Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again star Pierce Brosnan will never forget the day his first wife, Cassandra Harris, died at age 43 in 1991 from ovarian cancer — the same disease that killed her mother, Roma Waites.

“[Cassie] made me the man I am, the actor I am, the father I am,” Pierce once said about his former flame. “There is an incredible cruelty in it all, losing a person you shared everything with.” 

The 66-year-old actor explained that Cassandra’s death was so tragic that it took him quite some time to get over it. “This is the first time in my life I’ve ever experienced bereavement,” he told People in 1992. “And it’s overwhelming.”

pierce-brosnan and cassandra harris
Getty Images

After Cassandra passed away, Pierce didn’t think he would ever find love again — at least until his second wife, Keely Shaye Smith, walked into his life.

“I had a great marriage which sadly had its own ending, and I was lucky enough to find love again. We were meant to find each other. I thank God for her every day,” Pierce has admitted. It was almost like time stopped when Pierce met Keely, a journalist, for the first time.

“We talked until 3 in the morning,” the TV personality gushed to People in another interview. “He had this mischievous sparkle in his eyes. I thought, ‘Wow! Wow!’” The two soon became inseparable. In 2001, the couple got married, and later that year, they welcomed their second kid, Paris, 18, into the world after Keely gave birth to their first child, Dylan, 22, in 1997.

pierce-keely
Getty Images

“I’m at a very good time in my life. My family is healthy and so am I,” Pierce revealed. The actor is also a proud parent to his older kids, Christopher, 46; Sean, 35; and Charlotte, who also died from ovarian cancer at age 41.

“You’re going to suffer one way or the other. It’s truly unavoidable,” Pierce said about dealing with grief. “You just have to know that the days will get better, and you have to endure whatever pain has been given to you.”

Pierce is so strong!

Be sure to check out and subscribe to our Classic TV & Film Podcast for interviews with your favorite stars! 

For more on Pierce Brosnan, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now — and be sure to sign up for our newsletter!

CL2919_cover_final