The NCIS Universe is constantly expanding — and fans have become enthralled with the original cast and the spinoff actors’ romances, both on and off screen.
NCIS debuted in 2003 as a backdoor pilot for JAG, which ran from 1995 to 2005. NCIS, which originally starred Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, concluded season 22 in May 2025.
Prior to that season — and thanks to the addition of spinoffs, including NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: Hawai’i and NCIS: Sydney, the NCIS franchise reached 1,000 total episodes in April 2024. Prequel series NCIS: Origins premiered that October, adding to its legacy.
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While viewers are constantly rooting for their favorite characters to find love — we’re looking at you Jessica Knight and Jimmy Palmer — the actors’ real-life relationships have also pulled fans in over the years.
Scroll down to see which NCIS stars from the mothership series and its many spinoffs are married, who is single and everything in between:
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Beloved actress Loretta Swit has died at the age of 87. As many tributes have pointed out, she is largely remembered for her hilarious role in the TV series MAS*H in which she played Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, the head nurse of the army medical unit.
But, oddly enough, another Hot Lips passed away just last year. On February 24, 2024, actress Sally Kellerman passed away at the age of 84. Kellerman was the original Hot Lips, having played the character in the 1970 movie, which preceded the show by two years.
And prior to that, in 1965, Kellerman starred in the pivotal second pilot episode for the original Star Trek, playing Dr. Elizabeth Dehner. Her character didn’t survive the pilot, but without that episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” Star Trek would have never happened. Ditto, the TV version of MASH, which was adapted from the hit film starring Kellerman as Hot Lips.
LOS ANGELES – SEPTEMBER 22: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk and Sally Kellerman as Dr. Elizabeth Dehner in the STAR TREK episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Season 1, Episode 3. Original air date, September 22, 1966. Image is a frame grab. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) <p><a href=”https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/161468865″ rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images</a></p>
LOS ANGELES – SEPTEMBER 22: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk and Sally Kellerman as Dr. Elizabeth Dehner in the STAR TREK episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Season 1, Episode 3. Original air date, September 22, 1966. Image is a frame grab. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
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Apparently, in real life, Swit and Kellerman were friendly and were photographed together at fan conventions.
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The only actor to appear in both the film version of MASH and the TV series was Gary Burghoff as Radar O’Reilly. That said, the continuities of the two different versions of MASH were markedly different, meaning that Swit’s Hot Lips and Kellerman’s Hot Lips were significantly divergent characters.
