MARK HARMON
Name: Thomas Mark Harmon
Born: 2 September 1951 Burbank, California, U.S.
Thomas Mark Harmon (better known as Mark Harmon) (born September 2, 1951) is an
American actor. Since 2003, Harmon has starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the CBS
series NCIS.
Harmon was born in Burbank, California. His father is University of Michigan
football All-American and Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon, and his mother is
actress Elyse Knox, the daughter of politician Frank Knox. Mark has two older
sisters: actress and painter Kristin 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.
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 shortlived, however, and following its cancellation he landed the role of Dr.
Robert Caldwell on the prestigious 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. He followed this with the eponymous role of Charlie
Grace, an ABC series which lasted only one season. He returned to ensemble
medical shows on the series Chicago Hope, in which he played Dr. Jack McNeil
from 1996-2000. He later had a limited four episode run playing secret service
agent Simon Donovan on The West Wing. Since 2003, Harmon has starred as 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
1987 comedy Summer School in which he co-starred with Kirstie Alley, and the
1988 thriller The Presidio in which he co-starred with Sean Connery. He has also
portrayed serial killer Ted Bundy in the 1986 television movie The Deliberate
Stranger.
Harmon was named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1986.
Name: Thomas Mark Harmon
Born: 2 September 1951 Burbank, California, U.S.
Thomas Mark Harmon (better known as Mark Harmon) (born September 2, 1951) is an
American actor. Since 2003, Harmon has starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the CBS
series NCIS.
Harmon was born in Burbank, California. His father is University of Michigan
football All-American and Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon, and his mother is
actress Elyse Knox, the daughter of politician Frank Knox. Mark has two older
sisters: actress and painter Kristin 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.
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 shortlived, however, and following its cancellation he landed the role of Dr.
Robert Caldwell on the prestigious 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. He followed this with the eponymous role of Charlie
Grace, an ABC series which lasted only one season. He returned to ensemble
medical shows on the series Chicago Hope, in which he played Dr. Jack McNeil
from 1996-2000. He later had a limited four episode run playing secret service
agent Simon Donovan on The West Wing. Since 2003, Harmon has starred as 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
1987 comedy Summer School in which he co-starred with Kirstie Alley, and the
1988 thriller The Presidio in which he co-starred with Sean Connery. He has also
portrayed serial killer Ted Bundy in the 1986 television movie The Deliberate
Stranger.
Harmon was named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1986.