Mark Harmon Biography
Summary
"Mark Harmon" (born September 2, 1951) is an American actor who has been starring in U.S. television programs and films since the mid-1970s. Since 2003, Harmon has starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the popular CBS series "NCIS".
Biography
Early life
Harmon was born "Thomas Mark Harmon" in Burbank, California. His father was University of Michigan football All-American and Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon. His mother is actress and artist Elyse Knox (née Elsie Lillian Kornbrath). Mark has two older sisters both married to well-known men: actress and painter Kristin Nelson, the former wife of singer Ricky Nelson, and actress Kelly Harmon, who was once married to car magnate John DeLorean.
After attending Los Angeles Pierce College as a student and quarterback, Harmon transferred to UCLA and, following in his father's athletic footsteps, was the starting quarterback for the UCLA Bruins in 1972 and 1973, engineering a stunning upset of the two-time defending national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers in 1972. He received the National Football Foundation Award for All-Round Excellence in 1973. He graduated cum laude from UCLA in 1974.
Career
Harmon has spent much of his career portraying law enforcement and medical personnel. His first acting credits were from guest-starring on episodes of "Adam-12" and "Emergency!" in mid-1975 (the "Emergency!" episode that Harmon starred in, '905-Wild', centered on two L.A. County Animal Control Officers, and was a pilot episode for a possible new series, which did not sell). Producer/creator Jack Webb, who was the packager of both series, later cast Harmon in the very short-lived "Sam," about an LAPD officer and his K-9 partner, in 1978. In 1979, he starred in the action series "240-Robert" as Deputy Dwayne Thibideaux, which centered around the missions of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Emergency Services Detail.
After several years of supporting guest roles on episodic television shows such as "Police Woman", "Laverne & Shirley" and "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries", Harmon landed his first prominent role in the 1980 primetime soap opera "Flamingo Road" where he played Morgan Fairchild's husband Fielding Carlisle. The series was short-lived, however, and following its cancellation, he landed the role of Dr. Robert Caldwell on the prestigious NBC Emmy-winning series "St. Elsewhere" in 1983. In 1986, Harmon left the series as his character contracted HIV through unprotected heterosexual intercourse - a storyline that was notable for being one of the first ever instances in television history where a major recurring character contracted the virus (the character's subsequent offscreen death from AIDS would be mentioned two years later). Following this, Harmon had a limited engagement on the series "Moonlighting", playing Cybill Shepherd's love interest Sam Crawford for four episodes in 1987. Harmon's next regular television role would be as Chicago police detective Dickie Cobb for two seasons (1991-1993) on the NBC series "Reasonable Doubts". In 1993, he appeared in one episode in the unlikely role of a rodeo clown on the CBS comedy/western series "Harts of the West", on which future "NCIS" actor Sean Murray was a series regular in the role of Zane Grey Hart.
Harmon appeared as "Charlie Grace", a private eye series which lasted only one season on ABC. He returned to ensemble medical shows on the series "Chicago Hope", in which he played Dr. Jack McNeil from 1996-2000.
In May 2002 he had a limited four episode run playing Secret Service Special Agent Simon Donovan on "The West Wing". Harmon took a lead role in two episodes of "JAG" in April 2003, which introduced viewers to him in the role of NCIS agent Gibbs. Since 2003, Harmon has starred as NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs in CBS' drama television show "NCIS".
Harmon has also made several television and theatrical films throughout his career. In the late 1970s, he had supporting roles in "Comes a Horseman" and "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure". His most prominent starring roles were in the 1986 romantic comedy "Prince of Bel Air" and 1987 comedy "Summer School" in both of which he co-starred opposite Kirstie Alley, and the 1988 thriller "The Presidio" in which he co-starred with Sean Connery and Meg Ryan. He also portrayed serial killer Ted Bundy in the 1986 television movie "The Deliberate Stranger". In 2003 he played in the movie "Freaky Friday", as the fiance Ryan.
Harmon was named "People" magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1986.
Mark Harmon also starred in several stage productions in Los Angeles and Toronto. Los Angeles' The Cast Theatre saw him perform as Bobby in Wrestlers as well as in The Wager. In the late eighties he was part of the cast of the Canadian premier of Key Exchange. Several productions of "Love Letters" provided him the opportunity to play alongside his wife Pam Dawber.
Personal life
He worked as a carpenter before he hit it making a success of his acting career.
Harmon has been married to actress Pam Dawber since 21 March 1987. The couple have two sons: Sean Thomas Harmon (born 25 April 1988), who played a young Gibbs in NCIS Season 6 Episode 4, and Ty Christian Harmon (born 25 June 1992). Harmon was the brother-in-law of the late Ricky Nelson and is the uncle of singers Matthew and Gunnar Nelson of the pop duo Nelson, and actress Tracy Nelson. Harmon dated singer Karen Carpenter in the seventies.
In 1996, Harmon made headlines when he saved two teenage boys who were involved in a car accident outside of his home. Harmon used a sledge hammer from his garage to break the window out of their burning car, then pulled them free from the flames. He made every effort to downplay his role in saving the boys' lives.
Work
Television series
"Sam" (1978) - Officer Mike Breen
"Centennial" (1978) (mini) - Captain John McIntosh
"240-Robert" (1979) - Deputy Dwayne 'Thib' Thibideaux
"Flamingo Road" (1981) - Fielding Carlyle
"St. Elsewhere" (1982) - Dr. Robert Caldwell (1983-1986)
"Moonlighting" (1987) - Sam Crawford
"Reasonable Doubts" (1991-1993) - Det. Dicky Cobb
" Charlie Grace" (1995) - Charlie Grace
"Chicago Hope" (1994) - Dr. Jack McNeil (1996-2000)
"From the Earth to the Moon" (1998) - Walter Schirra
"NCIS" (2003-Present) - Special Agent In Charge Leroy Jethro Gibbs
Filmography
"Comes a Horseman" (1978)
"Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" (1979)
"Goliath Awaits (1981) (TV)
" Tuareg: The Desert Warrior" (1984)
"The Deliberate Stranger" (1986) (TV) - Ted Bundy
"Prince of Bel Air" (1986) (TV)
"Summer School" (1987)
"After the Promise" (1987)
"The Presidio" (1988)
"Stealing Home" (1988)
"Worth Winning" (1989)
"Till There Was You" (1990)
"Dillinger" (1991) (TV) - John Dillinger
"Long Road Home" (1991) - Ertie Robertson
"Natural Born Killers" (1994) - ("uncredited") Mickey Knox in Wayne Gale reconstruction
"Wyatt Earp" (1994) - Johnny Behan
"Magic in the Water" (1995)
"The Last Supper" (1995)
"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1998)
"I'll Remember April" (1999)
"For all Time" (2000)
"Crossfire Trail" (2001)
"And Never Let Her Go" (2001) (TV) - Thomas Capano
"Local Boys" (2002) - Jim Wesley
"Freaky Friday" (2003) - Ryan
"Chasing Liberty" (2004) - President James Foster
"Weather Girl" (2009) - Dale
External links
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Mark Harmon.
