Mark Harmon

Biography: The son of a former Heisman Trophy winner and a 1940s film actress, Mark Harmon took naturally to the gridiron and to acting, although what he really wanted to be as a youth was a doctor. After two years quarterbacking a junior-college team in Los Angeles, Harmon transferred to UCLA and successfully led the Bruins during the 1972 and '73 seasons, with an intent to attend medical school after graduation. But that all changed when Harmon had the good fortune to meet TV legend Ozzie Nelson (Harmon's sister Kristin married his son, singing star Rick Nelson) who offered him his first acting gig, a walk-on role on the syndicated Ozzie's Girls in 1973. Acting was now Harmon's passion. Other bit TV parts followed, but it was his Emmy-nominated turn as a physically impaired veteran in the TV movie Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years that made Hollywood take notice. He went on to tackle a string of guest spots, miniseries and short-lived series, including the primetime soapThe son of a former Heisman Trophy winner and a 1940s film actress, Mark Harmon took naturally to the gridiron and to acting, although what he really wanted to be as a youth was a doctor. After two years quarterbacking a junior-college team in Los Angeles, Harmon transferred to UCLA and successfully led the Bruins during the 1972 and '73 seasons, with an intent to attend medical school after graduation. But that all changed when Harmon had the good fortune to meet TV legend Ozzie Nelson (Harmon's sister Kristin married his son, singing star Rick Nelson) who offered him his first acting gig, a walk-on role on the syndicated Ozzie's Girls in 1973. Acting was now Harmon's passion. Other bit TV parts followed, but it was his Emmy-nominated turn as a physically impaired veteran in the TV movie Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years that made Hollywood take notice. He went on to tackle a string of guest spots, miniseries and short-lived series, including the primetime soap Flamingo Road, before becoming a sex symbol and the doctor he'd always wanted to be on the medical drama St. Elsewhere. Harmon exited the series in 1986 after his character contracted AIDS, a controversial subject at the time, and found success in features (The Presidio, Stealing Home), in commercials (an ad for Coors beer) and in a wide array of TV movies, most notably as serial killer Ted Bundy in The Deliberate Stranger and as the title character in the TV biopic Dillinger. Harmon's personal life was also clicking; he married Mork & Mindy star Pam Dawber in 1987 (they have two sons), and over the next decade he went on to headline the series Reasonable Doubts and Chicago Hope. But Harmon's biggest role was still to come. After an Emmy-nominated appearance on The West Wing, Harmon was approached to play Special Agent Jethro Gibbs on the military drama JAG. Soon after, Gibbs was the lead character on the JAG smash spin-off NCIS. The show's success has allowed the family-oriented Harmon, who once worked as a carpenter to make ends meet, to drastically reduce his appearances in other projects and only take occasional roles (Chasing Liberty, Weather Girl) that interest him. Expand

Mark Harmon's Scores

Average career score: 62
Highest Metascore: 80 From the Earth to the Moon: Season 1
Lowest Metascore: 48 The Jay Leno Show : Season 1
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 7
  2. Negative: 0 out of 7
7 tv reviews
Title: Year: Credit: User score:
tbd The Arsenio Hall Show: Season 1 Sep 9, 2013 Guest / Guest / Mark Harmon / Mark Harmon tbd
tbd The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Season 10 Sep 3, 2013 Guest tbd
tbd NCIS: Season 10 Sep 25, 2012 Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs / Executive Producer / Leroy Jethro Gibbs 7.7
tbd The Talk: Season 3 Sep 10, 2012 Guest tbd
tbd Late Show with David Letterman: Season 20 Aug 13, 2012 Guest tbd
tbd Jimmy Kimmel Live: Season 10 Jan 4, 2012 Guest tbd
tbd The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Season 20 Jan 3, 2012 Guest tbd
tbd Family Guy: Season 10 Sep 25, 2011 Himself 5.9
tbd NCIS: Los Angeles: Season 3 Sep 20, 2011 Producer 6.8
tbd NCIS: Season 9 Sep 20, 2011 Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs / Executive Producer / Producer / Leroy Jethro Gibbs 7.2
tbd Late Show with David Letterman: Season 19 Sep 6, 2011 Guest tbd
tbd The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Season 8 Aug 23, 2011 Guest tbd
tbd The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Season 19 Jan 3, 2011 Guest tbd
tbd NCIS: Season 8 Sep 21, 2010 Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs / Producer / Leroy Jethro Gibbs 7.8
tbd The View: Season 14 Sep 7, 2010 Mark Harmon tbd
tbd NCIS: Season 7 Sep 22, 2009 Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs / Producer / Producer / Leroy Jethro Gibbs 8.1
58 NCIS: Los Angeles: Season 1 Sep 22, 2009 Producer 5.6
48 The Jay Leno Show : Season 1 Sep 14, 2009 Guest 3.6
tbd The Bonnie Hunt Show: Season 2 Sep 8, 2009 Guest tbd
tbd NCIS: Season 6 Sep 23, 2008 Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs / Producer / Leroy Jethro Gibbs 7.9
tbd The Bonnie Hunt Show: Season 1 Sep 8, 2008 Guest tbd
tbd NCIS: Season 5 Sep 25, 2007 Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs / Leroy Jethro Gibbs 7.9
tbd The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Season 16 Sep 17, 2007 Guest tbd
tbd NCIS: Season 4 Sep 19, 2006 Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs / Leroy Jethro Gibbs 7.8
tbd NCIS: Season 3 Sep 20, 2005 Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs / Leroy Jethro Gibbs 7.9
tbd NCIS: Season 2 Sep 28, 2004 Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs / Leroy Jethro Gibbs 8.0
51 NCIS: Season 1 Sep 23, 2003 Leroy Jethro Gibbs / Leroy Jethro Gibbs / Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs / Executive Producer / Producer / Producer / Leroy Jethro Gibbs 8.0
tbd The View: Season 7 Sep 8, 2003 Mark Harmon tbd
tbd JAG: Season 8 Sep 24, 2002 Leroy Jethro Gibbs tbd
tbd Boston Public: Season 2 Oct 29, 2001 Director tbd