A small-screen heartthrob who has made occasional forays onto the big screen, Harmon boasts athletic good looks and an affable manner, if not the widest range. After making an impression and earning an Emmy nod for his turn as a physically impaired veteran in the TV-movie
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years, he tackled a string of guest spots, miniseries and short-lived series before becoming a sex symbol on the medical drama
St. Elsewhere. After exiting the show in 1986, this former college footballer made a play for the big screen with lackluster results (
Summer School,
Let's Get Harry). He faired better in his personal life, marrying
Mork & Mindy star Pam Dawber in 1987, and on the tube, appearing in myriad TV-movies (his seductive charms were on chilling display as serial killer Ted Bundy in 1986's
The Deliberate Stranger) and headlining the series
Reasonable Doubts and
Chicago Hope. In 2003 he managed to woo both the young and the blue-haired sets with a supporting part in the hit teen flick
Freaky Friday and a leading role on
JAG spin-off
NCIS, respectively.
Mark Harmon Fast Facts:
- The son of Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon, he quarterbacked the UCLA Bruins during the 1972 and '73 seasons and received the National Collegiate Football Foundation Award for All Around Excellence.
- Worked briefly as a national salesman for a tennis-shoe company.
- Got an early acting break when Jack Webb offered him a part on Adam-12 after first suggesting that the long-haired, mustachioed Harmon adopt a more clean-cut appearance.
- Uncle of actress Tracy Nelson, and twins Gunnar and Matthew Nelson, who formed the rock-and-roll duo Nelson.
- Was named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1986.
- Saved the lives of two teens in 1996 using a sledgehammer to break into a burning car in which the victims were trapped.
- Mark Harmon Relationships:
- Kelly Harmon - Sister
- Pam Dawber - Wife
- Kristin Nelson Tinker - Sister
- Sean Thomas Harmon - Son
- Ty Christian Harmon - Son
- Matthew Nelson - Nephew
- Tom Harmon - Father
- Tracy Nelson - Niece
- Gunnar Nelson - Nephew
- Elyse Knox - Mother
- Mark Harmon Awards:
- 1977 Emmy: Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Special - Nominee
- 1987 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
- 1988 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
- 1992 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - Nominee
- 1993 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - Nominee
- 2002 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
- College:
- University of California at Los Angeles (BA in Communications, 1974)
