By nishtha toshniwal | February 23, 2014 0 Comments

Net Worth: $40 Million

Career/Profession: Actor

Mark Harmon, an American actor whose aim was to become a doctor when he was young. But fortunately he adopted acting as his profession which led his life to the peak of success. But as it is said where there’s a will there’s a way. Mark is well known for playing a role of doctors in a running series ‘St. Elsewhere’ and also the character he played in CBS’s series i.e. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is unforgettable.

Independent Personality:

Mark Harmon’s childhood was full of challenges. He took birth in Burbank, California on September 2, 1951. His father, Tom Harmon was a sports broadcaster means he used to travel across the world leaving behind his family. Mark used to feel deserted because of his father’s absence and even in his presence as his father was always hard on him. But their love for football kept them tied together. His father’s achievement as a football player encouraged him as well and he served his University of California for two seasons, but he did not want to pursue his career as a footballer.

Path to Hollywood:

His career in acting took a start when his sister Kristen started dating the son of Ozzie Nelson, Television legend. This relationship benefitted Harmon and he got the opportunity to act in Ozzie’s Girls in 1972. This experience gave him the taste of Hollywood. After completing his graduation, he joined the law school, but dissatisfaction from this led him to work for an advertising agency. Again, changing his profession, he started a business venture which degraded his value. So finally he planned to pursue acting as his profession.

Difficulties faced:

He embarked his career by taking advice from an actor Jack Webb, who helped him to get a role in crime series Adam-12 as a guest appearance. This phase continued for some time and finally in 1977 he got a lead role in Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years. This got him nominated for Emmy Awards. To get a bang in his career, he started working as a roofer and side by side polishing his acting skills by working at the night club in Los Angeles. In 1981, he got a lead role in ‘Flamingo Opera, where he starred as a politician who was married to a wealthy girl.

Rise to Fame:

St. Elsewhere, a television and medical drama gave him another bang in his career. He joined the series in its second season. He played a role of a plastic surgeon named Dr. Bobby Caldwell along with some other actors such as David Morse, Denzel Washington, Howie Mandel etc. In this series his role main aim was to promote awareness regarding AIDS. He showed that heterosexual male was as likely to get affected by AIDS as other people. In 1986, he joined the movie ‘Deliberate Stranger’ where he performed as serial killer Ted Bundy. In this role he used to charm and pleases his victims with his personality and then make an attempt. This appealing role did not affect his image at all and he was awarded with the Sexiest Man Alive by People’s Magazine in 1986.

Different Roles:

Throughout his life he presented himself on screen with diversifying roles. In ‘Summer School’ he starred as Mr. Freddy Shoop. He then moved on with the military drama ‘The Presidio’ along with Sean Connery and ‘Stealing Home’ along with Blair Brown. After this he followed with the ‘Reasonable Doubts’, a police drama. The show was not appreciated much so it got cancelled after two seasons. Then he proceeded on with the detective show ‘Charlie Grace’ which had a very short term of five episodes. In 1996, he bustled with David E. Kelly’s drama ‘Chicago Hope’ as an Orthopaedic Surgeon. He compared this role with a carpenter and found working with wood is same as working with medical tools. He was accompanied by his two sons in this series. His guest appearance in ‘West Wing’ as a secret agent was applauded all over the country in 2002. Because of this series, he was again nominated for an Emmy Award.

NCIS:

Mark Harmon caught the attention of Don Bellisario, Producer of NCIS. He wanted to cast Leroy Jethro Gibbs in NCIS. He found Mark an appropriate option as he has the same jock mentality as Leroy. The show started in 2003 and quickly built up its fan following. The NCIS involved many other agents along with Mark like Tony Dinozzo, Timothy McGee etc. He had to present himself as a comedy star as well as serious personality. In 2007, some clashes occurred between Mark and Bellisario. There were some complaints regarding late scripts and Harmon take this issue to the network so in result Bellisario was suspended from his position.  NCIS earned 20 million audiences per week, which led the show to become popular over the country.

Marital Status:

Harmon first dated Raines and their relationship last for two years. This split, shattered his heart into several pieces. But after meeting actress Pam Dawber, he felt rejuvenated and they both got married in 1987 and throw a small wedding party for family and friends.

Awards:

In 1977and 2002, he was awarded with Emmy Awards for outstanding actor. In 1992 he captured Golden Globe Award for Best performance in the TV series.  In 1997, he got a Screen Actor Guild Award for his performance in Drama.