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'NCIS' Stars Mark Harmon and His Wife Pam Dawber Are Super Low-Key About Their Marriage

Photo credit: Getty
Photo credit: Getty

The newest episode of NCIS will not just be a memorable one for the fans but also for the CBS drama's leading man, Mark Harmon. Starting April 6, he will get to star alongside his wife of 34 years, actress Pam Dawber, for a four-episode arc in season 18.

While Pam may only be appearing in a guest star capacity on NCIS this spring — she'll be playing a "seasoned investigative journalist" named Marcie Warren — longtime TV sitcom fans know that the actress was once a queen of the small screen back in the 1980s. Pam starred alongside Robin Williams in the Happy Days spinoff Mork & Mindy and also the sitcom My Sister Sam. Around the same time, Mark was also gaining popularity thanks to roles on the prime time soap opera Flamingo Road and medical drama St. Elsewhere. Mark was also named People's "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1986.

According to Closer Weekly, the two were introduced by a mutual friend in the mid-80s — and the rest, as they say, is history. While not much is known about their dating life during this time, we do know that on March 21, 1987 they got married in a school chapel in the Studio City area of San Fernando Valley, California. The newlyweds then jetted off together to Vancouver, British Columbia for their honeymoon, which also happened to be the spot where Mark was filming the CBS TV movie After the Promise at the time, per The Associated Press.

Photo credit: Time Life Pictures
Photo credit: Time Life Pictures

On April 25, 1988, the two welcomed their first son, Sean Harmon. The couple became parents of two a few years later when their second son, Ty Christian, was born on June 25, 1992.

Over the years, they have managed to stay out of the spotlight for the most part, only occasionally appearing together for red carpet events here and there. But as Mark told TV Insider in 2017, he isn't purposefully avoiding talking about his wife and their marriage — they're just inherently private people.

"It’s not even a choice," he told the outlet. "It’s who we are. We stay home. A lot. I’m not a Twitter guy or a Facebook guy. Our sons aren’t into that either. Pam and I have both made a living in this business, and still, there’s a part of that that’s just not natural."

Photo credit: Ron Galella
Photo credit: Ron Galella

Pam had also said something similar in a People cover story right before she and Mark tied the knot. "We’re not trying to keep something secret," she said to the magazine in 1987. "But if you don’t want it totally exploited by the press, you have to."

As far as their kids go, Pam told Entertainment Tonight in 2016 that she made a decision to not act full time while raising their two sons. Her last long-term gig was voicing Perdy in the animated 101 Dalmatians: The Series show in 1998.

Photo credit: Bill Inoshita
Photo credit: Bill Inoshita

"I was in a number one show. I had my own deal. I got to do Broadway. I got to do musical theater. I got to do cartoon voices," Pam said. "I did everything you can do in this business, and then I had children and it's like, 'I'm not going to chase this fame thing.'"

Now that their kids are grown, however, Pam has decided to take on the world of TV again — only this time, she'll now have her husband of 34 years by her side.

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