JAG's Edge
Actor sets hearts aflutter as top-gun Navy lawyer

By Mike McDaniel, Houston Chronicle, October 27, 1995

 

"Unreserved" sums up the local reaction to the star of NBC's JAG:

"There's nothing quite like a man in uniform, is there?"

"Yum, yum, yum. Sign me up!"

"I feel the need - the need for speed" (as they said in Top Gun).

Those statements come from three of Houston's bold-faced types, quoted here on the promise their names would not be revealed. It's safe to say that David James Elliott, who plays a Navy lawyer, is sending the Babe Meter needle off the charts.

"Find out if he wears briefs or boxers," said another woman when she learned Elliott was to be interviewed. He's 6-feet-4 and buff of bod, a marathon runner with blue eyes and a drop-dead grin. Throw on all-whites, and you can see why "Heartthrob" could be his middle name.

"I don't put that (heartthrob) label on myself," said the polite 35-year-old (who consistently called his interviewer 'Sir'). "But people like to categorize things, so if it helps the show, if it causes people to tune in, I'll go with that."

For Elliott, however, the work is where it's at. He has "an insane work schedule - 14-hour days - to play Lt. Harmon Rabb Jr." Harm is macho when he must be, such as when he's flying jets, dropping into choppy ocean waters or confronting evildoers. And he's softly humorous and off-putting when he wants to be, especially where the ladies are involved.

Rabb is the creation of Donald Bellisario, a television producer who clearly knows the goods when he sees them.

Bellisario also created Magnum, P.I. and Quantum Leap, two older TV series with equally memorable male leads, Tom Selleck and Scott Bakula.

"When this opportunity came up, having been a huge Don Bellisario fan, I was thrilled just to meet the man to begin with," said Elliott.

"I kept being called back and back and getting closer and closer until I won the role. I was thrilled."

No rookie actor.

He is not intimidated by playing the lead character in an expensive TV series, and why should he be? Although this is his first breakout, he's hardly a freshman actor.

"I'm ready to play a lead," he said. "I've been doing it (acting) a long time, and I've done a lot of television."

Many viewers will remember him as a drug, alcohol and sex addict on Melrose Place. For two years he played Treasury agent Paul Robbins on the syndicated series The Untouchables. He also had a memorable one-night stand with Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) on Seinfeld. He played the furniture moving guy she dumped after learning he was anti-abortion.

The Toronto native has done a Canadian TV series, had guest spots on such shows as Knots Landing, China Beach, Doogie Howser and The Hitchhiker, and played opposite Michele Lee in last year's TV flick The Dottie West Story.

"I've been working toward this point for several years, and now that I've arrived, I'm up for the job," Elliott said. "I paid attention."

Now NBC is paying attention back. Besides the series, the network has cast him in the lead for the miniseries Degree of Guilt, which is airing Sunday and Monday.

Although he hadn't seen the two-parter prior to this interview, he has reason to be optimistic about it.

"The author (Richard North Patterson) called me, and he's thrilled with it," Elliott said.

Elliott admits that he's attracted to the idea of being a movie star one day. "That would be the best of both worlds," he said. Happy to be here right now though, he's proud to be a part of JAG, which is scoring fairly well in the ratings despite airing on Saturdays (7 p.m., Channel 2), traditionally a low viewership night.

Last week the series was seen by more than 7 million households - not bad, considering its competition was the World Series.

"I like to watch the show," Elliott said, "and I've not felt that way about everything I've done."

JAG can be plot-driven some weeks and character-driven other weeks, a good mix, he has found. Harm can be a bit flirtatious, Elliott said, but he's not the love-'em-and-leave-'em type.

"That's not the plan, and if you look at other Bellisario series, he doesn't have his leads sucking on a different woman's face every episode. He has pace and tact."

Pace and tact, did you hear that out there? But now, m'dears, prepare yourselves for a disappointment. Elliott is not only handsome, talented and well-mannered, he's also happily married, to actress [Nanci] Chambers, and is father to a 2-year-old daughter. But look, there's still the world of dreams and fantasies, and we're here to do our part.

Briefs.