Ever since Tom Selleck first rose to fame in the early-‘80s, he has widely been considered to be among the most popular actors in Hollywood. For proof of this, all you have to do is look at Selleck’s time as a recurring guest star in the show Friends. After all, even though Selleck last brought Dr. Richard Burke to life in a Friends episode that debuted in the year 2000, the character remains widely beloved.
In addition to the fact that Tom Selleck remained a beloved acting star for years on end, it turns out that he may have been even more successful in his personal life. Married to the same woman since 1987, Selleck’s marriage is among the longest-lasting in Hollywood history.
Despite the longevity of Tom Selleck’s marriage to Jillie Mack, a lot of people know virtually nothing about the couple. As it turns out, that is by design as Selleck has put a lot of work into keeping his private life away from the spotlight. However, even though this article has made no effort to pry into Selleck’s private life, he has given a few glimpses into his marriage and he seems to have found his happily ever after.
Relationship Origins
After Tom Selleck and his first wife, the model Jacqueline Ray, broke up in 1982, he became one of the most eligible bachelors in the world. Already known around the world as the star of Magnum, P.I. by that time, it could be argued that all eyes were on Selleck wherever he went at that time. With that in mind, it is pretty incredible to learn where Tom found love, at a performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats”.
According to what Jane Seymour told People magazine during the ‘80s, she was working with Tom Selleck when he went to see “Cats” and afterward he raved about how great the show was. Confused by Tom’s passion for the show at first, Seymour told people; "I thought it was good, but I couldn't see going back a dozen times". As it turned out, the reason Selleck kept going to see “Cats” was that his future wife Jillie Mack had been cast as Rumpleteazer and he couldn’t get enough of going to see her.
After asking Jillie Mack out to dinner, Tom Selleck and his future wife hit it off immediately. In fact, once Mack’s contract with “Cats” came to an end, she moved to Hawaii to be with Selleck who was living there making Magnum, P.I. at that time.
Walking Down The Aisle
These days, when most celebrities decide to walk down the aisle, they spend a fortune on their weddings. In fact, some stars have spent so much cash on their nuptials that it sometimes feels like they simply are competing to outspend their wealthiest friends. On the other end of the spectrum, when Tom Selleck and Jillie Mack got married they spent next to no money.
Back in the late-‘80s, the tabloids had become such a force in the publishing industry that most of the time when stars were set to be wed, everyone would know about it ahead of time. In the case of Tom Selleck and Jillie Mack, however, they took the world by complete surprise when they got married.
Opting to tie the knot at a 24-hour wedding chapel in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, Tom Selleck, and Jillie Mack even got wed under the aliases Tom Jenkins and Suzie Mark respectively. If that wasn’t enough evidence that the couple was concerned about the press invading their moment, Selleck and Mack only used a polaroid camera to capture their wedding. That way, there was no chance that anyone from the press could get ahold of the photo negatives.
Making Their Life Together
Ever since Tom Selleck and Jillie Mack got married, they have both been extremely devoted to the family they’ve built together. With Selleck already the adopted father of a boy named Kevin from his previous marriage, a fourth member was added to their family when Mack gave birth to their daughter Hannah in 1988.
The same year Tom Selleck’s daughter was born, he decided to leave his show Magnum, P.I. even though it was still a big hit at the time. Many years later in 2012, Selleck told People Magazine that he chose to “quit Magnum to have a family” and that he tried “very hard to have balance” in his life. In order to accomplish that goal, Selleck chose to buy a ranch in Ventura County, California and during the aforementioned interview, he said it helped him to achieve that balance.
When it comes to their life together, Tom Selleck once said that he and his wife Jillie Mack “don’t do anything or make any decisions without consulting each other”. Furthermore, as parents, Selleck said that whenever one of them makes a decision, their partner would completely support their position. Thankfully, it seems like Selleck and Mack did a good job as parents as their son and their daughter turned out to be good people.