American actor Tom Schanley holds the very impressive distinction of being the only actor in history to have appeared on all five existing television series in the "NCIS" universe, not counting the just-premiered "NCIS: Sydney." Those five series would be "JAG," "NCIS," "NCIS: Los Angeles," "NCIS: New Orleans," and "NCIS: Hawai'i." And, interestingly, he never played any of his characters for more than one episode — though he did make multiple appearances as different characters on "JAG."
Schanley's first brush with the franchise, back before it was even a franchise, happened in 1999, when he played Petty Officer 3rd Class Colbert in the "JAG" Season 4 episode "Dungaree Justice." He then returned to "JAG" in Season 9, playing Cmdr. Winter in the episode "Good Intentions."
Seven years later, he guest-starred on the original "NCIS," appearing as Lt. Dean Massey in the Season 9 episode "Sins of the Father." This was followed by a performance as Gabe Stanfill in the "NCIS: Los Angeles" Season 5 episode "Windfall," and another as Anthony Flanders in the "NCIS: New Orleans" Season 2 episode "Help Wanted." Finally, in 2021, he rounded out his history-making achievement by playing Crazy Sam in "Paniolo," the fourth episode of the first season of "NCIS: Hawai'i."
