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NCIS star Mark Harmon has been married to his wife, Pam Dawber, for 37 years. Before he met Dawber, he was considered a heartthrob amongst fans of his work. But he didn’t always have great luck in dating. In the ’80s, he once explained to Joan Rivers that he had a strange encounter with a woman who hit on him after asking him for a pen. Here’s what happened.

‘NCIS’ star Mark Harmon said he was hit on strangely after People named him the ‘Sexiest Man Alive’

NCIS star Mark Harmon adores his wife of nearly 40 years, Pam Dawber. However, he wasn’t always lucky in his love life. He spoke to Joan Rivers, via Youtube, shortly after he was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive in 1986. And he explained that his dating world didn’t improve much after the incredible title.

Rivers mentioned to Harmon that he seemingly never had trouble attaining dates, and he disagreed. “Sure, I did,” he told her. “Having trouble right now as we speak. … I don’t get it either.”

Rivers noted that she couldn’t believe women weren’t throwing themselves at Harmon, especially after People named him the Sexiest Man Alive. Harmon corrected Rivers and said that actually had happened to him — but he wasn’t into it.

“That has happened,” he told her. “The other day, I was in my car, I got out of my car, and I was just locking up. All of a sudden, this red Ferrari pulled up next to me. I couldn’t see into the car. The lady said, ‘Excuse me, can I borrow a pen?’ I just heard a voice, and so I took a pen out of my pocket, handed it to her, and I locked my car, and I set the alarm. And I turned around, and she handed me back the pen with her phone number and said, ‘Call me,’ and took off.”

“Did you?” Rivers asked.

“I just saw her legs,” Harmon explained, clearly not thinking he was about to get hit on by a stranger. “It’s hard to just get attracted to legs. She drives a nice car, though.”

As for what Harmon did with the random phone numbers that women gave him, he said he gave them to a friend.

He met his wife, Pam Dawber, shortly after having ‘trouble’ in his love life

Mark Harmon and his wife, Pam Dawber, standing next to each other at an event. Dawber is looking over her shoulder at the camera.
Mark Harmon and Pam Dawber | Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
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While speaking to Joan Rivers, NCIS star Mark Harmon noted that he felt unlucky in love. But shortly after his interview, he met his future wife, Pam Dawber. Dawber and Harmon met in 1986 after he cold-called her for a date. A mutual friend of the two actors wanted them to meet in a group date setting, but Harmon wanted to call Dawber directly.

“I said, ‘Can I just call? Can I get a number and just cold call?'” he told People in November 2023. “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.”

In 1986, before meeting Dawber, Harmon clarified to People that he wasn’t looking for love. But if he found the right woman, he planned on staying loyal. “When I marry, I want it to be everything this town says it can’t be,” he added. “I’m not into catting around.”

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