In Hollywood, some couples are lucky to make it longer than a few months. And then you have the opposite end of the spectrum, where solid couples like Mark Harmon and Pam Dawber have been hanging out for the past 36 years.
Mark and Pam are a notoriously private couple, which might be part of why they've lasted for so long. But a few years ago, Mark opened up in an issue of People about the "key" to their long-lasting success.
Mark and Pam are both the exact same age: 70. They married in 1987, so they were around 36 at the time. Mark attributes their current happiness to their ages back then.
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"We were both in our thirties when we got married, so hopefully the stupid stuff we did earlier," Mark said. "That’s probably the closest I have to what the key is."
There you have it, folks. If you can stand to wait that long before you get married, you might just have a shot at passing the 30-year mark.
Mark Harmon is an industry veteran. He's starred on the same TV show, NCIS, for 16 years, and he's been acting for 40 years total.
And his wife, Pam Dawber, has been with him through it all.
Mark and Pam have been married for 31 years.
Mark opened up in a recent issue of People about his lengthy marriage and why it's been so successful. He says the secret to success was their level of maturity at the time they got married.
"We were both in our thirties when we got married, so hopefully the stupid stuff we did early," Mark explained. "That's probably the closest I have to what the key is."
Mark added that the two are quite different from each other, which also helps. Because you know what they say: Opposites attract.
Apparently, Pam was against Mark taking a role in a movie that turned out to be a hit: Freddy Shoop in the 1987 comedy Summer School.
"I wanted to do it just because I was excited to work with [director] Carl Reiner," Mark said.
"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.'"
Some couples would let differences like that tear them apart. But not Mark and Pam.
"We don't generally like the same thing, and that's been healthy for us, actually," he explained.
Mark and Pam share two sons together: Sean, 30, and Ty, 26.
The entire family tends to keep a low profile. They don't often appear in public together, nor do they speak about each other much in interviews.
But Mark says he's super proud of his wife. That's why he wears that unusual eagle ring on his finger.
About the ring, Mark explained:
“We think it was my grandfather’s, because it was in a box of things my dad left. I wear it or a few others I have because when I’m not shooting, I like to make sure I have something on my ring finger, because I’m proud to be married, and I’m proud of who I’m married to. I’m just so proud of her.”
Um, does it get much cuter than that?
Pam must be proud of her husband, too. Mark has had a long, successful career. He was named People's Sexiest Man Alive in 1986, just before the two married.
The two met through a mutual friend after Pam finished starring in Mork & Mindy, her breakthrough role, which ended in 1982.
They married in a private ceremony at Mark's high school alma mater in 1987.
The rest, as they say, is history.
