Tom Selleck: A Look Back at the Remarkable Career of the “Blue Bloods” and Original “Magnum, P.I.” Star
According to IMDB.com, Tom Selleck, best known for his iconic TV shows, Blue Bloods, and the original Magnum, P.I., was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on June 4, 1986.
Selleck received an honorary doctorate from Pepperdine University and was selected due to 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. Attended the University of Southern California and in his senior year earned a basketball scholarship after walking onto the team as a junior.”
As IMDM continues to document, “Selleck was a member of the California National Guard and was activated for the Watts riots.” He was also turned down for the lead role on the television series Vega$, which later went to Robert Urich. [While both actors had co-starred in a failed TV pilot from 1977, titled, called Bunco.]
Selleck used to own the Black Orchid Restaurant in Honolulu, along with two other investors, including former co-star Larry Manetti, IMDB also notes. And he studied acting at The Beverly Hills Playhouse with Milton Katselas.
In 1998, Selleck was selected by People Magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.
The actor was originally cast in the lead as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark but was unable to take the role due to his commitment to Magnum, P.I.
In 1988, Magnum later aired an episode, “Legend of the Lost Art,” which satirized Raiders, complete with, as IMBD notes, “hat, whip, and booby traps.”
As IMBD.com concludes, “Selleck is a member of the National Rifle Association and memorably sparred with Rosie O’Donnell on The Rosie O’Donnell Show (1996) about gun control and an advertisement in which he appeared supporting the NRA. His first television appearance was as a college senior on The Dating Game (1965) in 1967 and then a second time (date unknown at this time). Incredibly, he lost both times. Soon after, he appeared in television commercials for products such as Pepsi-Cola.”