Tom Selleck and his wife Jillie have been TOGETHER for over 35 years
Tom Selleck first met Jillie Mack while she was performing in Cats in 1983
Tom Selleck has been married to his wife, Jillie Mack, for nearly four decades.
Before he was Frank Reagan on Blue Bloods, Selleck was the titular character on the ’80s TV series Magnum, P.I. The hit show was the launching pad for Selleck’s career, but it also led him to temporarily leave the entertainment industry.
Selleck met Mack at the height of his fame while she was performing in the musical Cats. The pair wed in 1987, and soon after, he quit Magnum, P.I. so they could start a family together and live a quieter life on a ranch in Ventura, Calif.
“I’m a fairly private person,” the actor later told PEOPLE in 2020. “And I’ve always treasured the balance between work and time with my family. It’s always about them.”
He eventually returned to acting, but his focus has always been on Mack and their daughter, Hannah, whom they welcomed in 1988.
Most recently, the trio were spotted celebrating Selleck’s 80th birthday at Tuscany il Ristorante in Los Angeles.
So who is Tom Selleck’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Jillie Mack and her decades-long relationship with the actor.
She played Rumpleteazer in Cats in the early ’80s
Mack spent her mid-20s starring in the West End musical Cats as Rumpleteazer. The musical wasn’t just an impressive milestone on Mack’s résumé; it also brought her to Selleck.
In 1983, Selleck was in London filming Lassiter and spent his afternoons seeing Cats — an after-work activity his costar Jane Seymour found odd. “He kept telling me how great Cats was,” Seymour told PEOPLE in 1984. “I thought it was good, but I couldn’t see going back a dozen times.”
Mack’s agent told PEOPLE, “They had dinner one night and it went on from there.” When her contract with the musical was up, Mack moved to the U.S. to continue her relationship with the actor.
She and Selleck planned their 1987 wedding under fake names
On Aug. 7, 1987, the pair tied the knot at a Victorian-style, open-all-hours wedding chapel near Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Only a handful of family members were present at the couple’s secret wedding, including Selleck’s brother, Bob, who arranged everything with fake names in hopes of throwing off the public and the media. Even the minister was left in the dark; they were expecting a “Tom Jenkins” and a “Suzie Mark.”
A local Nevada paper ran a story about the celebrity couple’s nuptials a month later, alerting the world of their private ceremony.
“They were both nervous, like any other couple about to get married,” the chapel’s pastor recalled of Selleck and Mack’s big day. “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.”
Prior to his marriage with Mack, Selleck was married to actress Jacqueline Ray for 11 years; the pair finalized their divorce in 1982.
Their daughter is a professional equestrian
The couple welcomed daughter Hannah Margaret Selleck on Dec. 16, 1988. Hannah spent most of her childhood on their family ranch, where she learned how to take care of horses. “We both thought it was the best environment for her to grow up,” Mack told PEOPLE in 2012. Selleck added that their country lifestyle had a positive influence on Hannah’s maturity as well.
A decorated equestrian, Hannah began riding competitively at the age of 10. She has professionally competed in both the hunter and jumper rings at the international level. In 2012, she founded Descanso Farm, which focuses on “the development of top-quality sales horses and the advancement of horses’ show careers.”
Selleck also has a son, Kevin, whom he adopted with his first wife.
Her and Selleck’s happy place is their family ranch
Following Hannah’s birth, the couple stepped out of the spotlight to focus on their family, moving to a secluded ranch in Ventura, California. The 65-acre property has a horse corral and was once a working avocado farm, which Selleck tended to himself until the California droughts decimated the trees.
“My relationships and my ranch keep me sane,” the Friends star told PEOPLE in 2020. “I do grunt work and I make the rounds. I like watching things grow. It’s a retreat.”
In the couple’s 2012 interview with PEOPLE, Selleck referred to the family ranch as “a real blessing,” adding that it had helped him find a “balance” between his work and personal life. But Selleck wouldn’t be found eating the fruits of his labor. “I don’t eat ’em,” the actor said of his homegrown avocados. “Honestly, they make me gag. But it’s just as well. I’ll sell my portion.”
She made frequent cameos on Magnum, P.I.
Her career in the U.K. may have ended, but Mack has made several TV appearances across the pond. In fact, she made several cameos on Selleck’s hit show, Magnum, P.I., in both seasons 4 and 5. Mack also appeared in an episode of both the ’90s sitcom Frasier and the medical drama ER.
Their top priorities are privacy and family
Even before Selleck and Mack settled down together, the Blue Bloods actor set boundaries between his public and personal life.
“I’ve found it very difficult to expose my private life and live with it,” Selleck told PEOPLE in 1984. At the time, he and Mack were living in Hawaii, where he was filming Magnum, P.I. “There are certain things I’m just not comfortable with,” he added on sharing too much of his personal life.
Speaking to PEOPLE in 2012, Selleck said that quitting Magnum, P.I. to focus on his family was one of the best decisions he had ever made. Back then, the actor regularly worked 90-hour weeks and spent his breaks filming movies. “It took a long time to get off the train,” he said.
Selleck continued, “My first priority is time with my family,” adding it had been imperative to “nurture” his marriage with Mack. “I think wanting time away from work has been good for that.”
Selleck loves her sense of humor
While talking to PEOPLE in April 2024, Selleck shared that he loves Mack’s “friendship” and “sense of humor” above all things.
“I’ve had a very good life, a very lucky life,” he added.