Brosnans' past was filled with tragedy, but with Keely by his side, he overcame some of his worst days.
Pierce Brosnan is a heartthrob to many, but his heart belongs to his wife Keely Shaye Brosnan, whom he has been married to for 20 years. The 68-year-old actor shared two pictures of him with his wife, 57, to mark the occasion. He captioned the image on Instagram: "Happy anniversary my darling Keely, my love forever grows with you…☘️❤️."
According to PEOPLE, Brosnan and Keely got married in Ireland on August 4, 2001. The couple shares two sons together: Dylan, 24, and Paris, 20.
Brosnan met Keely by chance in 1994, at a party in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where she was working as a TV correspondent. At the party, she was set to interview actor Ted Danson. Soon enough, the two of them connected, per PEOPLE. It didn't take long for them to realize there was a spark there. “He was captivating,” Smith said, during an interview in 2001.
“Tall, dark, and handsome–everything that everybody would immediately be attracted to. He had this mischievous sparkle in his eyes. I thought, ‘Wow! Wow!'”
A few days after their coincidental meeting, they had their first date. They “sat down under the stars and he held my hand. There were fireworks going off over our heads, and Kenny Loggins was singing. We talked until 3 in the morning,” says Keely. “I understand why women find him sexy because he is an appealing man. He really likes and appreciates women.”
A year later, Brosnan started to do well as an actor, after landing the Bond role. This, however, meant that he had a busy schedule, but he tried his best to make sure he spent a lot of time with Keely. “Wherever I went in the world I missed her, and I’d send her tickets to come so we could be together. We just seemed to fit,” he said.
Soon, they started a family together, as they welcomed their son Dylan in 1997. In 2001, Keely gave birth to Paris, and the same year, the two became man and wife. They've been enjoying marital bliss ever since.
“I found a great woman in Keely Shaye,” he said. “Not if I searched a million times over would I find one as good.” Keely returned the compliment. “He’s intelligent, captivating and his real beauty emanates from the soul,” she said. “And, like a fine wine, he’s aging beautifully.”
Here's the thing, even though Brosnan is enjoying some of the best days of his life, his past was a rather painful one, having lost his first wife, Cassandra Harris, to cancer.
The pair had met in the 70s and fallen head over heels for each other instantly. They got married in 1980. Harris was mom to two kids—Charlotte and Christopher—at the time. She and Brosnan went on to have a son, Sean Brosnan, in 1983.
Brosnan and Harris were married for 14 years until she died due to ovarian cancer in 1991.
"She has made me the man I am, the actor I am, the father I am. She's forever embedded in every fiber of my being. She's there with me every day. I was so blessed to have met someone like that," he said, in a 1992 interview with PEOPLE.
After his wife's death, he adopted Charlotte and Christopher. About two decades later, history repeated itself. Charlotte was diagnosed with the same deadly disease that had claimed her mother's life. She died in 2013, after putting up a brave fight against the illness.
“Charlotte fought her cancer with grace and humanity, courage and dignity. Our hearts are heavy with the loss of our beautiful dear girl,” Brosnan told PEOPLE at the time.
But you know what they say, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel; a silver lining. For Brosnan, Keely was his light and hopefully will remain so for years to come.
References:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSLzYO4L76W/
https://people.com/movies/pierce-brosnan-20th-wedding-anniversary-wife-keely/
https://people.com/celebrity/pierce-brosnan-keely-shaye-smith/
https://people.com/celebrity/people-archive-pierce-brosnan-remembers-wife-cassandra-harris/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photos By (L) Michael Crabtree (R) Jon Kopaloff
