Who Is Pierce Brosnan's First Wife? Meet the Late Cassandra Harris Who Bravely Battled Ovarian Cancer
Pierce Brosnan was afraid he would never find love again after losing his beloved first wife, Cassandra Harris, to ovarian cancer. Life & Style takes a closer look at the late actress and her marriage to the former James Bond.
Cassandra was an actress who was born in Sydney, Australia, on December 15, 1948. She attended the country's National Institute of Dramatic Art, going on to work in theater productions, TV and films. Some of her acting credits include the TV series Shadows in 1978, Enemy at the Door in 1980 and Rough Cut that same year.
Cassandra tied the knot with William Firth in 1964, although they divorced in 1970. She went on to marry legendary actor Richard Harris' brother, producer Dermot Harris, that same year.
Dermot and Cassandra welcomed a daughter, Charlotte, in 1971. They added to their family with the birth of Christopher in 1973. The pair divorced in 1978.
Cassandra and Pierce married on December 27, 1980.
The duo met via mutual friend David Harris, who happened to be Richard Harris' nephew. David and Pierce were friends who met during drama school in London.
The couple was together until her death following a battle with ovarian cancer on December 28, 1991, at the age of 43.
Cassandra gave birth to the couple's only biological child, Sean Brosnan, on September 13, 1983.
Pierce went on to legally adopt Cassandra's kids Charlotte and Christopher after Dermot Harris' death from a heart attack in 1986. Both children took on the surname Brosnan.
Pierce shot to fame after he landed the title role on NBC's private investigator dramedy Remington Steele in 1982. Cassandra appeared on the show four different times during its five-season run as various characters.
The For Your Eyes Only actress was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1987. She battled the disease for four years before dying in December 1991. Cassandra lost her own mother to ovarian cancer when she was a teenager.
'From day one, we really had a fight on our hands,' Pierce told People in 1992, four months after his wife's death. 'This wasn't a shadow or a small tumor — this had invaded Cassie's being.'
He also revealed that Cassandra underwent eight operations as well as chemotherapy during her battle with cancer.
In a cruel twist of fate, Cassadra's daughter Charlotte died from ovarian cancer in 2013, at the age of 41.
Pierce revealed during his 1992 interview with People shortly after his wife's death that Charlotte had already started undergoing regular checkups due to her family history over ovarian cancer, as the Mrs. Doubtfire star warned, "This is a silent killer."
Pierce still remembers Charlotte fondly. In 2020, he shared an Instagram post on the seventh anniversary of her passing. "Here's looking at you kid ... in remembrance of Charlotte," the Mama Mia! star wrote in the caption of a photo showing him sitting on the porch at his home in Hawaii.
'[Cassie] made me the man I am, the actor I am, the father I am,' he told People in 1992. 'There is an incredible cruelty in it all, losing a person you shared everything with.'
'This is the first time in my life I've ever experienced bereavement,' he added. 'And it's overwhelming.'
Pierce and entertainment journalist Keely Shaye Smith met at a party in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in April 1994. The duo began dating shortly thereafter and went on to welcome two sons: Dylan Thomas Brosnan in January 1997, and Paris Beckett Brosnan in February 2001.
Pierce and Keely tied the knot at Ireland's Ashford Castle on August 4, 2001, and celebrated 23 years of wedded bliss in 2024.
'I had a great marriage which sadly had its own ending, and I was lucky enough to find love again,' Pierce gushed to People in 2001 about losing Cassandra then finding Keely. 'We were meant to find each other. I thank God for [Keely] every day.'
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