Tom Selleck doesn’t require an introduction. Despite recent health concerns, the 78-year-old actor has been in the entertainment industry for decades and doesn’t appear to be planning to retire. He has recently appeared in the popular television series Blue Bloods.
We’ve all grown accustomed to Selleck’s appearance, which has become something of a trademark.
Fans are shocked about one change, though: His recognizable mustache.
When he was younger, Tom Selleck wasn’t certain he wanted to be an actor. His family relocated to California after he was born there on January 29, 1945, and he spent his formative years in the San Fernando Valley.
Tom Selleck – early life
Thoughts of attending the University of Southern California (USC) were entertained by Selleck, but his family was unable to pay the tuition.
He received his diploma from Grant High School in 1962. He lived at home with his parents after enrolling at Los Angeles Valley College in order to save money.
Early on, it appeared more likely that Tom would pursue an athletic career than an acting one. He had aspirations of becoming a professional basketball player as he developed. In light of this, one can only speculate as to how ecstatic he was to receive a basketball scholarship from the University of Southern California.
“I never did school plays. I had no interest,” Tom told AARP in 2015.
After some time, Selleck realized that a career in basketball was probably not in his future. He did, however, have a backup strategy and took a part-time job to assist with his tuition. Prior to becoming a student, the aspirant obtained some work in television commercials and The Dating Game.
Shortly after, Tom Selleck was given the chance to join 20th Century Fox’s talent program. He began developing his skills, but after two years, he took a leave of absence to serve for six months in the military.
When Selleck came back, he was fired. But he refused to give up because he was sure he would succeed as an actor.
He was cast in smaller roles in numerous television series in the early 1970s. Selleck then appeared in six television pilots as he was getting close to middle age. Despite this, his major breakthrough eluded him.
‘Magnum, P.I.’ star Tom Selleck
When he was cast as Thomas Magnum in the television series Magnum, P.I., Tom claims that’s why many people believed he was an overnight success.
In actuality, he had toiled and fought valiantly.
“The luckiest thing that happened was that I didn’t get a real job until I was 35,” Selleck explained.
“When I was 25, I looked 35 but sounded 15. There are a lot of very good actors who make it as younger leading men but don’t graduate — because the audience won’t accept them as grown up.”
Magnum, P.I. experienced great success. Tom became an overnight celebrity thanks to the 1980–1988 crime drama television series. Five years in a row, he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series; he finally won it in 1984. He might have permanently given up acting if it weren’t for the show.
Magnum, P.I. gave Tom cult status, and the rest of his career has been nothing short of an amazing success tale. Films like Three Men and a Baby and In & Out are among his additional credits. When he began appearing as Richard Burke, Monica Geller’s older boyfriend, in Season 2 of the popular comedy series Friends, he was also introduced to a new group of fans.
By landing the part of Frank Reagan on the drama series Blue Bloods in 2010, Selleck began a brand-new, exciting chapter in his life. There have been 13 seasons of the show.
“I never thought I’d be lucky enough to do a show that had that long a run. Maybe Magnum, P.I. could have reached that number because nobody wanted to cancel it. I was the guy causing the divorce,” Selleck explained.
Tom Selleck says his back is “messed up”
“I’d done the number one movie [Three Men and a Baby] in the US and I wanted to have a family. The number of series that have done as many episodes as Blue Bloods is a tiny, tiny percentage. This is a validation that we’re all fighting the good fight. All the actors are very committed to the work. So, it’s a number that gives reward for the professionalism of this entire cast.”
In numerous movies and television shows, actors have their own stunt double. Even though it’s frequently a risky job, for some people it would be impossible to have someone else carry out their stunts.
In the past, Selleck has performed the majority of his stunts himself, but doing so has been expensive. He claims that his body is not what it once was.
“My back’s kind of messed up,” Selleck shared.
“When you do stunts in movies—I do a lot of them—you’re taking a risk, but you’re also sitting around a lot. So you might do a fight scene, and then you sit in your chair, and it’s not like you have a personal trainer saying, “Okay, we’re ready to go, but Tom needs ten minutes of stretching and warm-up.”
“And I think the price,” he added, “I see it with peers, I talk to them sometimes. You just see the price of all those stunts. They weren’t that hard, but I think it’s the stop-and-go of all that stuff.”
Selleck once revealed that he doesn’t like going to the gym, though he’s trying to keep fit by working at the family ranch in Ventura, California.
“I have a 63-acre ranch, and I do not all, but a lot of, the grunt work. Clearing brush, planting trees. We’ve got about a hundred ancient oaks I planted. I’ve probably planted a thousand trees myself.”
Tom Selleck – iconic mustache
Tom Selleck is on the verge of becoming a writer, despite his outside-of-work passion for horses.
The famous actor revealed he is writing a book in an interview with TV Insider from last year.
“I’m halfway done. It’s about my 50 years in show business. The tentative title is, Don’t Know Where I’m Going, But There’s No Use Being Late. I doubt if I’ll change it. That’s the story of an actor’s life. You finish your job, a show or a movie, and you’re unemployed. It’s fun. I hope the book is kind of funny because I don’t take myself that seriously. A sense of humor is almost essential for a long career as is a sense of humor in your work,” he said.
Tom Selleck’s mustache has been recognizable ever since he rose to fame on Magnum P.I. He was concerned that the facial hair would negatively impact his career because it has come to be one of those things that people associate with Selleck. Tom believed he would have to deal with it forever.
“After Magnum, I think I went, ‘Oh my gosh!’ I’m going to live with mustache questions for the rest of my life,” he once said.
“Most of the time I got hired they said the mustache is okay, but you gotta shave it off for the job. I was born without it and I’m prepared to work without it.”
Meanwhile, Selleck joked that he might have gotten the Blue Bloods job only because of the facial hair.
“Well, it meant a job on Blue Bloods,” he said. “The director said maybe you can play this guy without a mustache. I said, ‘Sure, I was born that way.’”
Tom Selleck almost completely loses his distinctive mustache.
As previously mentioned, Selleck has become known for his mustache. But now that he has shaved it off, he is no longer recognisable.
When the 78-year-old actor was captured driving his silver pickup truck close to his home, it had been more than a year since he had been seen in public.
For a long time, Tom Selleck hasn’t been seen out in public. However, at the end of September, he made a rare appearance in public and was captured on camera driving his pickup truck close to his home, according to photos obtained by Page Six.
Selleck had lost his distinctive mustache, making him essentially unrecognizable. Instead, he went about his daily business in the San Fernando Valley sporting a full beard.
It should go without saying that Tom has a successful career. His devotion to Jillie Mack, his wife, is also something to be honored. While many celebrity unions end, the couple has been blissfully wed for over 35 years.
Selleck recalled meeting Jillie Mack for the first time at a performance of the musical Cats, in which Mack was starring, in an interview with Closer Weekly. After Selleck’s ten-year union with model Jacqueline Ray came to an end, it was the 1980s.
Although Selleck claims he isn’t as slick with women as his on-screen counterparts, he did approach his future wife backstage, even though she initiated contact.
“She had to go on [stage]. I was hemming and hawing, and she finally asked, ‘Do you want to meet for a cocktail?’” Selleck recalled.
The date reportedly went well because Selleck and Mack were wed in a small ceremony in 1987. Their daughter Hannah was born a year after their wedding.
Since then, Selleck has prioritized his family over fame and made an effort to keep his private life out of the media spotlight.
In order to make sure he had enough time to spend with his wife and cherished daughter, he even allowed his acting career to take a back seat.
“I quit Magnum to have a family,” Tom Selleck told People in 2012.
“It took a long time to get off the train, but I try very hard to have balance, and this ranch has helped me do that.”
“We both thought it was the best environment for Hannah to grow up,” Jillie Mack added.
Tom was eager to share his love of the outdoors and the natural world with his daughter. It was quickly passed on to her by him!
Hannah was raised on the 65-acre ranch in Ventura, which is home to Tom and his wife Jillie. Horses are a shared love between father and daughter, and the two later started a side business breeding horses.
If you liked what you read, you might be interested in learning what Tom Selleck’s daughter claims her father demanded before helping her.
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