Actor Mark Harmon starred in NCIS as the main character and team commander Leroy Jethro Gibbs, who has a complicated romantic history of four wives.
Harmon led the way in NCIS up until the beginning of Season 19 when he left to pursue new opportunities. He remains on board as a producer, but he hasn't appeared on screen since his exit in 2021 as NCIS now moves into Season 22 with a few new characters.
How Did Gibbs' Wife and Daughter Die on NCIS?
The fates of Gibbs' first wife, Shannon, and his daughter, Kelly, were revealed in NCIS Season 3, Episode 23, "Hiatus Part 1."
Throughout Season 3's penultimate episode, Gibbs experiences a series of flashbacks to Desert Storm (the Gulf War) while in the hospital and undergoing treatment for an injury suffered in an explosion.
During a scan, Gibbs dreamt back to learning that a NIS Special Agent Kurt Mitchell had been killed by a sniper while driving a truck, with both his wife and daughter also being casualties in the crash.
At the time of her death, Gibbs' daughter Kelly was just eight years old, dying on February 25, 1991 after she was born in 1982.
The episode went on to explain that Shannon had witnessed the murder of a Marine at the hands of Mexican drug dealer Pedro Hernandez and was set to testify against him in court.
Hernandez was originally placed to walk free and return to Mexico due to a lack of witnesses to convict him. But a vengeful Gibbs came back to finish the job and sniped Hernandez from afar while he was driving.
Gibbs' Three Further Wives on NCIS
Diane Sterling
Years after Shannon's death, Gibbs began his second marriage to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent Diane Sterling, played by Melinda McGraw.
While the marriage began happily, they eventually separated and she remarried to Gibbs' friend, former FBI Special Agent Tobias Fornell, who she also divorced.
Her story would face a similar bitter end to Gibbs' first wife, as, during Season 12, she was shot dead by Sergei Mishnev at a crime scene.
Rebecca Chase
During his recovery from his second marriage, Gibbs would meet and later marry Rebecca Chase, played by Jeri Ryan, for only a short time.
Chase suffered from a drinking problem and had even had an affair with her divorce attorney, Gene Isaacson.
She attempted to make amends with Gibbs as part of her alcohol recovery shortly before marrying Isaacson.
Stephanie Flynn
While in Moscow for work, Gibbs would spend a lot of time with Stephanie Flynn, played by Kathleen York, who would eventually become his fourth wife.
Similarly to his previous marriages, Gibbs' relationship with Flynn was also brief as they split just 14 months after tying the knot.
Ellen Wallace*
During Season 16, Episode 20, the body of Major Ellen Wallace, played by Erin Cummings, was found at a construction site.
It was later revealed she was engaged but never married to Gibbs as he broke up with her to protect her from the brutal fates of his first two wives.
Gibbs left NCIS in Season 19 after solving his final case as a single man, but there's no telling what he may have gotten up to in the years since his last appearance. Based on his track record, he could even be married again.
New episodes of NCIS Season 22 air on Monday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS before streaming the next day on Paramount+.
