Tom Selleck

Biography for Tom Selleck

Tom Selleck (born January 29, 1945) is an American actor best known for his starring role on the long-running television show Magnum P.I..

Rising to 6'4", Selleck's dark hair, muscular and hairy-chested physique, trademark moustache, and good sense of humor make him popular for action, drama, and comedy parts; his Magnum role was a mix of all three.

Selleck starred in a number of film roles during and after Magnum; among the most notable were as an acrophobic police detective in Runaway and as a stand-in father in Three Men and a Baby. He also played the lead role in the Australian western Quigley Down Under. However, he never quite developed into a major film star, nor was he able to reestablish himself as the star of a regular TV series.

Selleck did have a very successful recurring guest star television role as Richard on the popular former sitcom "Friends". Richard was an ophthalmologist friend of Monica Geller's father and eventually one of Monica's boyfriends.

Selleck has also appeared in a number of made-for-TV movies in recent years. In particular, he has sought to help bring back to popularity the western, often playing one of that genre's typical characters but thrust into a modern context.

Surprising many of his fans, Selleck unexpectedly played the role of General Dwight D. Eisenhower in the History Channel's 2004 made-for-TV movie Ike: Countdown to D-Day. The movie showed the planning, politics, and preparation for the 1944 Invasion of Normandy, and Selleck was critically lauded for playing a cool, calm Eisenhower.

Selleck is an outspoken member of the National Rifle Association, and in a well known incident he was verbally attacked by Rosie O'Donnell on her television show over his support of the NRA. Selleck is a libertarian and is a registered Independent.

He is tall, he is beautiful, he is strong: Tom Selleck represents the manly and reassuring man. The ideal actor to play this funny detective that is Magnum. Before this role, the actor had already pointed out on television: he had played previously in The Young & The Restless and $ 200 plus costs. Before 1980 and his role in the series, Tom Selleck had played in a dozen B series including the suspect dead of Michael Crichton or the Battle of Midway with Charlton Heston, James Coburn, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum and Henry Fonda. When he obtained the success he has been coveted for a long time with Magnum, Tom Selleck is offered prestigious successes which unfortunately will not meet the public, however faithful to the series of Larson and Bellisario. In 1983, he turned in adventurers at the end of the world, with Bess Armstrong. The film is an unequal ersatz of the adventurers of the lost arch. He recurred the following year with the daring signed Lassiter by Roger Young and Runaway, the Evadé of the future where the actor finds Michael Crichton. The two films will be box office disappointments despite the excellent compositions of the actor. In reality, Tom Selleck reassures himself with the American remake of three men and a basket. Huge success for the actor, accompanied in the film by Ted Dance and Steve Guttenberg. After eight years of flower shirts, Tom Selleck must finally face the after Magnum. Besides, it starts badly: his alibi is a fairly disappointing police comedy. The actor, however, manages to bounce back with Delit of innocence, an excellent thriller by Peter Yates. After a not frankly useful sequel to three men and a baby, the actor reviews his ambitions and turns in less daring B series. If Christopher Columbus is not a masterpiece, he plays in a cowboy lost in Australia in the very pleasant, Mr.quigley, the Australian where he faces the extraordinary Alan Rickman. It appears in two other films and then disappears. It was only three years later, that Tom Selleck returned to a set. He specializes in the TV movie and yet he stood out twice. First in the Friends series where he plays one of the lovers of Monica but also friend of the latter's father and he also appears in In & out, a surprising comedy where he breaks his image of Viril play by interpreting a homosexual journalist. With The Closer, he tries to break his image again but the sitcom does not work. It must be said that the shadow of Thomas Magnum is omnipresent and the actor has a hard time escaping this character who made his glory.

Tom Selleck is an American actor known for his role as Thomas Magnum in the Magnum television series. He also appeared in films such as Quigley Down Under, Lassiter and Three Men and A Baby. Selleck was born on January 29, 1945 in Detroit, Michigan. He grew up in a family of five and studied at Grant High School before entering the University of Southern California, where he studied economics and political science.

Photos

Filmography

Trivia

• Turned down the role of Richard on the TV show "Titans" (2000).
• Received an honorary doctorate from Pepperdine University. He was chosen because of his outstanding character and ethic. He is a board member of the non-profit Michael Josephson Institute of Ethics and co-founder of the Character Counts Coalition. He attended the University of Southern California on a basketball scholarship. [28 April 2000]
• Was a member of the California National Guard and was activated for the Watts riots.
• Was turned down for the lead role in the TV show "Vega$" (1978), which went to Robert Urich. Selleck and Urich once co-starred in a TV pilot (that was never picked up) called Bunco (1977) (TV).
• Used to be part owner of The Black Orchid restaurant with Larry Manetti and one other investor in Honolulu, HI.
• Studied acting at The Beverly Hills Playhouse with Milton Katselas.
• Maintains a summer home in Jonesboro, Maine.
• Chosen by People Magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. [1998]
• Steven Spielberg wanted him to play Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), but he was still under contract for the "Magnum, P.I." (1980) TV-series.
• Is a member of the National Rifle Association and sparred with Rosie O'Donnell on _"The Rosie O'Donnell Show" (1996)_ about gun control and an ad in which he appeared which supported the N.R.A.
• Member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
• First TV appearance was as a college senior on "The Dating Game" (1965) in 1967. Soon after, he appeared in commericials for products such as Pepsi-Cola.
• Starred in 6 failed TV pilots before hitting ratings gold.
• Shaved off his trademark moustache for the 1997 film In & Out (1997). Once rarely seen without it, he has since kept it off for most of his stage and screen work.
• Joined the Detroit Tigers in 1992 for spring training. He actually took an at-bat (as a pinch hitter) in a game against the Cincinnati Reds, facing Reds' pitcher Bobby Ayala. Selleck ended up striking out after fouling away half a dozen pitches.
• During the brief run of the late night "The Chevy Chase Show" (1993) on Fox, he guest-starred and, as a gag, asked to be presented his 1993 Worst Supporting Actor 'Razzie' award for his performance as King Ferdinand of Spain in Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992). When the Razzie was actually presented to him on the air, Selleck took it in stride and asked the entire studio audience to "blow me a raspberry." Selleck thus became the third person in Razzie history to voluntarily accept one of the Worst Achievements in Film statuettes.

Quotes

"I was Planning to Go into Architecture. But when I arrived [to sign up for courses] Architecture was filled up. Acting was right next to it. So I signed up for acting instead." - televised interview broadcast the day before "Laguna Heat" was shown on N.Y. cable.

"Why westerns get segregated into a genre in Hollywood, I don't know... It's just good entertainment. (in interview with American Western Magazine, January 2001 issue)

"All I see is people out there who are hungry for more." - Tom Selleck talking about the public's desire to see more Western films in interview with Taylor Fogarty of American Western Magazine/ReadTheWest.com, January 2003.

[about the movie Monte Walsh]: "I just really want people to see this movie and I hope they like it, because to me Monte Walsh probably reflects my sensibilities more than any other I've done in the Western genre. I'm really proud of it and I think it may be the best role I've ever had."

Family

• Spouse : Jillie Mack (7 August 1987 - present) 1 child, Jacqueline Ray (1970 - 1982) (divorced) 1 child.
• One son : Kevin Selleck, one daughter : Hannah Selleck. Parents: Robert & Martha Selleck.

Author of the card

• Creation date: 01/07/2003 by stals
• Last update: 01/05/2007 by brubru