On September 2, 1951, Thomas Mark Harmon made his debut into the world in Burbank, California. His father, Tom Harmon, was a football player who won the Heisman Trophy and a broadcaster. His mother, Elyse Knox, was an actress, model, designer, and artist. His father was a Heisman Trophy winner. Harmon is the youngest of three children in his family; his older sisters are the actress Kristin Nelson, who passed away, and the actress and model Kelly Harmon. Harmon himself is the middle child.
His secondary education was completed at the prestigious Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. After finishing high school, he went on to acquire an associate degree from Pierce College, where he also participated in the football program.
While he was there, several big college football programs extended offers to him to play football for their teams. In the end, though, he decided to attend UCLA and play football for the Bruins rather than Oklahoma. After transferring to the University of California, Los Angeles, he was the starting quarterback for the Bruins in both 1972 and 1973. He was a member of the Bruins football team.
After graduating from college, Harmon entertained the idea of following a career in advertising or the law. He also started a job as a merchandising director, but in the end, he decided to pursue a career in acting instead. In 1975, he debuted in a number of roles on television shows including “Ozzie’s Girls,” “Adam-12,” “Police Woman,” and “Emergency!”
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In addition, he collaborated with producer and writer Jack Webb on two projects: “905-Wild,” a backdoor pilot for a series that was never picked up, and “Sam,” a short-lived series about an LAPD officer and his K-9 partner, both of which were produced in 1978. Around this time, Harmon was recognized by the Television Academy with a nomination for the Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for his performance in the television film “Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years” (1977).
Career Opportunities in Television and Film:
In the 1980s, Harmon’s career continued to advance, and he became more well-known after landing a recurring role in the prime-time soap opera “Flamingo Road” in the year 1980. This gave him further exposure.
After the show was canceled after two seasons, in 1983 he was cast in the role of Dr. Robert Caldwell on the television show “St. Elsewhere.” Before leaving the show in the beginning of 1986, he had played the role of Dr. Caldwell for nearly three seasons. One of the highlights of his career occurred in January 1986, when he was voted the sexiest man alive by the readers of People magazine.
In the year 1988, he had starring roles in the movies “Stealing Home” and “The Presidio.” On the other hand, he did not receive a great deal of recognition for his feature films. Instead, his endeavors in the realm of television proved to be very fruitful. In the latter half of the 1980s, he had starring roles in a number of television films, some of the most notable of which include “The Prince of Bel-Air” (1986), “The Deliberate Stranger” (1986), and “After the Promise” (1987).
When Harmon made his return to regular television roles in the years 1991 to 1993, he did so on the NBC series “Reasonable Doubts,” in which he starred as the Chicago police detective Dickie Cobb for both of the show’s seasons. After that, he was a star on the ABC sitcom “Charlie Grace” for one season in 1995, and he was a member of the ensemble cast on the hospital drama “Chicago Hope” from 1996 to 2000.
In May of 2002, Harmon began his role as Secret Service agent Simon Donovan on the television drama “The West Wing,” which was a part of a unique four-story arc. This performance got him a nomination for an Emmy Award for the second time, exactly 25 years after he received a nomination for the first time. Donald P. Bellisario, the creator of the shows “JAG” and “NCIS,” was impressed with Mark Harmon’s performance on “The West Wing,” and as a result, he hired Harmon to play the role of NCIS agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs on those shows. In April of 2003, Harmon appeared as a guest performer on two episodes of the television show “JAG.”
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Shortly thereafter, in September of that same year, he began appearing as Gibbs on the television drama “NCIS” broadcast on CBS. As of the year 2020, the role of Agent Gibbs on “NCIS” has been played by Mark Harmon throughout the entirety of the show’s run, making it the second-longest-running scripted, non-animated, primetime television series in the United States that is still airing. In addition, he began his work on the show in 2008 in the capacities of producer and executive producer.
As a result of his efforts on “NCIS,” Harmon has been recognized with six nominations for the People’s Choice Awards, and he took home the trophy for Favorite TV Crime Drama Actor in 2017.
Additional Professional Activities:
In both Los Angeles and Toronto, Harmon has appeared as a leading actor in a number of theater shows. It was at the Cast Theatre in Los Angeles that he appeared in productions of “Wrestlers” and “The Wager.” In the latter half of the 1980s, he was also a member of the cast of the production “Key Exchange,” which had its debut in Canada. In addition, he has been in many productions of the play “Love Letters,” opposite his wife Pam Dawber in the role of the protagonist.
Harmon established the production business Wings Productions in 2014 with the intention of working on and producing the television drama “NCIS: New Orleans.” In 2018, he also took on the job of producer for a new CBS series that is based on the best-selling “Prey” series of novels that were written by novelist John Sandford.
Private Life:
In a wedding that took place on March 21, 1987, Harmon wed actress Pam Dawber. They have two boys as a couple, Sean Thomas Harmon (born in 1988) and Ty Christian Harmon (born in 1992). Harmon is the uncle of actress Tracy Nelson, as well as performers Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, who are members of the rock duo Nelson.
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Harmon’s sister Kristin was previously married to rock musician Ricky Nelson. He first put in a request to gain custody of his nephew Sam based on the argument that his sister Kristin was unable to be a suitable parent, but he ultimately decided to withdraw the bid. The other one of his sisters, Kelly, tied the knot with the automobile billionaire John DeLorean.
The net worth of Mark Harmon:
Mark Harmon is a well-known actor in the United States who currently has a net worth of $100 million. His position in the crime investigation series “NCIS” on CBS is mostly responsible for his widespread recognition. While working on “NCIS,” he brings in compensation of $525,000 every episode. That comes out to a total of $12.6 million for a season consisting of 24 episodes. Mark Harmon often brings in more than $20 million annually thanks to the production credits and syndication royalties he receives for his work.
