Friday, September 29, 2006

Pierce Brosnan


Ingredients:
Filmography:
Seraphim Falls (2006) GideonThe Matador (2005) Julian NobleAfter the Sunset (2004) Max

BurdettLaws of Attraction (2004) Daniel RaffertyDie Another Day (2002) James BondEvelyn

(2002) Desmond DoyleThe Match (2001) John McgeeThe Tailor of Panama (2001) Andrew

OsnardDolphins (2000) Grey Owl (2000) Archibald Belaney/ Archie Grey OwlThe Thomas Crown

Affair (1999) Thomas CrownThe World Is Not Enough (1999) James Bond--007Daniel Defoe's

Robinson Crusoe (1998) Robinson CrusoeQuest for Camelot (1998) Voice of of King ArthurThe

Nephew (1998) Joe BradyDante's Peak (1997) Harry DaltonTomorrow Never Dies (1997) James

Bond--Agent 007Mars Attacks! (1996) Donald KesslerThe Disappearance of Kevin Johnson (1996)

HimselfThe Mirror Has Two Faces (1996) AlexDetonator II: Night Watch (1995) Don't Talk to

Strangers (1995) Goldeneye (1995) James Bond--Agent 007Love Affair (1994) Ken AllenDetonator

(1993) Entangled (1993) Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) StuThe Broken Chain (1993) Live Wire (1992)

The Lawnmower Man (1992) Dr Lawrence AngeloMister Johnson (1991) Harry RudbeckMurder 101

(1991) Raw Heat (1991) Victim of Love (1991) Around the World in 80 Days (1989) The Heist

(1989) Taffin (1988) Mark TaffinThe Deceivers (1988) William SavageThe Fourth Protocol

(1987) Major PetrofskyNomads (1986) PommierThe Carpathian Eagle (1981) The Manions of

America (1981) The Long Good Friday (1980) 1st IrishmanThe Mirror Crack'd (1980) Butterfly

on a Wheel Tom RyanMarriage Peter HardingBack to Top

Producer Credits
The Matador (2005) ProducerLaws of Attraction (2004) Executive ProducerEvelyn (2002)

ProducerThe Match (2001) Executive ProducerThe Thomas Crown Affair (1999) ProducerThe Nephew

(1998) ProducerButterfly on a Wheel Executive ProducerBack to Top

Music Credits
Evelyn (2002) Song Performer ("The Parting Glass")Evelyn (2002) Song Performer ("On The

Banks Of The Roses")

Directions:
Pierce Brosnan

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.

Also Credited As: Pierce Brendan BrosnanBorn: on 05/16/1952 in Navan, County Meath,

IrelandJob Titles: Actor, Producer, Assistant stage manager, Fire eater, Illustrator,

PainterFamily
Step-father: William Carmichael.
Education
The Drama Centre, London, England, acting
Milestones
1964 Saw his first Technicolor film, "Goldfinger" (date approximate)
1976 London stage debut, "Wait Until Dark"
1977 Chosen by Tennessee Williams to create the role of McCabe in the British premiere of

"Red Devil Battery Sign"
1980 Film debut, "The Long Good Friday"
1981 American TV debut, starred as Rory O'Manion on the ABC historical miniseries "The

Manions of America"
1981 Moved from England to America
1982 Starred in the title role of NBC TV series, "Remington Steele"
1984 Suffered an attack of Bell's Palsy in the dressing room just before going on "The

Tonight Show" hosted by Joan Rivers
1985 Made US film debut in "Nomads"
1986 Briefly reunited with his father, who had abandoned him and his mother before Brosnan's

first birthday, in Ireland during the filming of one of the last "Remington Steele" episodes
1994 Named as the successor to Timothy Dalton as James Bond -- 007
1995 Starred as Bond in "Goldeneye"
1997 Received star number 2,099 on Hollywood Walk of Fame (December 3)
1998 Produced and acted in "The Nephew"
1999 Reprised Bond in "The World is Not Enough"
1999 Starred in the remake of "The Thomas Crown Affair"
1999 Starred in the title role of "Grey Eagle"
2001 Dubbed "the sexiest man alive" by People
2001 Had co-starring role as a government operative exiled to South American in "The Tailor

of Panama"
2002 Once again portrayed James Bond in "Die Another Day"; signed for a fifth outing as 007
2002 Starred in the true tale of an Irishman who overturned an old law in order to retain

custody of his children in "Evelyn"; also produced
2004 Announced he will no longer portray James Bond 007
2004 Co-starred with Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson in "After the Sunset"
2004 Starred as Daniel Rafferty, a divorce lawyer in the romantic comedy "Laws of

Attraction"
2005 Starred opposite Hope Davis and Greg Kinnear as a world-traveling assassin in "The

Matador"; earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor
Appeared on the London stage in Franco Zeffirelli's production of "Filumena" (for a year and

a half)
Joined an experimental theater workshop in London
Left County Meath, Ireland for London at age 11
Lost out on the Bond role due to his contractual obligation to "Remington Steele"
Raised by grandparents and relatives from age four to 11
Ran away with the circus as a fire eater in his teens
Selected by the public in national magazine polls to succeed Roger Moore as James Bond in

the popular movie series
TV debut, "Murphy's Stroke"
Will join Liam Neeson in the period thriller "Seraphim Falls" (lensed 2005)
Will reprise his role as Thomas Crown in "The Topkapi Affair" the sequel to the 1999 re-make

of "The Thomas Crown Affair" (lensed 2005)
Will star in the 1940s period drama "Marriage" (lensed 2006)
Worked as a commercial illustrator
Worked as assistant stage manager at the York Theatre Royal in York, England

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