Longtime NCIS writer, producer, and showrunner George Schenck passed away aged 82
Mark Harmon and the rest of the NCIS family are mourning the heartbreaking passing of one of their own.
Over the weekend, CBS announced that George Schenck, who was a crucial part of the making of NCIS for much of its 20-year run, passed away on Saturday, August 3 in his Los Angeles home. He was 82.
The TV veteran worked alongside Mark as well as longtime collaborator Frank Cardea on the long-running CBS procedural since its inception in 2003, and for the first 15 seasons, as a writer, producer, and co-showrunner.
In the wake of George’s death, Mark, who starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs from 2003 until his departure in 2021 — though he remains on the NCIS team as an executive producer — said in a statement: “So sorry to hear the news on George,” per The Hollywood Reporter.
He further reflected: “The professionalism and tenacity of George and Frank changed the face of the show. I’m so appreciative of the team and teamwork they both represented.”
George and his creative partner Frank worked together for over 40 years. Prior to working on NCIS, they created fellow CBS series Bring ‘Em Back Alive, which ran from 1982 to 1983, and Crazy Like a Fox, which ran from 1984 to 1986, plus the ABC drama Pros and Cons, which ran from 1991 to 1992.
In 2016, at which point they had written nearly 50 NCIS episodes, they were promoted to co-showrunners after the sudden death of Gary Glasberg, who passed away in his sleep aged 50. George retired in 2018, while Frank continued working on the show until 2022.
His passing comes just over a year after the March 2023 passing of his wife of more than 50 years, Virginia. Per THR, they are survived by their sons Kirk and Jeff, their sons’ wives, Allison and Natalie, and their grandchildren, Aidan, Andrew, Ryan, Jordan and Owen.
Mark himself departed the show in 2021, however he is set to return to the franchise, albeit as a narrator, for Leroy Jethro Gibbs prequel series NCIS: Origins, which recently started production.
He has also recently ventured into projects outside of acting, most recently with the release of his first historical nonfiction book, Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, a Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor.
Speaking with People about his career and the project last year, he maintained: “I left the show, I didn’t retire,” and musing over his latest passion project, added: “I’ve always thought you can learn from history… Things tend to repeat themselves.”
Plus, the book does have ties to NCIS. “This is the first story [leading] to the birth of what became [the real] NCIS,” he explained of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, adding: “These agents are really a different breed. I hope that there’s a story revealed here that you don’t know. It was important work they were doing, and no one knew about it.”