‘NCIS’: Mark Harmon’s Story About His Mother’s Wedding Dress Will Bring a Tear to Your Eye
NCIS stars Mark Harmon and Maria Bello appeared on The Talk to discuss the show and talk a bit about their personal lives. Harmon shared a touching story about his mother’s wedding dress that’s sure to bring a tear to your eye. Here’s what Harmon had to say.
Mark Harmon’s mother
Harmon’s mother, Elyse Knox, passed away in 2012 at the age of 94. She was an actress, fashion designer, and pin-up girl during World War II, reports Entertainment Tonight. Knox was known for playing the lead role opposite actor Lon Chaney Jr. in the 1942 film The Mummy’s Tomb. She also worked with Abbott and Costello in a few Joe Palooka movies. Knox was the wife of Heisman trophy-winner Tom Harmon.
The sweet story behind the wedding dress Mark Hamon’s mother wore
During a 2017 interview with The Talk, Harmon recalled the story of his mother’s wedding dress. Before that, host Sheryl Underwood asked Harmon to give some background on his father, Tom, whom she described as a “real-life war hero.” Harmon went on to talk about his father’s plane crash during World War II and the story of his mother’s wedding gown:
My dad went down twice during World War II. He went down in China. He was badly burned, went down in a dog fight, and they rescued him. Guerrillas took him out of a lake. He was badly burned, so when a pilot went out of a plane, they always picked up the parachute. The reason they did that was because if they found a parachute, they knew someone was out and around. He got back after 30 days and the parachute came with him and he married my mom. And my grandmother basically took the parachute apart and made my mom’s wedding dress.
Harmon told The Talk hosts that Bello knows a lot about parachute clothing and she probably knows a lot more than he does. “Maria knows all about parachute clothing, which I didn’t know anything about. She knows more about this than I do,” said Harmon. Bello shared how she learned about this unique clothing. “I was at a vintage store. I collect vintage clothes in Canada, and a woman had a parachute dress. She said it was the thing during World War II that these men would bring their parachutes back and the women would make dresses out of it,” said Bello.
Read more: ‘NCIS’: Why Mark Harmon Took on the Role of Agent Gibbs
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