For much of his career, Tom has been seen as the strapping face of charming and hilarious yet stoic TV shows like Magnum P.I. and Blue Bloods, plus movies like Three Men and a Baby and the Jesse Stone films.
While the actor didn't make his film debut until 1970's Myra Breckenridge opposite Mae West, his earliest TV appearances actually came a few years earlier.
In 1965, the young star, then a college senior at the University of Southern California majoring in business administration, and just 20 years old, made his maiden appearance on ABC's The Dating Game. He once again appeared on the show in 1967. By this point, he'd dropped out of college and was studying acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.
The Tom of today may best be known for his rugged looks, including his trademark mustache, the younger Tom was clean shaven, showing off a chiseled boy-next-door side to himself.
As host Jim Lange introduced him: "Standing 6'4", it's reasonable to surmise that bachelor #2 is an outstanding varsity basketball player. He plans to enter the world of business along administrative lines. He's from Detroit, Michigan. We'd like you to meet Tom Selleck!" Tom didn't end either of his appearances picked by the bachelorette, however.
Fast forward to 2024, looking back on his appearance on the show in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Tom noted: "Somebody saw me on The Dating Game and said, 'There's a talent program on Fox.'"
Recommended videoYou may also likeWATCH: The life of Tom Selleck: from '80s heartthrob to family man
Tom with Mae West while making "Myra Breckenridge"
His audition for that show, unfortunately, was "terrible," and he continued his career from then on with commercials, including "a lot of stupid ones," but also one for Dubonnet that introduced him to Farrah Fawcett. "That was kinda neat! I got paid to flirt with her for two days."
The Jesse Stone star looked back on his early career in an interview with Hour Detroit, saying: "I was always kind of a work in progress and had a lot of time to study. By age 32, I was getting better roles and gaining a lot of experience."
Tom in "Magnum P.I."
He continued: "When I burst on the scene not as a young leading man but as a grown-up leading man, it turned out to be a huge advantage because I was relatively unknown at the time."
His career skyrocketed in the '80s when he was cast in Magnum P.I., although that role also caused him to lose out on a little film franchise called Indiana Jones as the title character, eventually embodied by Harrison Ford.
"I didn't pretend I was happy about losing, Raiders but I was not about to think of myself as a victim," he wrote in his 2024 memoir You Never Know of losing out. "Whether I thought CBS made the wrong decision — and I think they did — that did not mean I was treated unfairly…"
"Nobody made me sign a contract for Magnum. At that moment in time, it was the best thing that happened to me in about a dozen years as an actor."
Sign up to HELLO TV & Film for the week's top talking points and the lowdown on the latest releases
By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please click here.
The "DJ Play A Christmas Song" singer was the musical guest on the latest Saturday Night Live episode, Bowen Yang's last, with Ariana Grande as the host
