The picture-perfect life of Hollywood stars gives us all something to envy: the huge houses, designer clothes and private jets are images we have come to associate with those that find success on the silver screen.
But not many of us know the struggles some may have endured before their life took a turn for the better; it’s often a childhood of hardships and struggles that can drive a person to achieve great things.
Despite the tragedy he endured as a child, Pierce Brosnan went from strength to strength; his story should be an inspiration to others…
![BORN] Pierce Brosnan / Born: Pierce Brendan Brosnan, May 16, 1953 ...](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/60/b7/13/60b7139a4bf4be66b31231ec1c2da8be.jpg)
The tough times’ Hollywood star Kirk Douglas endured as the son of poor immigrants or funnyman Jim Carey whose family lost their home and he was forced to leave school at 15 to help support them, yet still, they went on to achieve stardom.
Bond star Pierce Brosnan not only endured severe hardship growing up in Ireland and then London but was abandoned by his father and only got to see his mother twice a year.
We all know and love the slick star who, to his legion of fans, will always be their favorite OO7 (Bond) – but the road to stardom was a very rocky one for the County Louth-born actor.
Pierce’s father, Tom Brosnan, was a carpenter and abandoned him and his mother before Brosnan’s first birthday.
His mom Mary Smith left Ireland when Pierce was just four years old, moving to London so she could train as a nurse. That left Brosnan to be raised by his maternal grandparents, Philip and Kathleen Smith.
”Because I was so solitary,” he told The Guardian, ”and we lived on the outskirts of town, across the River Boyne, I was an outsider. An only child.”
While still adjusting to his new life and unable to fully understand why his mother had left him, his grandparents died, leaving Brosnan to be raised by a series of relatives.
First, he lived with an aunt and then an uncle. He recalls spending a lot of time in his aunt’s pub and feeling desperately lonely.
”But maybe that’s where the acting comes from, from spending so much time alone with your thoughts,” Brosnan said, according to livetimetv.co.uk.
After being raised by his uncle and aunt, Brosnan was sent to boarding house run by a woman named Eileen. He also had a tough time enduring the brutal regime of a strict religious school where beatings were common and ‘religion was rammed down my throat,’ he added.
When Brosnan was 11 years, his mom was financially stable enough to be reunited with her son, and he left Ireland to live with her and his stepdad in Putney, London. His stepdad even took him to see the Bond movie Goldfinger, an important turning point in Brosnan’s life.
He even endured a tough time at his new London school, where he was bullied for his Irish accent, and he left at 16 years old, despite excelling in art and English.
”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 a year, twice a year,” Brosnan said.
In 1972, he enrolled in the Drama Centre in London, finished his course, and went on to attract the attention of the famous playwright Tennessee Williams, who offered him a part in one of his plays, and the rest is history.
“When I found acting, or when acting found me, it was a liberation. It was a stepping stone into another life, away from a life that I had, and acting was something I was good at, something which was appreciated. That was a great satisfaction in my life,” Pierce Brosnan explained.
Today the 69-year-old is not only a successful actor worth millions but a doting dad who took on the role of father and mother to his three children when his first wife, Cassandra Harris, died.
Pierce has five children and three grandchildren – he tries to spend much time with them and away from the glare of Hollywood.
Recently, the Bond star has also been praised for his marriage to Keely Shaye. After more than a quarter of a century together the passionate duo still only have eyes for each other.
They’ve never once attracted rumors of cheating and are constantly caught in public kissing and holding hands. Keely is often the target of cruel trolls over her changing shape. Meanwhile the OO7 says he still adores his “passionate” wife who makes him “weak at the knees.”
Because of your looks and brain, as well as your guts, due to the hardship you suffered, you become a success and better than those who have complete parents. You turned out to be a better person and father. And you did it on your own!
Despite the tragedy he endured as a child, Pierce Brosnan went from strength to strength; his story should be an inspiration to others – share this on Facebook if you also adore Pierce Brosnan!
