By Eunice Charles
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Thomas Mark Harmon (born September 2, 1951) is an American actor, writer, producer, television director and former football player. He is best known for playing the lead role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS.
He has appeared in a wide variety of television roles since the early 1970s, including as Dr. Robert Caldwell on St. Elsewhere, Detective Dicky Cobb on Reasonable Doubts, and Dr. Jack McNeil on Chicago Hope. He also starred in such films as Summer School, Prince of Bel Air, Stealing Home, Wyatt Earp, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Crossfire Trail, Local Boys, Freaky Friday, and Chasing Liberty.
Harmon played Secret Service special agent Simon Donovan in a four-episode story arc in The West Wing in 2002, receiving an Emmy Award nomination for the role. Harmon’s character of NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was introduced in a guest starring role in two episodes of JAG. From 2003 to 2021, Harmon starred in the spinoff NCIS as the same character.
Harmon was born in Burbank, California, the youngest of three children. His parents were Heisman Trophy-winning football player and broadcaster Tom Harmon and actress, model, and artist Elyse Knox (née Elsie Lillian Kornbrath).
Harmon had two older sisters, the late actress and painter Kristin Nelson, who was divorced from the late singer Rick Nelson, and actress and model Kelly Harmon, formerly married to car magnate John DeLorean. His maternal grandparents were Austrian immigrants.
After transferring to the University of California, Los Angeles, he started as quarterback for the 1972 and 1973 Bruins.
During his first game, his UCLA team produced a stunning upset of the two-time defending national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Bruins were an eighteen-point home underdog to the top-ranked Huskers but won 20–17 on a late field goal by Efren Herrera at L.A. Coliseum.
In his senior year, Harmon received the National Football Foundation Award for All-Round Excellence. During his two years as quarterback in coach Pepper Rodgers‘ wishbone offense, UCLA compiled a 17–5 record (.773). Harmon was UCLA’s starting quarterback for two seasons, but he was not picked in the 1974 NFL draft.
Harmon graduated cum laude from UCLA in 1974 with a B.A. in Communications.
He was inducted into the inaugural class of the Pierce College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.
Harmon has been married to actress Pam Dawber since March 21, 1987. The couple has two sons. His son Sean played a young Gibbs in several NCIS episodes. They maintain a low profile and rarely appear in public with their children. Harmon was the brother-in-law of Ricky Nelson and John DeLorean and is the uncle of actress Tracy Nelson and singers Matthew and Gunnar Nelson of the rock duo Nelson.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Albert Spalding (baseball player) –
- Cleveland Amory (author of The Cat Who Came for Christmas) –
- Peter Ueberroth (businessman) –
- Terry Bradshaw (football player) –
- Christa McAuliffe (selected to be the first teacher in space) –
- Mark Harmon (actor) –
- Keanu Reeves (actor) –
- Salma Hayek (actress) –
- Erin Hershey Presley (actress) –
Died
- J. R. R. Tolkien (author) –
- Troy Donahue (actor) –
- Bob Denver (actor) –
Events
- Great Fire of London began –
- Congress established the United States Department of the Treasury –
- The first issue of McCall’s magazine was published. The magazine had previously been called Queens Magazine and Queen of Fashion –
- Vice President Theodore Roosevelt uttered the famous phrase, Speak softly and carry a big stick at the Minnesota State Fair –
- Japan surrendered formally at ceremonies held aboard the battleship Missouri, to end World War II –
- First ATM in U.S. debuted, Rockville Centre, N.Y. –
- Charles Burton started 3-year pole-to-pole expedition –
- The long awaited chess rematch between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky began in Yugoslavia –
- Diana Nyad completed a two-day, two-night swim from Cuba to Florida and became the first person to accomplish the feat unaided by a shark cage –
Weather
- Denver had its earliest measurable snow, 4.2 inches –
- Hurricane Frances caused 2.5 million Florida residents and vacationers to flee the state. It was the biggest evacuation ever ordered in Florida –
COURTESY www.almanac.com
