Mark Harmon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mark Harmon
Harmon in 2005
Born	Thomas Mark Harmon (1951-09-02) September 2, 1951 (age 73) Burbank, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Occupation	Actor producer director author
Years active	1970–present
Spouse(s)	Pam Dawber ​ (m. 1987)​
Children	2
Parents	Tom Harmon (father) Elyse Knox (mother)
Relatives	Kelly Harmon (sister) Kristin Nelson (sister) Gunnar Nelson (nephew) Matthew Nelson (nephew) Tracy Nelson (niece)
College football career
UCLA Bruins – No. 7
Position	Quarterback
Major	Communication
Personal information
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Career history
College	Pierce College (1970–1971) UCLA (1972–1973)
High school	Harvard-Westlake
Career highlights and awards
NJCAA All-American (1971) NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award (1973) Second-team Academic All-America (1973) Pierce College Athletic Hall of Fame (2010)

Mark Harmon (born September 2, 1951) is an American actor, writer, and producer. He is most famous for playing Leroy Jethro Gibbs on the TV show NCIS. He also played American football in college.

Mark Harmon has been in many TV shows and movies since the 1970s. Some of his well-known roles include Dr. Robert Caldwell on St. Elsewhere and Dr. Jack McNeil on Chicago Hope. He also appeared in films like Summer School and Freaky Friday.

In 2002, Harmon played Secret Service agent Simon Donovan in The West Wing. This role earned him an Emmy Award nomination. His character, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, first appeared in two episodes of JAG. From 2003 to 2021, Harmon starred as Gibbs in the spin-off series NCIS.

Early Life and College Football

Mark Harmon was born in Burbank, California. He is the youngest of three children. His father was Tom Harmon, a famous football player and broadcaster. His mother was Elyse Knox, an actress and model.

Mark has two older sisters. His sister Kristin Nelson was an actress and painter. His other sister, Kelly Harmon, is also an actress and model. Mark's grandparents on his mother's side came from Austria.

Playing College Football

After finishing high school in 1970, Harmon went to Pierce College for two years. He played football there. In 1971, he received offers from big college football teams. He chose to go to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

He became the starting quarterback for the UCLA Bruins in 1972 and 1973. In his first game, his team had a big upset win against the top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers. UCLA was expected to lose by a lot, but they won 20–17.

In his last year, 1973, Harmon won the National Football Foundation Award for All-Round Excellence. During his two years as quarterback, UCLA won 17 games and lost 5. Harmon graduated from UCLA in 1974 with a degree in Communications.

In 2010, he was added to the Pierce College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Acting Career Highlights

After college, Mark Harmon thought about working in advertising or law. But he soon decided to become an actor. Early in his career, he often played characters who were police officers or doctors.

One of his first TV appearances was in a commercial for Kellogg's cereal with his father. He got his first acting job on the show Ozzie's Girls. After that, he had guest roles in shows like Adam-12 and Emergency!.

In 1977, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his role in the TV movie Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years. In 1978, he appeared in the mini-series Centennial.

Early TV Roles

In the late 1970s, Harmon appeared in shows like Laverne & Shirley and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. He also had roles in movies such as Comes a Horseman (1978). In 1979, he co-starred in the action series 240-Robert.

In 1980, Harmon joined the TV show Flamingo Road. He played Fielding Carlisle. The show was canceled after two seasons.

He then got the role of Dr. Robert Caldwell on St. Elsewhere in 1983. He was on the show for almost three seasons. His character contracted HIV, which was one of the first times a major TV character dealt with this.

Big Roles in the 1980s and 1990s

In 1986, Harmon played serial killer Ted Bundy in the TV movie The Deliberate Stranger. This role earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. He also starred in the comedy movie Summer School in 1987.

He had a short role on the show Moonlighting in 1987. In 1988, he starred with Sean Connery in The Presidio and with Jodie Foster in Stealing Home.

From 1991 to 1993, Harmon played police detective Dickie Cobb on the NBC series Reasonable Doubts. In 1995, he starred in the ABC series Charlie Grace.

From 1996 to 2000, he returned to medical dramas, playing Dr. Jack McNeil on Chicago Hope. He also played astronaut Wally Schirra in the 1998 mini-series From the Earth to the Moon. In 2003, he had a supporting role in the movie Freaky Friday.

Stage Work

Mark Harmon has also acted in several plays in Los Angeles and Toronto. He performed in plays like Wrestlers and The Wager. He also acted alongside his wife, Pam Dawber, in several productions of Love Letters.

Starring in NCIS

In May 2002, Harmon played Secret Service agent Simon Donovan in four episodes of The West Wing. This role earned him his second Emmy Award nomination. The creator of JAG and NCIS, Donald P. Bellisario, saw him on The West Wing.

Bellisario then cast Harmon in two episodes of JAG in April 2003. This is where he was first introduced as NCIS agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Starting in September 2003, Harmon starred as Gibbs in the CBS drama NCIS.

This role has earned him many awards nominations, including a win for Favorite TV Crime Drama Actor in 2017. While on NCIS, he worked again with three actors from Chicago Hope: Rocky Carroll, Lauren Holly, and Jayne Brook. Since 2008, he has also been a producer for the show.

In the fourth episode of the show's nineteenth season, Harmon's character, Gibbs, left the series as a regular.

Other Activities and Interests

Mark Harmon receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012.

Mark Harmon received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 1, 2012. This is a special honor for people in the entertainment industry.

In 2014, Harmon started his own production company called Wings Productions. This company produced the show NCIS: New Orleans. He also works as a producer for a new CBS series based on the Prey novels by author John Sandford.

Harmon has also directed TV episodes. He directed two episodes of Chicago Hope in 1999 and 2000. He also directed two episodes of Boston Public in 2002.

In 2023, Harmon released a book called Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese spy, a Japanese American spy hunter, and the untold story of Pearl Harbor. He wrote it with retired NCIS Special Agent Leon Carroll Jr. Harmon also narrates the audio version of the book.

Personal Life

Mark Harmon's parents were football player Tom Harmon and actress Elyse Knox. His sisters are Kelly Harmon and Kristin Nelson. Kristin passed away in 2018.

Mark Harmon married actress Pam Dawber on March 21, 1987. They have two sons. One of their sons, Sean, has played a younger version of Gibbs in several NCIS episodes. The family likes to keep their lives private.

Mark Harmon is also the uncle of actress Tracy Nelson and singers Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, who are in the rock band Nelson.

In 1988, Harmon was a part-owner of a minor league baseball team called the San Bernardino Spirit. He used the team's field for scenes in his movie Stealing Home.

In 1996, Mark Harmon helped save a teenage boy from a car accident outside his home in Brentwood. The boy was badly burned but survived because of Harmon's help.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Mark Harmon para niños