‘It’s Painful’: Pierce Brosnan Had to Cut Off His Adopted Son after Boy's Mother’s Death

• Pierce Brosnan was married to actress Cassandra Harris.
• They had a son together, and he also adopted her other two kids.
• Harris has since died, and Pierce cut ties with one of their children several years after her death.

Pierce Brosnan is a father of five and a husband. He is now in his second marriage and was once a widow after losing the mother of his kids. However, he cut ties with his one child after the death of his first wife.

Pierce was first married to Australian actress Cassandra Harris, whom he wed in December 1980. The couple welcomed a son named Sean Brosnan in September 1983.

Harris was already a mother of two young children, Charlotte and Christopher, from her previous marriage when she first met the Irish actor. Pierce decided to adopt her kids.

Sadly, Harris died from ovarian cancer in December 1991 following a four-year battle with the disease. The mother of three's beloved spouse of ten years was beside her.

Pierce on the Death of His Wife Cassandra

Four months after her tragic death, Pierce recalled the fateful day his beloved wife passed away in the morning. He revealed he called their son Christopher, who was in Malibu then, to get to the hospital.

"About five to 10, she began to go; it was time," the producer recalled. The couple's daughter, Charlotte, called her father at that moment from London. "I told her that Mommy was dying, and her voice at the other end was calm," Pierce explained, adding she told him that it was okay.

"So, I had Cassie in my arms, and I had Charlotte on the phone, and two minutes later, Christopher came in the door, so we were all together. And that's how she went to God…." said the father of five.

Later that afternoon, he had to break the news to Sean, who was much younger then. Pierce put his son on his lap and told him his mom had passed away. He recounted:

"The tears came to his eyes, but they never fell. He just said, 'It's for the best, Daddy. She's not in pain anymore.' And that was it."

In 2014, Pierce gave a speech at the Stand Up To Cancer telethon in Los Angeles where he spoke frankly about witnessing his spouse slip away because of cancer:

"To watch someone you love have his or her life eaten away bit by bit by this insidious disease, that kind of sorrow becomes an indelible part of your psyche."

When asked in a December 2005 interview whether he also felt like dying after losing the mother of his kids, Pierce expressed, "Never, because I had children, who push and spur you on."

The doting parent explained that because nothing could ever prepare him for that experience, he had to take it one day at a time when grieving.

Pierce Cut Off His Son Christopher

However, he also had to go through the experience of dealing with troubled kids. He especially had trouble with Christopher, who has been jailed several times and was often in and out of rehab.

The now 50-year-old was arrested in June, 2005, for suspected heroin possession. When asked how he had been handling his adopted son's issues, Pierce said Christopher was not his usual self and that "he's having a hard life."

The star expressed hope that his child would eventually recover from his addiction while noting Christopher had pushed everyone to their limits in the family, adding that he knew how to recover but did not want to. Asked if he had coped with what his troubled child was going through, Pierce said:

"It's painful because you shut down. You never completely cut them off, but I have cut Christopher off. I had to say, "Go. Get busy living or get busy dying."

Pierce raised Christopher from the age of eight and consistently tried to help him beat his drug addiction until he decided to cut ties with him. In 1996, Christopher, a then aspiring film producer, was fined for drinking under the influence. The following year, he was jailed for three months for the same offense.

Still, that did not stop him from causing mayhem, as he was even banned from a London nightclub after getting into a fight. He later slipped into a coma after overdosing on drugs.

In 2011, Christopher was apprehended twice for stealing at the club Chinawhite, but the charges were dropped. The same thing occurred with the heroin possession as criminal proceedings got dropped.

His friends reportedly revealed that the incident prompted his famous father to offer him "one last chance to get back on track." Pierce had spoken fondly about his troubled son.

He once stated that he loves and wishes Christopher well despite his waywardness and addiction problems. "He's the most charismatic young man, with all the grace and charm of his father," said the "Goldeneye" star in a 2005 interview, adding he was praying for him.

Christopher is not the only child who has battled addiction in the family. Even his sister Charlotte went through the same journey, but unlike her brother, she turned her life around earlier and became a mom.

Pierce divulged that the siblings' biological father, film producer Dermot Harris, "died from alcoholism" in November 1986. He further stated that it seemed his son and daughter inherited their addiction issues from him. Sadly, Charlotte also passed away in 2013 at age 43 due to cancer, much like her mom.

Fifteen years after Pierce cut him off, Christopher made a rare public appearance in May 2019. He was spotted out and about in London smoking a cigarette during a walk with a friend.

Before the outing, the filmmaker had last been seen appearing on the original "Love Island" series in 2005. He once worked as an assistant director on his father Pierce's movies, including "The World Is Not Enough" and "Tomorrow Never Dies."

Christopher's loving actor dad is currently married to journalist Keely Shaye Smith, with whom he welcomed two more children: sons Paris and Dylan Brosnan.