For Pam Dawber, October 18 was likely a quiet but certifiably celebratory affair. The actress officially turned 74 on Saturday, just one more year away from a milestone age. Neither she nor her longtime husband Mark Harmon have a presence on social media, and Pam in particular has stepped away from the spotlight in recent years, last making an appearance on screen in 2021 and being seen out in public during a California flea market crawl with Mark in 2024.
However, there's still one big reason for things to remain shiny and new for the couple, who've been married since 1987 and share two sons, Sean, 37, and Ty, 33, Harmon. While both Sean and Ty have public social media profiles, they aren't particularly active either, just like their parents, but they will share occasional life updates.
Back in May, the family grew Sean and his wife Courtney Prather welcomed their baby boy, Cooper Knox Harmon. Their grandson's name is also a nod to Mark's mother, 1940s actress and model Elyse Knox. Courtney shared news of her and Sean's son's arrival with a collection of photos of him a few weeks after his birth, captioning it: "1 month with you," thereby also making this proud Pam's first birthday since becoming a first-time grandmother.
Mark, also 74, does continue to still work, particularly as an executive producer and narrator on the NCIS prequel series NCIS: Origins, beside his son Sean, and recently reprised his role in the Freaky Friday sequel Freakier Friday (although missed much of the promotional tour). Speaking with People in 2023, the actor opened up about his long marriage to Pam, and how it all began just a year prior to their wedding, with a mutual friend wanting to set them up on a blind group date.
"I said, 'Can I just call? Can I get a number and just cold call?'," he recalled. "And so I did. I got the number, and I called, and I got an answering machine. And I started to leave a message that said, 'We don't have to all go out. We could get a cup of coffee or something.' And then she was monitoring and she picked up. We went out that night and we're together ever since."
© Getty ImagesHe proudly gushed over their boys as well, with Sean also working as an actor and Ty as a screenwriter. "I'm proud of our boys. They understand the work ethic and they're very different." Their family was also a large part of why Mark took his role on NCIS, a stint lasting 19 seasons and a run as an executive producer, so as to devote more time to them.
© Getty Images"It was important to be able to make pancakes on Saturday morning," he said. "And there were some times where that meant not sleeping. You just came home and took a shower and came back down. And yet I look back at it and I don't miss the sleep. I still missed things, I was working, but I've been part of [my sons'] lives. I've been able to spend more time with them. In many ways, we've had a great opportunity to kind of grow as a family."
© CBS via Getty ImagesAs for his secret to his marriage with Pam? "I have no secret," he quipped. "We laugh. You got to laugh, and you got to talk and communicate. That's the fun part. Do we sit and talk about it? No. Maybe you just get fortunate and find the right one. We share many things and yet we're really different."
