Tom Selleck has been a mainstay on the celebrity scene since the early 1980s. From his breakthrough lead role on Magnum, P.I. to his current gig as a police-family patriarch on Blue Bloods, the famously mustached actor has never been far from the spotlight. But what about his other half? Tom Selleck’s wife of over 30 years, Jillie Mack, has kept a much lower profile than her Hollywood husband. Here, we take a deep dive into this long-lasting celebrity marriage.
Who Is Jillie Mack?
Born in Wiltshire, England Jillie Mack is a dancer and actress. She’s best known for playing small roles in TV shows such as Frasier, Silverfox, ER, Hooperman, and Selleck’s own Magnum, P.I. She also played the role of Rumpleteazer in a London-based production of the popular musical, Cats, which is how she met her future husband (more on that in a bit!).
Despite being Tom Selleck’s wife, 63-year-old Jillie Mack likes to keep her private life private. She’s not a big social media user or fixture on the red carpet, except when she’s accompanying her famous husband to events and premieres.
Tom And Jillie’s Marriage
Tom Selleck and Jillie Mack have been married for more than 30 years. The pair met in 1983 while Selleck was in London filming the jewel-heist movie Lassiter. As the story goes, Mack caught Selleck’s eye when he took in a performance of the musical Cats. The actor was so smitten that he went back to see the show over and over again!
In a 1987 interview with People, Selleck’s Lassiter co-star, Jane Seymour, joked about the actor’s newfound obsession. “He kept telling me how great Cats was,” she said. “I thought it was good, but I couldn’t see going back a dozen times.”
Eventually, Selleck asked the dancing feline out to dinner and the pair began dating. Once her Cats contract was up, Mack moved to the United States to be with her new man.
Four years later, in 1987, Tom Selleck shocked his fans when it was announced that the couple got hitched in a super-secret ceremony in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. According to People, Selleck did everything he could to keep the press from finding out about the quickie wedding. Reportedly, all arrangements were used under the assumed names “Tom Jenkins” and “Suzie Mark,” and the reverend who married them didn’t know their true identity until minutes before the ceremony. Selleck even went as far as allowing only Polaroid cameras to be used at the wedding so images would not be leaked to the press.
Over thirty years later, Selleck and Mack are still going strong, despite bogus tabloid rumors that claim otherwise. They live a quiet life on a 65-acre ranch in Ventura, California, which they’ve owned since 1988. In addition to keeping their private life out of the public eye, they’ve made a point to be open and honest with each other every step of the way. “Jillie and I have a pretty good partnership,” Selleck told the New York Daily News back in 1999. “We don’t do anything or make any decisions without consulting each other. And if one of us makes a decision involving [our daughter], the other parent completely supports that position, even if you disagree.”
Do They Have Kids?
Tom Selleck and Jillie Mack have one child together, daughter Hannah Selleck. Now 32, Hannah is a professional equestrian—a career clearly influenced by the years she spent growing up on a California ranch. She told Equestrian Living, “Because [my parents are] both artists, they believe in the idea that you have to be very passionate about what you do to be successful. They encouraged me to be passionate about it and immersed in it, and from there it was kind of on me how much I wanted it. They always let me take the lead. If I wanted to move barns or trainers, that was my decision.”
Selleck also has an adopted son, Kevin, from his first marriage.
Who Was Tom Married To Before Jillie?
Before meeting and falling in love with Jillie Mack, Tom Selleck’s wife was an American actress and model Jacqueline Ray. The pair married in 1971 when both Selleck and Ray were in their mid-20s and were together until 1982. Ray appeared in a number of popular TV shows throughout the ’70s and ‘80s, including Dallas, Matt Houston, Marcus Welby, M.D., and Magnum, P.I. Selleck and Ray called it quits after more than a decade of marriage, reportedly because the actor’s move to Hawaii to film Magnum P.I. kept them too far apart.
During their 11-year marriage, Selleck adopted Ray’s son, Kevin Shepherd (who became Kevin Selleck) when he was 21 years old. Now 54, Kevin is a musician and actor who has appeared in movies like Scream 2 and TV shows such as Magnum P.I. (Tom obviously liked working with his family!). Despite Tom Selleck’s split from Ray, he remains close with his adopted son to this day.