20 Throwback Photos of Tom Selleck Young That Prove He’s Always Been a Hunk
From ‘Magnum P.I.’ to ‘Three Men and a Baby’ this mustachioed star has had our hearts for 50+ years
There is one man that comes to mind when we think of the words Hollywood, dimples and mustache…Tom Selleck.
The “Blue Bloods” star, now 78, is still remembered best for his starring in the role of Thomas Magnum in the hit series, Magnum P.I. The smash hit series ran from 1980 to 1988 and earned Selleck a Golden Globe, an Emmy and a slew of other nominations.
But before his rise to fame, the towering 6-foot-4 Selleck was an athlete who played for the University of Southern California basketball and baseball teams. But after being encouraged by a drama coach to pursue acting, and he dropped out of the university during his senior year to make his dreams a reality.
“I was in my last semester of business school at USC. I was in management training for United Airlines,” he told Variety on life prior to the “new talent” program. “I had done a couple of commercials and was on ‘The Dating Game,’ but I had never done a play in my life. My acting experience was zero.”
Taking his acting dream seriously, Selleck took part in Fox’s “new talent” program in the late 60s, but he wasn’t an overnight star. Young Tom Selleck first appeared on The Dating Show in 1965 and 1967, and acted in various commercials. Then in 1967, he received draft orders and ultimately joined the California National Guard and served until 1973.
Upon returning to civilian life, he was dropped from his contract with Fox. “I did six months active duty in the middle of my time at Fox,” Selleck told Military.com. “I had my job when I came back, and then they fired me [laughs].” The military left a strong impression on Selleck, who recalls his service with pride. “I am a veteran; I’m proud of it,” he added. “I was a sergeant in the U.S. Army infantry, National Guard, Vietnam era. We’re all brothers and sisters in that sense.” Over the next few years, Selleck took on various small roles to make ends meet, until he was launched into millions of living rooms as Magnum P.I. Here, we take a look back at the dimpled mustachio’d hunk through his 58-year career.
Tom Selleck through the years
1965
A young Tom Selleck played basketball for University of Southern California for one season.
1967
Selleck appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game first in 1965, and then again in 1967. To our surprise, the 20-year-old lost both times.
1970
He made his film debut in Myra Breckinridge as “Stud”, alongside Hollywood’s biggest names, including Raquel Welch and and Mae West. At just 25-years-old, look at that baby face sans mustache! Here he attends the premier.
1978
Other small roles of Selleck’s included the 1978 film Coma, a mystery thriller about otherwise-healthy patients falling into comas when they are put in operating room #8.
1979
Selleck starred alongside mustache-in-arms Sam Elliott and Jeff Osterhage in The Sackett’s, a western TV mini series that follows three brothers and their lives out west in the late 1800s. If there was an award for best mustaches on television, this series would’ve won it!
