Mark Harmon and Pam Dawber may be familiar faces on TV, but they keep their family life with their kids, Sean and Ty, private.
“We’re not trying to keep something secret, but if you don’t want it totally exploited by the press, you have to,” Dawber in 1987 of her relationship after marrying the NCIS star.
“It’s not even a choice. It’s who we are,” Mark elaborated to TV Insider in 2017. “We stay home. A lot. I’m not a Twitter guy or a Facebook guy. Our sons aren’t into that either.”
Mark and Dawber agreed that the boys came first, and that being at home with them was a major factor in him taking on his longest job to date.
He stated in 2023, “I was trying to stay home more with a young family and I was traveling a lot doing movies and other things, so I decided to do [NCIS].” Being able to prepare pancakes on Saturday morning was crucial.
Although their offspring maintain a low profile, they followed their parents into the entertainment industry; Ty attempted screenwriting, and Sean works as an actor and stuntman. The Ghosts of Honolulu author said to Entertainment Tonight in 2020, “I’m proud of both of our boys, and they work hard at what they do and I’m proud that they get up in the morning and try to do that every day.”
Everything you need to know about Sean Harmon and Ty Christian Harmon, the two children of Mark Harmon and Pam Dawber, is provided here.
Sean Harmon, 35
One year after getting married, on April 25, 1988, Mark and Dawber welcomed their first child, a son called Sean Harmon, to Burbank, California. Though not much is known about Sean’s early years, he was aware from an early age that he wanted to be just like his well-known parents.
Sean said, “I grew up in Los Angeles,” to Stunt Hustle. “My grandma came before my dad, and both of my parents are actresses. I attended film school here, and ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to work in the field.
One of Sean’s first forays into acting came when he appeared on NCIS as a young version of his dad’s character, Gibbs. He stepped into the role in 2008 for season 6 episodes of the CBS procedural drama. Since then, Sean has appeared a handful more times throughout the years, most recently in 2020 for a season 18 episode.
According to Mark, the father-son collaboration began when a director asked if Sean could play young Gibbs. “I’m proud of him taking his work seriously and how he approaches being an actor — not just on this show, [but] just what he has chosen to try to do in his life’s work,” he said. Sean became a stunt performer and coordinator specializing in fight scenes. His work has appeared in TV shows like Breakwater and films like Dumb and Dumber To. He shared with Stunt Hustle that doing “Muay Thai kick boxing for 12 years” helped him in his profession.
“I think it was easier for me to make adjustments to what I already knew to make it work on camera,” he said. “It’s easier to break what’s fixed than it is to fix what’s broke!”
Aside from Muay Thai, Sean also loves creating art and doing outdoor activities, like horseback riding and surfing — hobbies he enjoys with his wife, Courtney Prather Harmon. He announced their engagement in August 2021, with proposal photos taken in a field surrounded by horses. The pair tied the knot just over a year later, in November 2022, in Costa Rica.
Sean has a close relationship with his father, sharing touching tributes to him on Instagram. “For the man who taught me how to be a man,” he posted on Father’s Day 2016 alongside a photo of Mark receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “Love you dad, and I’m comin for the one next to yours.”
Ty Christian Harmon, 31
On June 25, 1992, Mark and Dawber welcomed Ty Christian Harmon, their second child, to Los Angeles. He has worked as a screenwriter behind the scenes, in contrast to his family who have always spent their careers in front of rolling cameras. In 2012, Ty co-directed the short film Catholic Schoolgirl Chainsaw Showdown with his brother. Ty is descended from a long history of performers, singers, and sportsmen. Actress Elyse Knox was Mark’s mother, while legendary broadcaster and Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon was his father. The musician Ricky Nelson, whose parents were sitcom legends Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, was previously married to Mark’s late sister Kristin.
Despite his busy career, it was important for Mark to be around for his kids — and he’s grateful that NCIS allowed him to do that. Speaking with ET about his sons’ upbringing, he touched on what matters to him and Pam as parents.
“Separate from anything as an actor, you hopefully take pride in who people are individually away from any camera just as people, as citizens,” he said. “And both our boys have done well and hopefully made smart choices and are doing well daily… we have a lot of reasons to be proud of both of them.”
For her part, Dawber also takes “pride” in her boys. “More than anything, she’s a mom, and there’s a pride there involved in that,” Mark told ET about her relationship with her sons.
Away from film work, Ty is married to his wife, Madeline Harmon, whom he wed in February 2021, after dating for five years.