Thomas William Selleck (born January 29, 1945) is an American actor. His breakout role was playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series Magnum, P.I. (1980–1988), for which he received five Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, winning in 1985. Since 2010, Selleck has co-starred as New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan in the series Blue Bloods. Beginning in 2005, he has portrayed troubled small-town police chief Jesse Stone in nine television films based on the Robert B. Parker novels.
In films, Selleck has played bachelor architect Peter Mitchell in Three Men and a Baby (1987) and its sequel Three Men and a Little Lady (1990). He has also appeared in more than 50 other film and television roles since Magnum, P.I., including the films Quigley Down Under, Mr. Baseball, and Lassiter. He appeared in recurring television roles as Monica Geller's love interest Dr. Richard Burke on Friends, as Lance White, the likeable and naive partner on The Rockford Files, and as casino owner A.J. Cooper on Las Vegas. He also had a lead role in the television western film The Sacketts, based on two of Louis L'Amour's books.
Selleck is a California Army National Guard veteran, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association (NRA), an endorser in advertisements for National Review magazine, and co-founder of the Character Counts! organization.
Early life
Family
Selleck was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1945, to housewife Martha Selleck (née Jagger) and Robert Dean Selleck, who was an executive and real estate investor. He has an elder brother Robert (born 1944), a younger sister Martha (born 1954), and a younger brother Daniel (born 1956).
His father was of primarily British ancestry but had distant Serbian ancestry as well, while his mother was of British descent...on her paternal side they were miners from Worsborough, Barnsley, Yorkshire and Martha Jagger's grandfather Thomas Jagger emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1881. Thomas Jagger's grandfather, also named Thomas, was killed in Worsborough mine in 1844 aged 36 and the Jagger family can be traced back at least another three generations in that area. It is estimated that near 30 men of the Jagger family were killed in mines in that era. Through an entirely paternal line, Selleck is a direct descendant of British colonist David Selleck who moved to Massachusetts from Somerset, England, in 1633. Through this line, Selleck is of the 11th generation of his family born in North America.
Selleck's family moved to Sherman Oaks, California, in 1948.
Education
Selleck graduated from Grant High School in 1962 and enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College, living at home and saving money. Selleck, who stands 6 feet 4 inches tall, transferred to the University of Southern California during his junior year to play for the USC Trojans men's basketball team. He also was a pitcher for the USC baseball team. He is a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and a member of the Trojan Knights. While Selleck was majoring in Business Administration, a drama coach suggested he 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.
California National Guard
Upon receiving a draft notice during the Vietnam War, Selleck joined the California National Guard. He served in the 160th Infantry Regiment of the California Army National Guard from 1967 to 1973.
Personal life
From 1971 to 1982, Selleck was married to model Jacqueline Ray. During that time, he adopted her son, Kevin Shepard (born 1966), former drummer for the American rock band Tonic. On August 7, 1987, Selleck married Jillie Joan Mack (born 1957). They have one daughter, Hannah (born December 16, 1988).
Selleck and his family live near Thousand Oaks-Westlake Village, California, on a 60-acre avocado ranch in Hidden Valley formerly owned by Dean Martin.
In a 2012 interview with People, Selleck talked about living and working on his ranch: "So I like to get outside and work on the ranch, from fixing roads to clearing brush. I hate going to the gym, so sweating outdoors sure beats sitting on a stationary bike staring at my navel. And I work cheaper than anyone I could hire to do it."
- 6 eggs
- 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 12 frozen baby shrimp, thawed
- Paprika for sprinkling
- Place eggs in a large saucepan with enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil, then remove saucepan from heat, cover, and let sit 17 minutes. Drain hot water, then run cold water over eggs. Add ice cubes to water and let eggs cool 5 minutes.
- Peel eggs, slice in half lengthwise, and remove yolks to a small bowl. To the small bowl, add yogurt, sour cream, horseradish, mustard, and salt; mix well. Fill egg white halves with yolk mixture using a piping bag or spoon. Top each egg with a shrimp and sprinkle lightly with paprika. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
***Don’t have a piping bag? No worries! Just use a resealable plastic bag with one of the bottom corners snipped off.
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- The Vienna Zoo is the oldest existing zoo and was opened to the public in 1765.
- The United State’s first public zoo, Central Park Zoo, opened in 1874 in New York.
- There are 350 zoos in the United States
- Approximately 175 million people visit a zoo each year.
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom has had more than 9.8 million annual visitors.
- More than 3.2 million people visit the San Diego Zoo each year.
