European Film Star Postcards: Tom Selleck

Tom Selleck (1945) is an American actor and film producer, best known for his starring role in the TV series, Magnum, P.I. (1980) and for the box office hit Three Men and a Baby (1987).

Vintage autograph card.

American postcard by Coral-Lee, Rancho Cordova, no. CL/Personality # 111. Photo: Jim McHugh / Contact, 1983.

Spanish postcard by Foto Parjetas, Madrid, no. FC-113-50.

A private investigator with a prominent moustache and Hawaiian-style aloha shirt

Thomas William Selleck was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1945. His parents were Martha (Jagger), a homemaker, and Robert Dean Selleck, a real estate investor and executive. He has an elder brother, Robert, a younger sister, Martha, and a younger brother, Daniel. He grew up in San Fernando and attended the University of Southern California, where he obtained a degree in English.

A drama coach suggested Selleck try acting, and in his senior year, he dropped out of the university. Selleck then studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse under Milton Katselas. Tom's first television appearance was as a college senior on The Dating Game (1967), but, incredibly, he lost. Soon after, he appeared in television commercials for products such as Pepsi-Cola, and he worked as a male model.

Selleck had small parts in films like the satire Myra Breckinridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), The Seven Minutes (Russ Meyer, 1971) and the conspiracy thriller Coma (Michael Crichton, 1978). He played a leading role in the B-Horror film Daughters of Satan (Hollingsworth Morse, 1972).

Selleck starred in six failed television pilots before he landed his breakthrough role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the television series, Magnum, P.I. (1980). With his prominent moustache, Hawaiian-style aloha shirt and Detroit Tigers baseball cap, he became one of the most popular TV stars of the 1980s. For his role, he received five Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, winning in 1985.

Selleck was originally cast as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981), but could not take the role because he was committed to Magnum, P.I. His films included the adventure drama High Road to China (Brian G. Hutton, 1983), the action film Lassiter (Roger Young, 1984) and the romantic comedy Three Men and a Baby (Leonard Nimoy, 1987) with Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson. The latter was the highest-grossing movie in 1987 and Selleck's most successful film. He again played bachelor architect Peter Mitchell in the sequel 3 Men and a Little Lady (Emile Ardolino, 1990), which was also successful.

Tom Selleck and Bess Armstrong in High Road to China (1983)

French autograph card for UGC by YF. Tom Selleck and Bess Armstrong in High Road to China (Brian G. Hutton, 1983). The French title was Les aventuriers du bout du monde.

Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson in Three Men and a Baby (1987)

French poster postcard by Editions Avant Garde, no. P533. Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson in Three Men and a Baby (Leonard Nimoy, 1987).

The third person in Razzie history to accept one of the statuettes voluntarily

Tom Selleck appeared extensively on television in roles such as Lance White, the likeable and naive partner on The Rockford Files (1978-1979), as Monica Geller's (Courteney Cox) older love interest, Dr. Richard Burke, in Friends (1994), and as casino owner A.J. Cooper on Las Vegas (2003).

In addition to his series work, Selleck appeared in over fifty films and TV movies, including Quigley Down Under (Simon Wincer, 1990) and the sports comedy Mr. Baseball (Fred Schepisi, 1992). In 1993, he won a Razzie award for Worst Supporting Actor for his performance as King Ferdinand of Spain in Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (John Glen, 1992) starring Marlon Brando. Selleck was the third person in Razzie history to accept one of the statuettes voluntarily.

He shaved off his trademark moustache for the comedy In & Out (Frank Oz, 1997) starring Kevin Kline. Once rarely seen without it, he has since kept it off for most of his stage and screen work. Between 2005 and 2015, Selleck played troubled small-town police chief Jesse Stone in nine television films, based on the Robert B. Parker novels.

From 2010 on, he appeared as Commissioner Frank Reagan in the drama series Blue Bloods (2010-2024) with Donnie Wahlberg. Tom Selleck married model Jacqueline Ray in 1971. They divorced in 1982.

In 1987, he married British dancer Jillie Mack, with whom he has a daughter, Hannah, an international show jumper. Kevin Selleck (1966) is the son of his first wife, Jacqueline Ray, from her first marriage. Tom Selleck adopted Kevin during the marriage and has continued to treat him as a beloved son after he and Ray divorced.