Mark Harmon From NCIS Has A Storied Past That We Had No Clue About
From St. Elsewhere and Chicago Hope to The West Wing and NCIS, Mark Harmon has been a fixture of our screens for more than four decades. But how much do you know about one of America’s best-loved TV actors? Here’s a look at 40 facts that might make you see the star in a whole new light.
40. His sister’s in-laws were responsible for his first acting gig
As the saying goes, it’s not what you know but who you know. Harmon obviously had no worries about accusations of nepotism in 1973 when he accepted a part on the short-lived TV comedy Ozzie’s Girls. For its stars, Harriet and Ozzie Nelson, were the in-laws of his sister Kristen.
39. He was a star school athlete
Harmon may now be best-known for his acting talents, but back in his college days he appeared destined for a career in sport. He was a key part of the UCLA Bruins squad in the early 1970s. And in his final college year the actor was awarded the National Football Foundation Award for All-Around Excellence.
38. He knows sign language
It seems as though Harmon’s talents really do seem to know no bounds. As well as proving himself as a footballer, carpenter, marathon runner, communications student, and, of course, actor the star is also fluent in American Sign Language. Harmon learned the skill while working with The Sign Company and has had the chance to use it on several NCIS episodes, too.
37. His father is a Heisman Trophy winner
Harmon was perhaps always destined to play football in his college years. After all, his father was none other than the winner of the Heisman Trophy back in 1940. Tom Harmon made his name with the University of Michigan Wolverines as one of the star halfbacks of the late 1930s.
36. He turned down the chance to join the New England Patriots
It’s fair to say that Harmon had his head screwed on as a youngster. While most college footballers would have jumped at the chance to join the New England Patriots, the actor chose to turn the NFL team down. Harmon believed that the career move would have been a step too far for his talents. And he was more interested in capitalizing on his education than his sporting prowess.
35. Ricky Nelson was his brother-in-law
Harmon’s showbiz connections extended in the 1960s when his sister Kristin walked down the aisle with actor Ricky Nelson. The future NCIS star looked so similar to his brother-in-law that people often mistook them for siblings. Tragically, Nelson passed away in a Texas plane crash in 1985, three years after he’d split from Kristin.
34. He also has another famous ex-brother-in-law
Nelson isn’t the only other famous face to have become part of the Harmon family. Another of Harmon’s siblings, Kelly, also got hitched to a well-known name, and one from the business rather than showbiz world. As his surname would suggest, John DeLorean is the man responsible for creating the sports car that became an iconic time machine in Back to the Future.
33. He bagged an Emmy nom for his first major TV role
Harmon has picked up several nominations at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Golden Globes during his career. But his first major recognition came at the Emmys in the late 1970s for his performance in Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years. This was, impressively, also Harmon’s first notable role on the small screen.
32. He was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive
Forget the Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations. No doubt the accolade of which Harmon is most proud is the title of People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive. The star was given the honor in 1986, a year before Harry Hamlin and 12 months after the first winner, Mel Gibson.
31. He dated several famous faces
As you’d expect from a man once voted People’s Sexiest Man Alive, Harmon was very popular with the ladies in his youth. Toward the end of the 1970s he reportedly began stepping out with singer Karen Carpenter. And in the early part of the following decade he dated pin-up Heather Locklear.
30. He has a communications degree
Harmon certainly has the brains to go with his looks. In 1974 he graduated from UCLA with a communications degree. And the actor briefly attended law school before deciding to head into the world of advertising. The future NCIS star soon realized this wasn’t the industry for him, either — and ended up taking a job as a shoe salesman instead!
29. He was mentored by Dragnet star Jack Webb
One of Harmon’s earliest acting gigs was a guest appearance on Adam-12. But the star only landed the job thanks to some help from an actor on another crime drama. As per website TV Guide, Dragnet lead Jack Webb not only put in a good word for Harmon, but he also advised him to ditch the hippy appearance for a more clean-shaven look if he wanted to go far in Hollywood.
28. He nearly talked himself out of his Summer School role
They say that honesty is the best policy, and that’s certainly something that Harmon believes. During the casting stages of 1987 comedy Summer School the actor told director Carl Reiner that he’d be better off opting for Tom Hanks. Harmon claimed that he didn’t have the comic talents to pull off the role, but luckily his confession was ignored and he was chosen as leading man.
27. He has a love of carpentry
Harmon has at least one thing in common with his NCIS character: a love of carpentry. You may have seen Leroy Jethro Gibbs building boats in his downtime on the hit procedural. And the man who plays him used to work in the trade while trying to make a name for himself in Hollywood, a skill he picked up from his father.
26. He was the first actor to play Ted Bundy
Long before Zac Efron, another clean-cut pin-up went over to the dark side to play one of the most infamous real-life criminals in modern history. In fact, Harmon was the very first actor to portray Ted Bundy. The star impressed audiences and critics alike playing against type in The Deliberate Stranger, a TV movie which premiered in 1986.
25. He had a relationship with his Flamingo Road love interest
Harmon got more than he bargained for when he bagged the part of an adulterous politician in Flamingo Road. He ended up dating his on-screen lover for three years! Yes, Harmon and Cristina Raines first got together in 1981 on the set of the prime-time soap. And they also shared the stage in a production named Key Exchange after the show was taken off the air.
24. He was called a rebel by John Wayne
How’s this for a badge of honor? While attending the National Football Foundation Awards in 1973 Harmon bumped into another recipient, John Wayne. And he made quite an impression on the Western-movie legend thanks to the last-minute dove-grey tuxedo purchase he’d made before the ceremony. John signed Harmon’s program, “To the rebel, may the wind always be at your back, John Wayne.”
23. He has a net worth of $100 million
Having been paid a whopping $525,000 per episode during his time on NCIS, it’s little surprise to learn that Harmon has an estimated net worth of $100 million. And that figure will only grow and grow. That’s right, thanks to the royalties that come in through the show’s syndication, Harmon continues to earn $20 million every year!
22. He helped to get a showrunner fired
NCIS’s showrunner Don Bellisario and Harmon had something of a heated debate in 2007 which essentially led to the former getting fired. The pair had fallen out over the issue of the procedural’s scripts being sent out late to its cast. And after Harmon had made his feelings crystal-clear to CBS bosses, Bellisario was given his marching orders.
21. He isn’t in showbiz for the money
He may be worth a fortune, but Harmon claims he isn’t in showbiz for the cash. The star once remarked, “It’s important to have a job you like going to, for me. And it’s important to know I have a hand in making sure that the 400 people who work on this show [NCIS] know they have a job to come back to. That’s something I don’t take lightly.”
20. He’s twice broken his shoulder
Harmon has suffered a broken shoulder on two occasions, but surprisingly neither was during his early years as a footballer. The star first went through such agony in 1987 while shooting comedy Summer School. And Harmon no doubt experienced a painful variation on déjà vu when he succumbed to the same injury filming a TV ad for beer.
19. His son is also an actor
The Harmon family’s showbiz lineage continued when Harmon’s oldest son also started to forge a career in the industry. Sean Harmon has acted in the same hit franchise as his father. In fact, he played a younger version of Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the original NCIS. What’s more, Sean has also worked behind the scenes as a stunt coordinator.
18. He was a marathon runner
Harmon’s sporting exploits didn’t end with his stint as a star quarterback for the UCLA Bruins. The actor was also a keen runner and has finished several marathons over the years. In fact, it wasn’t out of the norm for Harmon to run an impressive 45 miles every single week back in his youth.
17. His mother was an actress
Turns out that acting runs in the family. Harmon’s mother was the leading lady in 1942 horror The Mummy’s Tomb. Elyse Knox also appeared in several other Universal productions during the mid-20th century before waving goodbye to Hollywood in 1949. She once explained, “I’m just a mother at heart, so I decided it was time to retire from the screen.”
16. He has an abducted left knee
Harmon might not have suffered his two broken shoulders during his days as a college footballer. But that doesn’t mean his stint with the UCLA Bruins was entirely without some physical pain. Harmon still has to deal with the knee injury caused by his time as a star quarterback. His left is “abducted” — which in layman’s terms basically means permanently bent slightly outwards.
15. He was in the frame to play the lead in Fatal Attraction
Fatal Attraction would have looked slightly different had its casting team taken a punt on People’s Sexiest Man Alive 1986 instead. Yes, Harmon was reportedly in the frame to play Dan in the adultery thriller. But instead Michael Douglas was given the task of dealing with Glenn Close’s deranged bunny-boiler.
14. Gary Cooper is his idol
William S. Hart and Buster Keaton are both held in high regard by Harmon. But the St. Elsewhere star’s ultimate acting hero is undoubtedly Gary Cooper. In fact, the star’s license plates are personalized in honor of the silver-screen great. Harmon’s 1984 Porsche reads UH-HUH while another of Gary’s catchphrases, YUHP, adorns his 1956 Dodge pickup.
13. His eardrum broke on Beyond The Poseidon Adventure
It’s fair to say that Harmon has suffered for his art over the years. As well as breaking his shoulder both on the set of a TV ad and Summer School the actor also experienced the agony of his eardrum breaking while shooting a disaster movie. The incident in question happened on 1979’s Beyond the Poseidon Adventure.
12. He restored his own NCIS trailer
Harmon is nothing if not resourceful. To make himself as comfortable as possible while waiting around on the NCIS set the actor built his very own dressing room out of a 1972 Airstream trailer. Harmon even added an eight-track player and checkered white-and-red floors for that extra homely feeling.
11. He once risked his life to save two people
It seems as though Harmon is as heroic in real life as he is on screen. In 1996 the California resident came to the rescue near his home in Brentwood when he witnessed a car crash. Harmon is said to have broken the vehicle’s window with a sledgehammer to pull the driver and his passenger out before it went up in flames.
10. He had a difficult relationship with his dad
Harmon didn’t get the chance to spend much time with his father as a child due to the ex-footballer’s TV commitments. And even when he did their relationship was strained. The NCIS star explained to People, “He raised me hard, and when I say hard, I mean hard. I was taught to fight for everything.”
9. He married his wife exactly a year after they met
It seems as though Harmon is quite the old romantic at heart. Why else would he have chosen the date of March 21, 1987, to walk down the aisle with his beloved, Pam Dawber? This was exactly a year to the day that the couple first set eyes on each other.
8. He went on a double date with Bruce Springsteen
Now here’s a story we can imagine Harmon and his wife Pam telling their grandkids one day. Before they walked down the aisle together in 1987 the couple went out on a very special double date. That’s right: sitting opposite them at the dinner table was none other than New Jersey’s finest Bruce Springsteen and his first wife Julianne Phillips.
7. He first appeared on TV with his father
Harmon’s relationship with his former footballer father may have been rather complicated. But the pair weren’t averse to working with each other. Before becoming an actor the NCIS star appeared in a TV commercial for Kellogg’s cereal Product 19 that also happened to feature his Heisman-Trophy-winning dad Tom.
6. He’s a dog-lover
You might remember that Harmon featured on the poster for 1987 comedy Summer School alongside a sunglasses-wearing dog. And it turns out that the actor is very much a canine lover in real life. Harmon has owned everything from a bearded collie and golden retriever to Australian shepherd over the years.
5. He’s played the same character on five different shows
Harmon’s most famous character, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, is synonymous with the original NCIS. But did you know that the special agent first appeared in JAG eight years before the procedural premiered? Harmon has also played the same role in NCIS spinoffs New Orleans and Los Angeles and adult animation Family Guy.
4. He once part-owned a baseball team
In 1987 Harmon became a minority owner of a sporting team, but surprisingly considering his past, it wasn’t a football one. The actor ploughed his own money into the Minor League Baseball’s San Bernardino Spirit. Harmon told the Los Angeles Times newspaper that this wasn’t a money-making scheme, adding, “This is something you do for the love and support of baseball.”
3. He had a run-in with Elizabeth Taylor
While shooting Sweet Bird of Youth in 1989 Harmon appeared to offend Elizabeth Taylor when he commented on her diva demands. But despite glaring at him at the time the screen legend appeared to have been charmed by the younger upstart. When the TV movie wrapped Elizabeth presented Harmon with a 1959 Hamilton Select solid gold watch!
2. He used to be a lifeguard
Baywatch seems to be one of the few hit network TV shows in which Harmon didn’t appear during the late 20th century. But he sure would have brought some authenticity to the beach-based drama if he had. Yes, back in his youth the star landed a summer job as a Laguna Beach lifeguard.
1. He made his TV debut playing a gorilla
Harmon may be a Golden Globe-nominee, multi-millionaire, and star of some of the most successful TV procedurals of all time. But nearly all actors have to start at the bottom. In 1973 Harmon did just that when he made his screen debut in Ozzie’s Girls impersonating a gorilla. Who knows whether he still thanked his sister’s in-laws for helping him land the role?
