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Thomas William Selleck (born January
29, 1945) is an American actor, screenwriter and film
producer, best known for his starring role on the
television show
Magnum P.I. |
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Selleck was born in Detroit, Michigan to a
Rusyn father from Slovakia Robert Selleck (died 2001) and Scottish
American Martha Selleck. The family moved to Sherman Oaks when Tom
was growing up. Tom's siblings include brother Robert (born 1944),
brother Daniel (born 1950), and sister Martha. Selleck graduated
from Grant High School, in 1962.
Along with doing some modeling, Selleck attended the University of
Southern California on a basketball scholarship where he played for
the Trojans.[6] He is a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and a member
of the Trojan Knights. While he majored in business administration,
a drama coach suggested Selleck try acting. He then studied acting
at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, under Milton Katselas.
Selleck served in the California National Guard and was activated
for the Watts riots. Selleck's first TV
appearance was as a college senior on The Dating Game in 1965 and
again in 1967 - he lost both times. Soon after, he appeared in
commercials for products such as Pepsi-Cola.
He began his career with bit parts in smaller movies, including the
over-the-top Myra Breckinridge and Russ Meyer's The Seven Minutes
with co-stars including Wayne Maunder and Harold J. Stone. He also
appeared in number of TV series, mini-series and TV movies. Selleck
also had a recurring role in the 1970s as Lance White in The
Rockford Files. Lance was very trusting and always lucky, much to
the annoyance of Jim Rockford, the show's star private eye played by
James Garner. White would frequently say to Rockford, "Don't worry,
Jim, clues will turn up" and then a clue would just turn up, much to
Rockford's consternation, for whom obtaining clues required hard
work and hard knocks. Selleck's character was based on one played in
Garner's earlier TV series Maverick (1957) by Wayde Preston in that
series' highest-rated episode, "The Saga of Waco Williams."
Selleck, after years of little interest, was cast as Thomas Magnum
in Magnum, P.I. and as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark in
the same year. Magnum, P.I. producers would not release the actor
and he had to pass on the film role, which then went to Harrison
Ford. The decision of choosing the role of Indiana Jones vs. Magnum
actually haunted him so much that before making the decision, he
consulted his best friend on what to do. Together they came to the
conclusion that honoring the contract with Universal Studios was the
honorable thing to do. It turned out that the shooting of the pilot
for Magnum was delayed for over 6 months, which would have enabled
him to complete the role as Indiana Jones. Coincidentally, while
Selleck was waiting in Hawaii for Magnum, P.I. to commence, Steven
Spielberg and George Lucas were in Hawaii as well to shoot scenes
for Raiders of the Lost Ark. Selleck later went on to star in High
Road to China, one of the many adventure films inspired by the
success of Raiders that emerged in the early to mid-1980s.
He starred in the 1979 TV movie Concrete Cowboy
with Jerry Reed. Selleck starred in a number of film roles during
and after Magnum; among the most notable were as an acrophobic
police detective in Runaway, as a stand-in father in Three Men and a
Baby, and as an American cowboy in the Australian western Quigley
Down Under, a role and film that he considers one of his best. His
other films include Three Men and a Little Lady, High Road to China,
Lassiter, Her Alibi, An Innocent Man, Folks!, Christopher Columbus:
The Discovery, Mr. Baseball, In & Out and The Love Letter.
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.
Most recently, Selleck has appeared in a recurring role on the
acclaimed ABC drama Boston Legal as Ivan Tiggs, the troubled
ex-husband of Shirley Schmidt (Candice Bergen), and as novelist
Robert B. Parker's character Jesse Stone in several CBS made-for-TV
movies, earning a 2007 Emmy nomination for Jesse Stone: Sea Change.
Magnum P.I.
Tom Selleck played the role of Thomas Magnum in 1980 after six
failed TV pilots. The show would go on for eight seasons and 162
episodes until 1988. Selleck was famous for his moustache, a
Hawaiian-style aloha shirt, and Detroit Tigers baseball cap. Magnum
drove a Ferrari
308 GTS.
Selleck will not star in the upcoming Magnum P.I. film because he
has been considered too old, but he may appear in a cameo role. In
January 2007, it was announced that Matthew McConaughey will play
Magnum. |
