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How Mark Harmon Really Felt About Being People's Sexiest Man Alive

Mark Harmon wasn't exactly upset about landing the cover of People with the words "Sexiest Man Alive" in bold yellow letters next to his face. Even so, he still deemed it "silly," he later told People in 2015. It didn't help that he was playing basketball with his buddies when he found out, prompting immediate teasing from his cohort. "Both backboards on either side of the court were plastered with the cover," he said. 

A year after earning the title, Harmon was still playing it down. "Oh, I just have to laugh when I hear that," he told the Chicago Tribune in 1987. "Besides, that was over a year ago. I think there's a new 'sexiest man' today." In his mid-30s and still reveling in his fame from the TV drama "St. Elsewhere," Harmon still had a hard time placing himself in the handsome man category. "The truth of the matter is, I've never seen what other people see,” he told the Chicago Tribune. He was unlikely just being cute, as he has doubled-down on this opinion over the years. "All I see is a bunch of fake teeth and football scars," he told People. He must have a pretty deceiving mirror indeed.

"Oh, it isn't that I hate it, really," he later said to People in 2019. "It's just that I'm not about to take it seriously." He seemingly has maintained that view throughout his career.

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Martina Birk

Update: 2024-05-04