Mark Harmon

About Mark Harmon

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 was University of Michigan football All-American and Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon, and his mother is actress Elyse Knox, the daughter of World War II Secretary of the Navy, 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.