“NCIS” paid memorial tribute to longtime staff member and audience liaison Harriet Margulies on Monday night, thanking her for 19 years of service to the show.
Margulies Oct. 30 in Northridge, Calif., at age 94, according to CBS.
As the audience liaison, she was the go-between Belisarius Productions and the “NCIS” fan base, answering hundreds of information requests from viewers. In earlier years of the show, she helped organize fan participation at an annual fan convention in Los Angeles, organizing a set visit for attendees. She served the same position on “Jag” and “Quantum Leap,” and as a result, many of those fans followed her to “NCIS.”
The character Harriet Sims on “Jag” is named after her, CBS said.
Born in Brooklyn, she first worked as a publicist in New York City and later in Los Angeles, becoming a production assistant for Universal Television in the 1970s. In that capacity, she worked on shows including “Kojak,” “Magnum P.I.” and “Quantum Leap.” During that period, she wrote a 1977 episode of “Kojak” titled “I Could Kill My Wife’s Lawyer.”
In the 1990’s she became an audience liaison for “Jag,” “Quantum Leap” and later “NCIS,” joining the long-running show at its inception. Gary Coles joined the show this season, with star Mark Harmon stepping back from his on-screen duties.
Margulies also made several on-screen cameo appearances on “Quantum Leap,” “Jag” “Airwolf” and “NCIS.” In an episode of the early 1990s CBS “Scene of the Crime” series, she appeared as a look-a-like Elizabeth Taylor — whom she resembled in her younger years.
“NCIS” thanked Ms. Margulies for her 19 years of service to the series in memoriam.
