12 Things You Didn't Know About Australian Actress Cassandra Harris

Anyone who knows me knows that I have written extensively on the subject of Australian actress Cassandra Harris on numerous occasions. It is therefore pretty well-established that Cassandra Harris is one of my favorite people in showbusiness.

While compiling a more complete biography on Cassandra, the idea for a listicle evolved as a more concise way to share her timeless beauty and her life and career history that is usually overshadowed by that of her husband, Pierce Brosnan.

Cassandra Harris was a fascinating character unto herself. She was first an actress and model from the beachside Sydney suburb of Avalon Beach, Australia, but eventually shifted her focus to making Pierce Brosnan the star that he would become.

That backdrop of Australia's Northern Beaches region is where we begin our list of 12 things you didn't know about actress Cassandra Harris.

1. She grew up in the seaside town of Avalon Beach, Australia.

The Sydney-born Cassandra Harris' formative years can be traced back to the paradisal seaboard of Avalon Beach.

Avalon is located in Sydney's Northern Beaches region and takes its name from Arthurian Legend. Its quaint and quiet confines have long provided a secret hideaway for the rich and famous while maintaining a low-key lifestyle for the locals.

The young Cassandra lived there with her mother, a hairstylist, stepfather, a machinist, and two sisters. Friends and family have remembered her as creative, loyal, and adventurous, with a resilient spirit. Cassandra's closest friend from her teenage years has stated that even as a youth she spoke frequently of going into acting and modelling -- and "certainly had the face and figure for it."

Cassandra attended nearby Narrabeen Girls High School, where she earned the honors of "History Prize" and "Most Improved Girl," before passing the Intermediate Certificate Examination which granted her an early exit. She found work in the offices of a real estate agent, though the strong inner longing to become an actress remained.

2. Her early acting credits were under the name Sandra Gleeson.

Many sources have picked up on the fact that Cassandra had a different name when she first entered the acting business. However, none seem clear as to the origins of the name. Contrary to what these sources state, "Sandra Gleeson" was not a stage name.

Cassandra Harris was born Sandra Colleen Waites to Walter and Roma Waites on December 15, 1941. Her parents divorced during her early childhood and young Sandra took the surname of her stepfather, Ronald Gleeson, after her mother re-married (as did her younger sister).

Cassandra is credited as "Sandra Gleeson" in her earliest documented acting roles. These include plays performed while a student at Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art, a touring production of Boeing, Boeing opposite Peter Jones, and a handful of television roles.

When she moved to London in the late 1960's, she began calling herself "Cassandra" while a regular on the town's social scene (see #5 below).

3. She moved to London when her career in Australia came to a standstill, after filming a brief scene in the nude in a short film.

In 1968, Cassandra Harris (then Sandra Gleeson) made her movie debut in a short film entitled Five Days, about a young Australian woman who falls in love with an American GI on leave from Vietnam.

The movie is often referenced as an early Bruce Beresford work, but it was actually directed by David Baker. Baker is a Tasmanian writer and director who was active from the 1960's through the mid 1980s. The name confusion seems to have stemmed from that of the film's cinematographer, Bruce McNaughton.

Five Days got its name from a leave of five days many American servicemen would take to Australia during the Pacific and Vietnam wars. During these leaves, the serviceman courted thousands of "Australian War Brides."

The infamous scene consisted of silhouetted views of Cassandra and her co-star braving the giant waves of Avalon Beach, followed by a brief back view of the two running across the shoreline fully exposed.

At the time Cassandra was a panelist on Australia's Beauty and the Beast talk show, and the scene shocked the country's then-conservative television chiefs so much that she was fired from the panel. Offers for further acting roles stalled, prompting Cassandra to take her talents to London.

4. Her successful modelling career was launched after being photographed by Sammy Davis Jr.

Just four months after arriving in London, Cassandra Harris was approached by acclaimed entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. outside of the London Palladium. Cassandra did not recognize him and referred him to her agent.

It turned out Davis was interested in photographing Cassandra. Once he did, his portrait of her appeared on the front cover of Sunday Times magazine. It was captioned, "My ideal woman."

Cassandra soon began receiving modelling offers and accepted many of them, as the extra money and publicity were a plus. Among these offers was representation by London's highly exclusive Lumley Model Agency, with only 20 girls in their books.

As far as Cassandra's acting career was concerned, however, this proved not to be the best move. Opportunities on the small screen were sparse until about 1978 when she opted to make acting her sole focus once again.

5. She was one of the most photographed people in London during the 1970's.

In addition to her modelling career, Cassandra Harris was a regular on the London social scene throughout the 1970's. As she established herself as a socialite, she began calling herself "Cassandra" rather than Sandra. It was here where she began associating with the town's so-called "smart set."

Cassandra met Dermot Harris, brother of legendary actor Richard Harris, at one such smart set party. An 8-year courtship followed, which produced her first two children. She also changed her surname by deed poll to Harris, in 1971.

Cassandra's natural beauty and outgoing personality made her a prized target for tabloids and mid-market newspapers. Joe Bangay, photographer for the Daily Express, remembered her well. "She was a great socialite, very much a party animal, and socially ambitious," he said.

6. The prospect of becoming a "Bond Girl" had been on her mind for roughly a decade prior to landing the role of Countess Lisl in For Your Eyes Only.

The earliest public reference Cassandra makes to the prospect of becoming a Bond girl can be found in an interview she gave Australian Women's Weekly in January of 1971. In it, she claimed that after shocking Australia with the infamous skinny dipping scene (see #3), she received an offer in London for a screen test to play a "Bond bird" in the franchise's upcoming installment, On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

By the time she arrived, however, "all the parts had gone," she said.

Later, in 1976, after recovering from heart surgery, Cassandra claimed to have turned down a role in the series' 10th installment, The Spy Who Loved Me, lamenting the film's sexual explicitness.

Cassandra Harris' time would come in 1981, in the 12th Bond film of the franchise, For Your Eyes Only. She played Countess Lisl opposite Roger Moore. It has since remained her best-known acting role.

7. She met Pierce Brosnan through the Harris family.

Though Cassandra's romance with Dermot Harris didn't last, her connections with the Harris family did.

David Harris, a nephew of Richard and ex-fiancé Dermot, lived with Cassandra while attending London's Drama Centre. One of his classmates, it turns out, was Pierce Brosnan. According to Brosnan, Harris still affectionately referred to Cassandra as his "aunt" and frequently spoke of her.

Cassandra Harris first met Pierce Brosnan face to face when the younger Harris invited Brosnan to a party she gave in the late 1970's. For Brosnan, the attraction was instant. "I fell for her hook, line, and sinker. She appeared like a vision before me..." he said.

Cassandra, on the other hand, had no interest, later describing him as a "funny-looking man with this short haircut." But Brosnan's persistence paid off. "Within a few weeks and a number of dates, I was madly in love with Pierce," Cassandra said. "We soon realized we wanted to be together all the time."

8. When she met Pierce Brosnan, she was more well-known than he was.

When Cassandra Harris met Pierce Brosnan, he was a struggling actor. And though she wasn't exactly a household name herself, she nonetheless boasted the more extensive resume of the two.

She had also built up quite a network within the business. Her connections included the likes of the aforementioned Sammy Davis Jr. and Richard Harris. Cassandra, of course, had also been well-known on the social scene. In the beginning, Cassandra was the one introducing Brosnan to people in in various social circles.

"There were lots of men around her at the time I met her," Pierce said. "Merchant bankers. Actors. She moved in circles which I was not accustomed to."

9. She put her own career on the back burner to become the manager of her husband's career.

If you look at Cassandra Harris' IMDB profile, you will see that her career more or less ended, save for a handful of Remington Steele appearances, after making For Your Eyes Only. On the surface, this seems perplexing given that in 1981 she told Australia's New Idea magazine, "I'm beginning to expect bigger roles. My ambitions are getting higher and higher."

But Cassandra also was well aware of her new husband's potential. While she was filming For Your Eyes Only, Pierce Brosnan's agent informed him that he was being considered for the lead role in the miniseries, Manions of America.

Cassandra rehearsed the script with Brosnan (all while filming her own movie) before he was due to fly back to London for his audition. Not only did he get the part, but it proved to be his big breakthrough.

Cassandra insisted that the two of them travel to the US for the premiere of Manions. They had also booked as many auditions as they could through a Hollywood contact of Brosnan's agent. One of those interviews happened to be for the role that would make him a household name: Remington Steele.

Bron Roylance, who worked as a makeup artist on the show, became a close friend of the couple. He said of Cassandra, "She was like his agent, his bookie, you name it. She was everything."

10. She created at least two cinematic/film projects (although neither met the public eye).

Though there aren't many direct references to Cassandra as a playwright or producer, she did insinuate on several occasions that it was something she had dabbled in.

She first speaks of writing a play and TV series back in 1976, after having heart surgery in March of that year. The play, of the tragicomedy variety, was an exploration of her emotions towards the institutionalized life. She later revealed that she sent her work to a TV company, who politely thanked her and sent it back.

Later on, in the early 1980's, she and Pierce Brosnan formed their own film company, Kilkenny Productions, in hopes of creating new works for themselves. In 1983, People Magazine reported that Cassandra was working on a project "dear to her heart" that the couple hoped to produce. It was a film or miniseries was based on the diaries of her grandmother, an artist and novelist who married a German baron.

A year later, the couple told TV Life Pictures that they were collaborating with a writer on Cassandra's idea, and were thrilled with the response they'd received from industry executives.

Though they'd hoped to have it before the camera within the following year, it was hardly spoken of thereafter. The reasons why it never panned out were never brought up in future interviews.

11. She was friends with the legendary comedienne Gilda Radner during the final years of their lives.

Cassandra Harris was not the only celebrity to suffer from ovarian cancer during the late 1980's. Comedienne Gilda Radner, of Saturday Night Live fame, was diagnosed with the disease in 1986, a year before Cassandra.

Radner was active in the Wellness Community, a support group for people dealing with cancer. Outside of the community, she had also been known to reach out to other ovarian cancer patients, one of whom was Cassandra Harris.

Gilda, Cassandra, and Charles Bronson's wife, Jill Ireland formed a three-way support network during their respective struggles. At one point, Gilda Radner would even phone Cassandra daily although they never met in person.

After Cassandra's death, Pierce Brosnan became a patron of Gilda's Club, a community organization for people living with cancer set up by Gilda's friends and family in her memory. Cassandra's friendship with Gilda was inspiration for Brosnan's support of this charity.

12. Her last words to her husband were, "always an actor."

In many ways, Pierce Brosnan's early career was a joint effort. While he was the face of it, Cassandra was the one behind the scenes pulling all the strings. Even when Cassandra fell ill with cancer, her role in Brosnan's career endeavors continued.

While Brosnan often insisted on remaining by her side during this time, Cassandra's encouragement to him was relentless. In the summer of 1991, she insisted that Brosnan take on the science fiction thriller, Lawnmower Man, despite her illness. The film would go onto become his first box office hit.

Later during the year, as Cassandra's condition deteriorated, Brosnan starred in another action thriller, Live Wire. Of that project, he said, "I did it because Cassie said it would be good to do. She has made me the man I am..."

In the week before her death, Brosnan stood by Cassandra's bedside reading pamphlets of scripture left by a local priest who had stopped by to pray for the couple. When he struggled to articulate the words, he stopped reading and exclaimed, "Darling, I'm making a pig's ear of this. Here I am an actor and I can't even get these words in the right order."

Cassandra, still conscious, whispered something that her husband did not quite hear. So he put his ear to her lips and she repeated, "always an actor..."

Brosnan has maintained for years that those final words were an exhortation to carry on the dream they built side by side. "It also meant, 'always a man, always a father,'" Brosnan told People magazine in 1992. "It was wonderful to hear.

Research Sources

• York Membery's Unauthorized Biography of Pierce Brosnan
• "The Wife He Loved and Lost" -- People Magazine feature on Pierce Brosnan
• TV Life Pictures -- Pierce Brosnan Feature
• "Remington Steele" -- People Magazine feature on Pierce Brosnan
• "From Rags to Riches" -- New Idea Magazine feature on Cassandra Harris
• "In White Fox Fur, a Brush with Death" -- Australian Women's Weekly feature on Cassandra Harris
• "There's Nothing Like an Irish Lover" -- Australian Women's Weekly feature on Cassandra Harris (Sandra Gleeson)

See the Internet's Most Complete Bio of Cassandra Harris

• The Complete Biography of Cassandra Harris -- This is Part 1, with all subsequent parts linked at the end.