Tom Selleck is closing the book on the latest chapter of his long career. Since 2010, the actor has been a regular fixture on CBS on Friday nights, playing NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan on Blue Bloods.
Blue Bloods wraps up its 14-season run on Dec. 13. Ahead of the highly anticipated series finale, let’s look back on the career of the iconic leading man.
Selleck’s Hollywood career began after he appeared on The Dating Game while he was a student at the University of Southern California in the 1960s. That led to parts in commercials, TV shows such as Lancer, and movies like Myra Breckenridge. One of his first starring roles was in the 1972 horror movie Daughters of Satan.
Selleck is known for his signature mustache, which he’s sported since his early days as an actor. He’s nearly unrecognizable sans-facial hair in this still from a 1974 episode of Wide World of Mystery. But the mustache wasn’t missing for long. It was on full display in a 1976 ad for Salem cigarettes.
Selleck’s career took off in a major way in the 1980s, thanks to his lead role in Magnum P.I. He played Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living in Hawaii. The show ran for eight seasons from 1980 to 1988.
Magnum turned Selleck into one of the most popular TV actors of the decade. In 1982, he was swarmed by reporters as he attended a rehearsal for the Golden Globes. The sudden fame was hard to adjust to.
“I didn’t like it. Mainly because of family and a sense of privacy,” he said in a recent episode of the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast. “I started getting asked questions in interviews that I didn’t want to say—give an answer to.”
In 1986, Selleck received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His mother, Martha Selleck, and his then-girlfriend Jillie Mack, were there to help mark the occasion. Selleck married Mack in 1987. They have one daughter and are still together today.
In 1987, Selleck showed off his comedic chops in Three Men and a Baby. He co-starred with Ted Danson and Steven Guttenberg in the movie about three bachelors who unexpectedly wind up with a baby on their hands.
After Magnum P.I. ended, Selleck went on to star in the Western Quigley Down Under, where he played an American sharpshooter who takes a job working for a rancher (played by Alan Rickman) in Australia.
Selleck reached a new generation of TV viewers thanks to his role on Friends. He played Dr. Richard Burke, Monica’s (Courteney Cox) much-older love interest on 10 episodes of the hit sitcom.
Between 2005 and 2015, Selleck played the title character of Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the novels of Robert B. Parker. He’s talked about reviving the series now that Blue Bloods is over.
Blue Bloods premiered in 2010, with Selleck in the key role of Frank Reagan. He’s the patriarch of a New York City family that’s dedicated their lives and careers to criminal justice.
In late 2023, CBS announced that Blue Bloods would end after the upcoming 14th season. Selleck has expressed his disappointment in the network’s decision.
“I’m kind of frustrated. During those last eight shows, I haven’t wanted to talk about an ending for Blue Bloods but about it still being wildly successful,” he told TV Insider.
While his time as Frank Reagan is over, Selleck says he’s looking forward to what’s next.
“I need to regroup,” he said. “I don’t know what’s next, but assuming the phone doesn’t stop ringing, I’m going to keep working.”
The Blue Bloods series finale airs Friday, Dec. 13 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. It will also stream on Paramount+.
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