He gave up nearly everything to make sure that not only was his marriage kept alive but so that his daughter can be kept away from the prying eyes of the media.
There is no lack of attention that actor Tom Selleck gets for his dashing good looks - his moustache is iconic - his incredible work ethic and his immense talent. He may have succeeded in winning people's hearts through the roles he portrayed but there is one more thing he succeeded at — keeping his family life private. He has never hidden the fact that his family is his top priority.
Even when he was tying the knot with his wife, fellow actress Jillie Mack, he was extremely considerate of her. According to Daily Choices, “They were both nervous, like any other couple about to get married,” the wedding officiant David Immel shared. “He was very concerned that the service be heartfelt, very concerned for her that the service be meaningful. He is a very warm, caring man”, he added.
And it was this nature he carried over into fatherhood as the couple brought little Hannah Margaret into their life in 1988. This, the Magnum P.I. actor told CBS Local, happens to be the most important role he's ever played.
So much so that he had to make some drastic changes and sacrifices to make sure his daughter was raised well. Not only did he move the entire family to a ranch in Ventura County, California, he also gave up something that helped him rise to fame. “I quit Magnum to have a family,” Selleck told People in 2012. “It took a long time to get off the train, but I try very hard to have balance, and this ranch has helped me do that.”
The Three Men and a Baby star wanted to keep Hannah out of the spotlight and at the same time, expose her to country life. Their 65-acre ranch, with a horse corral and a 20-acre avocado farm, was what both him and Mack thought would be "the best environment for [Hannah] to grow up,” according to The Epoch Times. More than that, it also gave the 74-year-old actor a chance to really bond with his daughter.
He recalled to CBS Local that when he was busy filming other TV series and films decades ago, he chose books to read to his daughter but only the ones that showed the father as the good guy. “I read to her all the time when she was little, and I said ‘Hannah, I’m not going to read these to you.’ She said ‘Why daddy?’ I said because the dad’s always an idiot,” he said.
And it's a great thing Hannah's dad was one of the good guys because it was his choices that finally brought out her absolute love and passion for horses. In fact, the 30-year-old made a career out of it and made a name for herself as a world-class equestrian. Winning a number of laurels, she proves just how talented she is just like her parents, even if it is away from the limelight of Hollywood glamour.
“As a kid [my parents] tried to raise me as normally as possible given my dad’s line of work,” she said to The Epoch Times. “Those horses have been a great way for me to have my own accomplishments outside of whatever my parents had done.” Hannah started horse-riding at the tender young age of 4 and there's been no looking back since.
Having opened up her own small boutique breeding stable called Descanso Farm in Hidden Valley, she credits a part of her success in the business to her dad, who co-owns the stable. “My dad encouraged it a lot,” Hannah said, according to The Epoch Times. “He liked the idea of developing the babies and developing young horses, so he was a big supporter of this idea.”
Well, no doubt both father and daughter are proud of each other's accomplishments and are the reason for their happiness. Here's to many more years of success to the Blue Bloods star and the continually rising champion equestrian.
References:
https://www.daily-choices.com/tom-selleck/4/?xcmg=1
https://people.com/archive/on-the-ranch-with-tom-selleck-vol-77-no-21/
https://www.littlethings.com/tom-selleck-daughter
