Tom Selleck
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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 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 surprise of Jim Rockford, the show's star private eye played by James Garner.
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.
Selected filmography
- In & Out (1997)
- Mr. Baseball (1992)
- Quigley Down Under (1990)
- Three Men and a Little Lady (1990)
- Three Men and a Baby (1987)
- Runaway (1984)
- Lassiter (1984)
- High Road to China (1983)
Trivia
- Selleck screen-tested for, but had to turn down the role of, Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark due to scheduling conflicts with "Magnum P.I.". The role went to Harrison Ford instead. 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.
External links
- Template:Imdb name
- Selleck's Political Views (http://www.theadvocates.org/celebrities/tom-selleck.html)
- Tom Selleck Pictures (http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/magnum-pi.htm)de:Tom Selleck