Tom Selleck - How A TV Icon Put Family First

The ‘Blue bloods’ star reflects on his five-decade career – and finding peace and joy with his family

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Just three months ago Tom Selleck was busy on the New York City set of Blue Bloods, shooting scenes for the CBS hit’s 10th season, when the coronavirus crisis began to escalate in the US. “I strongly felt that whatever was going to happen, I needed to be with my family,” says Selleck, 75, who immediately headed home to California as soon as production was suspended. “It’s always about family.”

The rugged TV favourite has long made his wife, former actress Jillie, 62, and children Kevin, 54, and Hannah, 31, his top priority — as evidenced most notably by his decision to step back from Hollywood in the late 1980s. “I wanted a three-dimensional life, and I didn’t have one,” says Selleck of his self-imposed slowdown at the peak of his Magnum, P.I. fame. “I learned a long time ago that my relationships and my ranch are what keep me sane.”

Over the decades he found a blissful balance between his professional life and a peaceful existence on his 25-hectare working ranch in Ventura County, California, which he bought in 1988. “I’ve been enormously fortunate,” he says. “And I never thought I’d have this kind of career longevity.”