Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon, is one of the two characters who have been on the crime drama NCIS the longest, the other character being Ducky who is played by David McCallum. At the beginning of the series, Gibbs's character was somewhat of an enigma to his team and to the audience.
His team pretty much only knows about his tenure at NCIS, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The audience initially knows even less and primarily learns about Gibbs's past from his team and other agents at NCIS. As the series progresses, the audience also learns things about him from flashbacks and some things that sometimes not even his team knows. However, some details about Gibbs himself and his past are briefly touched upon and can be easily missed. Here are 10 facts you didn't know about Gibbs.
He First Appeared In The Series JAG
NCIS is a spin-off of the show JAG. During JAG's run, the showrunners used the twentieth and twenty-first episodes of season 8 as a two-part backdoor pilot for NCIS. During those episodes Gibbs along with his team, Tony DiNozzo, Ducky, Abby Sciuto, Don Dobbs, and Vivian Blackadder investigated the death of a Judge Advocate, setting up what would eventually be the format of most NCIS episodes. Once NCIS started, Gibbs, along with Tony, Ducky, and Abby remained on the show, while Don Dobbs and Vivian Blackadder only appeared in the backdoor pilot episodes.
Mark Harmon's Son Plays Young Gibbs
Starting in the fourth episode of season 6, the show will occasionally provide viewers insight into Gibbs's life before he enlisted in the Marines, in his hometown of Stillwater, Pennsylvania, including how he met his first wife Shannon. Obviously, the showrunners needed to hire an actor much younger than Mark Harmon to play Gibbs at a younger age. The showrunners hired Sean Harmon, Mark Harmon's son, to play young Gibbs in these flashbacks, likely because the familial resemblance would help the flashbacks seem more like memories. So far, he has only appeared in six episodes as a younger Gibbs.
He's A Polyglot
Gibbs can speak multiple languages, which occasionally comes in handy when solving cases. In the twelfth episode of season one, Gibbs is able to interpret a suspect's tattoo written in Mandarin, which is incorrectly called "Chinese" by both characters. Whereas in the seventh episode of season two, when he is helping a World War II veteran solve the case of the death of his buddy while they were both serving in Japan, Gibbs reveals that he can speak some Japanese. In the fourth episode of season 4, it is revealed that Gibbs can speak Russian fluently while he is going after a Russian terrorist he believes is responsible for killing a petty officer. He also sometimes communicated with Abby using American Sign Language during her tenure at NCIS.
He Often Got Into Trouble As A Teenager
When Gibbs was younger and still living in Stillwater with his father, he and his father, Jackson Gibbs, had a strained relationship, which is explored in the fourth episode of season 6, the same episode in which Sean Harmon made his debut. In the episode, it is implied that Gibbs was even somewhat of a delinquent as a teen, given that the sheriff was surprised to find that Gibbs now operates on "the same side of the law" as the sheriff.
It is revealed that Jackson raised Gibbs as a single parent during his teenage years, the reason for which will be touched upon in more detail later.
He Was Married Four Times But Only Divorced Three Times
Gibbs's first wife, Shannon, was killed along with their daughter Kelly when a drug dealer shot the escort driving them, causing the car to crash. Gibbs then married three more times with each marriage ending in divorce. Like a lot of Gibbs's personal life, not a lot is initially known about any of his ex-wives, except for the fact that most of them are redheads with the exception of Rebecca Chase, his third ex-wife, and fourth wife overall. Long after their divorce, his first ex-wife and second wife overall, Diane Sterling, was killed.
He Was Engaged A Fifth Time
In the twentieth episode of season 16, while solving a case involving old remains of a Marine Major found at a construction site, Gibbs learns that the remains belong to his ex-fiancee, Ellen Wallace, making her the fifth woman to whom Gibbs was engaged. Apparently Gibbs had broken off the engagement about two months before her death, which occurred the night before the 9/11 attack. The timing of her death caused people initially to believe that she was killed in the attacks, specifically the attack on the Pentagon, which was then disproved during Gibbs's time investigating her death in the episode.
He Was Named After His Dad's Friend And Business Partner
Leroy Jethro Moore, who goes by LJ, was Jackson Gibbs's business partner in running the Stillwater General Store. They first met working in the coal mines together. In the fifth season of episode 10, viewers learn that Jackson named Gibbs after LJ, who was prominent in the lives of the Gibbs family. LJ was a Marine in World War II, and he later influenced Gibbs to enlist in the Marines when he was old enough.
His Mom Died When He Was 14
In the fifth episode of season 10, it is revealed that Gibbs's mom, Ann Gibbs, was diagnosed with cancer. Gibbs first thought that his mother died because of the cancer, however, he learns that because she did not want her husband and son to watch her suffer, she took her own life. Apparently Leroy Jethro Moore was at first the only one who knew about Ann taking her life.
Jackson learned about his knowledge of her suicide and never forgave him for allowing her to move forward with her plans causing the two business partners' falling out.
He Earned A Purple Heart From Desert Storm
During the twenty-third episode of season 3, Gibbs gets injured in an explosion while working a case and falls into a coma. During his coma, the audience is shown a series of flashbacks of his time serving as a Marine in Operation Desert Storm. These flashbacks reveal that soon after he learns about his wife and daughter's deaths, he gets injured on the field. Outside of the flashbacks, Jenny Shepard, the NCIS director at the time, informs DiNozzo that Gibbs had earned a Purple Heart due to said injury he received during Desert Storm.
His Signature Head Slap Was Not Originally Part Of His Character
One of Gibbs's most identifiable characteristics is what is now considered his signature head slap. Tony DiNozzo, and occasionally other agents such as Tim McGee, Ziva David often receive the slap whenever Gibbs deems their behavior idiotic or distracting from the case. But, the slap was not originally apart of his character. Mark Harmon one day smacked Michael Weatherly, the actor who played DiNozzo, in the back of the head during a take early in the first season, and the showrunners incorporated it into his character, and the show, ever since.