Mark Harmon’s 2 Children: All About Sean and Ty
One of Mark Harmon’s sons appeared alongside him on NCIS
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 completely exploited by the press, you have to,” Dawber PEOPLE told 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.”
One thing Mark and Dawber were on board about was that the boys were their top priority, and being home with them was a big reason he took on his longest role ever. “The decision to do [NCIS] was because I was traveling a lot doing movies and other things and I was trying to stay home more with a young family,” he told PEOPLE in 2023. “It was important to be able to make pancakes on Saturday morning.”
While their children keep a relatively low profile, they followed their parents into show business — Ty tried his hand at screenwriting, and Sean is a stuntman and actor. “I’m proud of both 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,” the Ghosts of Honolulu author told Entertainment Tonight in 2020.
Here’s everything to know about Mark Harmon and Pam Dawber’s two children, Sean Harmon and Ty Christian Harmon.
Sean Harmon, 35
Mark and Dawber welcomed their first child, a son named Sean Harmon, on April 25, 1988, in Burbank, California, one year after they married. Not much is known about Sean’s childhood, but he knew at a young age he wanted to follow in his famous parents’ footsteps. “I grew up in Los Angeles,” Sean told Stunt Hustle. “Both of my parents are actors and my grandmother before my dad. I went to film school here and have pretty much wanted to be involved in the industry for as long as I can remember.”
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 broken!”
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 next one to yours.”
Ty Christian Harmon, 31
Mark and Dawber welcomed their second child, Ty Christian Harmon, in Los Angeles on June 25, 1992. Unlike his family, who has spent their career in front of rolling cameras, he has experience behind the scenes as a screenwriter. Ty worked with his brother on a short film called Catholic Schoolgirl Chainsaw Showdown in 2012. Ty comes from a long line of actors, singers and athletes. Mark’s mother was actress Elyse Knox, and his father was Heisman Trophy-winning football player and broadcasting icon Tom Harmon. Mark’s late sister Kristin was also previously married to singer Ricky Nelson, whose parents were sitcom stars Ozzie and Harriet Nelson.
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’ upbringings, 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 every day… 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 married in February 2021, after dating for five years.
