Tom Selleck gazes quietly over 63 acres of sprawling land stretching from a hillside on his ranch.
Since acquiring the property in Ventura County, Calif., back in 1988, a few changes have occurred. Droughts devastated nearly all the avocado trees on the farm and claimed about 25 oaks aged over 100 years. “That just breaks your heart,” the 79-year-old actor tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “But with the rain we’ve had, the sick ones are getting better, and they’re all sprouting a lot of healthy growth.”
When he’s home every two weeks from filming his long-standing hit CBS series Blue Bloods, now in its final season, in New York City, Selleck enjoys starting his days by perusing the papers before riding around the ranch on his ATV to inspect his wildflowers.
“I’ve planted them for years, and they bloom in cycles,” he explains. “When it’s coldest, one of them blooms, and then another one comes in. I know it sounds stupid, but I just watch them grow.”
After more than five decades in Hollywood, Selleck finds contentment in leading a tranquil life. Despite achieving mega-success at age 35 as the star of Magnum, P.I., the 6’4” actor never sought the limelight or embraced the heartthrob hype, despite his rugged good looks.
Even as he continued to captivate audiences in films like High Road to China and Three Men and a Baby, and TV shows like Friends and Las Vegas, he maintained his modest demeanor. Now, he’s prepared to share his journey from struggling actor to TV icon in a new memoir, You Never Know, set for release on May 7.
The notion of penning his life story initially filled the typically private star with trepidation. “I don’t have the hooks that a lot of people do,” he says. “I didn’t rehabilitate myself or have this tragic life. I had my own share of certainly ups and downs, but I’ve been very fortunate.”
Seated in a restored 1910 hunting lodge on his property — his sanctuary from the industry — Selleck epitomizes a family man. His wife, Jillie, 66, along with their daughter Hannah, 35, and adult son Kevin (from his previous marriage to Jacqueline Ray), take precedence in his life.
His memoir, handwritten over four years (interrupted by COVID), “is a lot about failing, endless failures,” he explains. “If you’re going to get in the acting business, you better get an appetite for it. And I tried to communicate that… Because it was kind of a long road.”
For Selleck, who earned a full basketball scholarship to USC while studying business administration, acting wasn’t even on the radar. He stumbled into his first gig — portraying a basketball player in a Pepsi commercial — and appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game. “It is really the story of an accidental career,” he insists. “I’d never taken an acting class. I had no training, no desire.”
In 1967, he made appearances on The Young and the Restless, featured in several Western films, and landed minor roles on shows like The Rockford Files before landing the breakthrough role on Magnum in 1980. “People would say, ‘Oh, he was bitten by the acting bug’ or, ‘He wanted to be a star,’” Selleck says. “I’ve never talked that way in my life. I just wanted to get a job and work.”
Selleck met his wife Jillie in 1983 in London, where she was performing in the musical Cats. They tied the knot in 1987 and welcomed daughter Hannah the following year. Selleck cherishes “the friendship” with his wife the most, adding, “And Jillie’s sense of humor.”
Nowadays, the star, ironically not an avid TV viewer, prefers reviewing Blue Bloods scripts with Jillie by his side. “I’m one of the last guys to see it, and I’m a good editor,” says Selleck, who also serves as an executive producer on the series.
And during quieter moments? “A cigar and a glass of whiskey is a nice way to end the day,” he adds. “I’ve had a very good life, a very lucky life. I don’t know if it’s what I figured I’d be doing, but it’s with a lot of gratitude.”
You Never Know hits bookshelves May 7.