Tom Selleck

Six-foot-four, green-eyed, mustachioed and classically proportioned, Tom Selleck certainly looks the part of Movie Star but he's had a very spotty career in that medium. Moreover, his genial persona clashes pleasingly with his dazzling good looks. TV would appear to be his most hospitable arena. Selleck looks like the macho man par excellence but his voice has a tendency to squeak and his playful manner often suggests a little boy living in an adult hunk's body. He appeared in eight busted pilots, usually playing cops, soldiers and other men of action, before hitting pay dirt with the often light-hearted detective series "Magnum, P.I." (CBS, 1980-88). The match of actor and character proved magical; formidable ratings and international stardom followed.

After achieving a reasonable level of success as a model in print, billboards and TV ads, Selleck signed a seven-year contract with 20th Century-Fox in 1967. He turned up in a daytime soap ("The Young and the Restless"), played a recurring role in ABC's primetime showbiz melodrama, "Bracken's World" (circa 1970), and appeared in a slew of forgettable roles in undistinguished TV movies and features. His film career started as the "Stud" ogled by Mae West in the notorious "Myra Breckenridge" (1970). His 1970s films were not star-making material: small roles in "The Seven Minutes" (1971), "Terminal Island" (1973) and "Coma" (1978), and a starring role in the low-budget horror flick "Daughters of Satan" (1972).

Selleck had been hired to star in George Lucas and Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) but CBS would not release him from his "Magnum" commitments. His loss was Harrison Ford's gain. With the notable exceptions of "Three Men and a Baby" (1988), a saccharine but highly profitable remake of Coline Serreau's 1985 French comedy, and its 1990 sequel, most of Selleck's big-screen outings have been commercial and critical disappointments. Some reviewers point to the Australian oater "Quigley Down Under" (1990) as his best feature work to date. Here he plays an American rifleman hired by a villainous Alan Rickman ostensibly to shoot vermin at a Western Australian grazing station but discovers that he's expected to kill tribal Aborigines. The Western has proved a congenial genre for Selleck's laid-back persona; he fared well in a number of TV-movies and miniseries set in the Old West.

Through the 1980s and '90s, Selleck appeared in countless TV specials: awards shows, tributes (Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor), Battles of Network Stars, patriotic specials, and children's shows (on morality, drugs, etc.). He also appears to have accepted the role of Charlton Heston's heir apparent as Hollywood's official voice of conservatism (though he claims to be a registered Independent) in a number of public affairs programs and political events.

Having executive produced the last two seasons of "Magnum", Selleck served in that function for eight "B.L. Stryker" (ABC, 1989-90) TV films starring Burt Reynolds. He also produced a number of other TV-movies, including "Revealing Evidence" (NBC, 1990) and "Silverfox" (ABC, 1991). Selleck subsequently hosted the excellent astronomy series, "The Practical Guide to the Universe" (The Learning Channel, 1993). He made a highly touted return to series TV as a recurring character on the hit sitcom "Friends" in 1996. The following year, he had one of his best big screen roles as an openly gay TV reporter in the hit comedy "In & Out". Selleck returned to series TV as star of the CBS sitcom "The Closer" (1998). He continued his television streak by landing a recurring role on ABC's "Boston Legal (2004- ), as a lawyer with a crush on star Candice Bergen.

• Born:
  January 29, 1945 in Detroit, Michigan
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Producer, Model, USC campus representative for United Airlines, Farmer

Family

• Brother: Daniel F Selleck. born c. 1950; partners with brother Robert in Selleck Properties
• Brother: Robert D Selleck II. born 1944; partners with brother Dan in Selleck Properties
• Daughter: Hannah Margaret Mack Selleck. born in 1989; mother, Jilly Mack
• Father: Robert D Selleck. born c. 1922; served as a first vice president of Coldwell Banker; portrayed Selleck's grandfather on the show; served Selleck Properties in an advisory capacity; died on March 21, 2001 from complications following surgery
• Mother: Martha Selleck.
• Sister: Martha Selleck Ketchum.
• Step-son: Kevin. born c. 1966; son from his first wife's previous marriage

Education

• Grant High School, Van Nuys, California, 1962
• University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

Milestones

• 1967 Signed seven-year contract with 20th Century-Fox after leaving college
• 1970 Appeared as a recurring character in 15 episodes of "Bracken's World", a primetime showbiz melodrama
• 1970 Feature acting debut, "Myra Breckenridge"
• 1970 First TV-movie, "The Movie Murderer" (NBC)
• 1971 Played a small role as a publisher in Russ Meyer's "The Seven Minutes", based on Irving Wallace's novel about a pornography trial
• 1972 First starring role in "Daughters of Satan", a supernatural melodrama
• 1975 First starring role in TV-movie, "Returning Home" (ABC)
• 1977 Starred in "Bunco", a busted cop show pilot
• 1978 Co-starred in "The Gypsy Warriors", a busted WWII adventure series pilot
• 1979 Co-starred in his miniseries debut, "The Sacketts", a Western melodrama
• 1979 Co-starred in the busted detective show pilot, "Boston and Kilbride"
• 1980 Played the title role on the popular CBS detective-comedy-drama series, "Magnum, P.I."
• 1987 First story credit, provided story for "Limbo", an episode of "Magnum, P.I."
• 1988 Formed his own production company, T.W.S. Productions
• 1996 Was a recurring guest-star on the popular sitcom "Friends," (NBC) as Richard, Monica's boyfriend
• 1997 Garnered critical praise for his comedic performance as an openly gay TV reporter in the hit "In & Out"
• 1998 Returned to series TV as star of the CBS sitcom "The Closer"
• 2000 Starred as a presidential candidate in the TNT film "Running Mates"
• 2001 Co-exective produced and starred in "Louis L'Amour's Crossfire Trail" (TNT)
• 2001 Made Broadway debut starring in the stage revival of "A Thousand Clowns"
• 2004 Portrayed General Dwight D. Eisenhower in the A&E TV movie "Ike: Countdown to D-Day"
• 2004 Starred in the CBS miniseries opposite Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy in Scott Turow's crime thriller "Reversible Errors"
• 2006 Guest-starred on several episodes of "Boston Legal" (ABC) as Ivan Tiggs
• 2007 Will join the cast of the NBC drama "Las Vegas" as a billionaire who becomes the new owner of the Montecito Resort & Casino
• Appeared in the first of over 50 TV commercials beginning with a Pepsi ad in which he played a basketball player
• Appeared in two episodes of "The Rockford Files" as Lance White, "the perfect detective"
• Began working as a model in college
• Born in Detroit, Michigan; moved to Sherman Oaks, California as a child
• Did commercials for Salem cigarettes and Revlon
• Executive produced a series of "B.L. Stryker" detective movies for ABC; Burt Reynolds and Ossie Davis starred
• Made occasional appearances on the daytime soap "The Young and the Restless" as Jed Andrews
• Picked out of a TV studio audience to be a contestant on "The Dating Game"
• Seen in a Pepsi ad by Mae West who had him hired to play a stud in "Myra Breckinbridge"
• Seen on "The Dating Game" by a talent scout
• Served as executive producer for the last two seasons of "Magnum, P.I."
• Won a basketball scholarship to USC