Health Crisis! Inside Mark Harmon's 'Tough Rehabilitation' After Secret Surgery
NCIS star Mark Harmon appeared gaunt when he was photographed outside his home for the first time in 250 days earlier this year. A source close to the actor exclusively reveals to RadarOnline.com the truth behind his extreme weight loss.
"He isn't sick," the insider told RadarOnline.com. "About a year ago, he had surgery on his knee. It was an old football injury."
The source claimed Harmon's intense recovery forced him to slim down drastically.
"Because of his tough rehabilitation, he has lost weight," the source claimed. "But he's doing great."
The former UCLA quarterback appears to have lost at least 20 pounds, plunging to a shocking 157 pounds, a top weight loss expert told RadarOnline.com.
"Mark seemed surprisingly frail," an eyewitness who spotted Harmon greeting a delivery man outside his L.A. home told RadarOnline.com in January. "He was struggling with a box marked 'Meet the Butchers' to give to a delivery driver. He didn't look well. He didn't look much like his TV character. He hadn't been spotted by photographers in 250 days!"
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Harmon's father Tom, who was a Heisman Trophy-winning Michigan running back, collapsed from a fatal heart attack after winning a golf tournament at Bel-Air Country Club in L.A. in March 1990.
Another source previously told RadarOnline.com, "Losing his father in an instant like that, when he seemed the picture of health, seems to rattle him to this day. I wouldn't be surprised if he's convinced he'll die soon from heart disease — just like his dad!"
But New York internist Dr. Stuart Fischer told RadarOnline.com at the time that genetics "plays a small role in the prevalence of heart disease."
He added, "The usual risk factors like obesity and diabetes are much more important."
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