<p id=”par-1_33″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/mark-harmon/”>Mark Harmon</a> has been <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/mark-harmon-said-wife-first-year-marriage-individual-people.html/”>married to Pam Dawber</a> for decades, now. And although the two boast one of the happiest marriages in Hollywood, at one point Dawber couldn’t imagine herself a married woman.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-pam-dawber-found-marriage-scary”>Pam Dawber found marriage scary</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” loading=”lazy” width=”1200″ height=”829″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mark-Harmon-Pam-Dawber.jpg?strip=all&quality=89″ alt=”Mark Harmon wearing a white suit walking next to Pam Dawber.” class=”wp-image-3637142″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mark-Harmon-Pam-Dawber.jpg 1200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mark-Harmon-Pam-Dawber.jpg?w=640&h=442 640w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mark-Harmon-Pam-Dawber.jpg?w=768&h=531 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mark-Harmon-Pam-Dawber.jpg?w=1024&h=707 1024w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mark-Harmon-Pam-Dawber.jpg?w=507&h=350 507w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mark-Harmon-Pam-Dawber.jpg?w=245&h=169 245w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mark-Harmon-Pam-Dawber.jpg?w=200&h=138 200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mark-Harmon-Pam-Dawber.jpg?w=734&h=507 734w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mark-Harmon-Pam-Dawber.jpg?w=87&h=60 87w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Pam Dawber and Mark Harmon | Ron Galella/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_52″>Dawber and Harmon both married in 1987 and never looked back. It all started with Harmon famously making his move on his wife through a mutual friend. According to an interview with <a href=”https://people.com/mark-harmon-recalls-cold-call-asking-out-wife-pam-dawber-exclusive-8387308″>People</a>, the friend wanted to set Harmon up on a group date. But Harmon preferred to speak to Dawber personally.</p>
<p id=”par-3_78″>“I said, ‘Can I just call? Can I get a number and just cold call?’ 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,” he said.</p>
<p id=”par-4_33″>It took only a year of dating for Harmon and the <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/pam-dawbers-frustrated-experience-mork-mindy-drove-television.html/”><em>Mork & Mindy </em>star</a> to marry. This was a special moment for Dawber, however, who once couldn’t imagine marriage being a possibility.</p>
<p id=”par-5_69″>“I will say that marriage always seemed scary to me – the end of life,” she once told <a href=”https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/06/07/sam-dawber-acting-life-is-growing-on-her/”>Chicago Tribune</a>. “I was afraid I wouldn’t be allowed to be myself. And basically that somebody would find out I was a boring person. Well, happily I found a person who thinks he’s a boring person, so it’s perfect. We can be very boring people together. A match made in heaven.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-mark-harmon-once-explained-what-the-key-to-his-marriage-with-pam-dawber-was”>Mark Harmon once explained what the key to his marriage with Pam Dawber was</h2>
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<iframe loading=”lazy” title=”Mark Harmon of NCIS: I Love That You’re Asking Me About Marriage | Larry King Now – Ora TV” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/5Pf8kxSQXbI?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-6_54″>Not many celebrity couples last as long as Harmon’s and Dawber’s. Even Harmon wasn’t sure why their marriage was as strong as it was, but he did pose a few theories. Harmon felt their age had something to do with it. The <em>NCIS </em>star considered it fortunate that they didn’t get married younger than they were.</p>
<p id=”par-7_37″>“<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/ncis-how-old-is-mark-harmon-and-how-long-will-he-play-agent-gibbs.html/”>We were both in our thirties</a> when we got married, so hopefully the stupid stuff we did earlier,” he said in a separate interview with <a href=”https://people.com/tv/mark-harmon-pam-dawber-marriage/”>People</a>. “That’s probably the closest I have to what the key is.”</p>
<p id=”par-8_46″>He also believed that their differences played a factor. Harmon revealed that he and Dawber hardly found common ground, which might’ve helped their bond. He pointed to his 1987 hit film <em>Summer School </em>as an example. Although Harmon was all for doing the picture, Dawber was the opposite.</p>
<p id=”par-9_61″>“I wanted to do it just because I was excited to work with [director] Carl Reiner,” Harmon added. “That was a game changer for me, like, ‘He thinks I can do this?!’ and that meant a lot. But Pam said, ‘Don’t do that. Don’t do this movie.’ We don’t generally like the same thing, and that’s been healthy for us, actually.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-pam-dawber-once-described-what-she-initially-thought-about-marriage-before-exchanging-vows-with-ncis-star-mark-harmon”>Pam Dawber once described what she initially thought about marriage before exchanging vows with ‘NCIS’ star Mark Harmon.</h2>
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<iframe loading=”lazy” title=”Pam Dawber and Mark Harmon were TV’s hottest “It” Couple in the 80s | Country Living” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/axjrAeBrvW4?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
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<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/mark-harmon-turned-ncis-episode-pitch-spin-off.html/”>
How Mark Harmon Turned an ‘NCIS’ Episode Pitch Into a Spin-Off </a>
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<p id=”par-10_29″>After marrying Harmon, Dawber made a conscious decision to step away from the spotlight for a while. This also might’ve helped the pair maintain their marriage over the years.</p>
<p id=”par-11_24″>“I don’t think two people can work all the time in show business and stay married,” Dawber said in an interview with <a href=”https://www.etonline.com/news/202666_exclusive_mork_mindy_star_pam_dawber_on_staying_married_hollywood_and_keeping_kids_out_of_headlines”>Entertainment Tonight</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-12_26″>It helped that Dawber already accomplished a lot in her long acting career. After a while, she decided to prioritize motherhood over being <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/what-is-mark-harmons-wife-pam-dawber-most-famous-for.html/”>a famous actor</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-13_58″>“I wanted to drive my kids to school. I wanted to be there for their birthdays and bring cupcakes and donuts and do the school festivals and all that, and I did,” Dawber said. “I got to teach in their art class and so it was a different life then and I was very happy to do it.”</p>