace up his sleeve. Brosnan says, 

“At the end of the day, you have to have something, and for me, that is God, Jesus, my Catholic upbringing, my faith.” 

God carried me through

The Hollywood star has said many times in interviews that God, Jesus, and his Catholic Christian faith carried him through the darkest moments.  

 Speaking of how he was able to get through the grief Piers said, 

“Prayer helped me with the loss of my wife to cancer… Now prayer helps me to be a father, to be an actor, and to be a man.”

A devout Catholic upbringing 

Piers served as an altar boy in the church when he was growing up. He has shared that his faith remained deeply rooted inside despite the tragedy and the difficulties he has faced. He shares that prayer has been a constant source of strength during the moments of “deepest suffering, doubt and fear.”

The power of film and television where the heroes always prevail can give a false impression. Wealth and worldwide fame could not prevent the tragedy and the grief that Piers has faced with the loss of his wife and daughter to terminal cancer. In the longterm, playing 007 was just a job — and when the producers wanted to make more money they dumped their star and gambled on a lesser-known replacement. But Piers has a deeper strength to draw from because he knows and believes what God has told us in the Bible,

“I will be with you in trouble” (Psalm 91:15)

“I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:8, Hebrews 13:15)

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him” (Psalm 103:13)

Piers Brosnan has put his trust in God, Jesus his Son, and the Bible since his youth so that in spite of great loss and numerous battles he is still able to say:

“God has been good to me. My faith has been good to me.”

 

Story by Ralph Burden

Photo: Piers Brosnan at the Cannes Film Festival.  Creative Commons 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license

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