The two-part “NCIS” Season 23 opener “Prodigal Son” introduces viewers to the sister of NCIS Supervisory Special Agent Alden Parker (Gary Cole), who has gone rogue in his quest for revenge against his father’s killer, Carla Marino (Rebecca De Mornay). Alden’s sister Harriet happens to be the Vice Admiral in charge of the fleet ordered to bring Alden in by any means necessary, putting the siblings on a collision course as they both grieve the loss of their father, Roman Parker (Francis X. McCarthy), in different ways.
“Prodigal Son, Part II” contains a number of emotional moments between Alden and Harriet Parker, who is played by Nancy Travis. The veteran actress is no stranger to crime dramas, having plied her trade in the likes of “Fallen Angels,” “Numb3rs,” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” over the years, and she’s also dipped her toe into the horror genre, giving a memorable performance as the manipulative Joyce Reardon in the Stephen King miniseries “Rose Red.” However, Travis’ bread and butter when it comes to TV is comedy, notably playing Ted Danson’s love interest Christine “Chris” Connor in the latter seasons of “Becker.”
Travis is arguably best-known for playing Vanessa Baxter, the wife of Tim Allen’s Mike Baxter in “Last Man Standing.” The sitcom ran for nine seasons between 2011 and 2021, with both Travis and Allen finding it difficult to say goodbye when the series ended. They have since reconnected for Allen’s latest sitcom “Shifting Gears,” in which Travis has guest-starred. Other notable recent TV credits include Isabel McMurray, the matriarch of a ranching family in Hallmark TV’s “Ride,” and the shameless social climber Patty in the NBC whodunnit “Grosse Pointe Garden Society.”
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Nancy Travis was a movie star in the 1990s
Stuart and Harriet smiling in So I Married an Axe Murderer – TriStar Pictures
Older “NCIS” viewers will probably recognize Nancy Travis as Sylvia, the sweet but overwhelmed mother of little Mary from the “Three Men and a Baby” films. Or perhaps they will recall her as another Harriet — Harriet Michaels, a possible killer who nonetheless charms Mike Myers’ Charlie MacKenzie in the dark 1993 romantic comedy flick “So I Married an Axe Murderer.” That same year, Travis starred alongside Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, and Sandra Bullock in the psychological thriller film “The Vanishing,” George Sluizer’s remake of his critically acclaimed French-Dutch film of the same name.
The ’90s was a golden era for Travis, who went on to appear in a number of big screen comedy movies before the decade was done, including “Greedy,” “Destiny Turns on the Radio,” and Whoopi Goldberg’s “Bogus.” The New York native gravitated toward television as the 2000s approached and she became known largely for her work on the small screen, including voice roles in shows like “Duckman,” “Superman: The Animated Series,” and “The Wild Thornberrys.” She does, however, still pop up in the odd movie: Travis featured in the Hilary Swank-led Christian drama film “Ordinary Angels” in 2024, and, more recently, she played the wife of Dennis Quaid’s police chief in 2025’s “Sovereign.”
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Read the original article on Looper.
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