Tom Selleck: What I've Learned

Michael Sebastian interviewed Tom Selleck for Esquire magazine.

Tom Selleck, 79, has been an actor for more than five decades. His memoir, You Never Know, is out now. He spoke to Esquire in May in New York City. Here is Selleck in his own words.

I was playing baseball in our little neighborhood. I got ahold of one and it broke a window. We all scattered and ran to our houses. My mom found out about it. I said, “Are you going to tell Dad?” She said, “No. You’re going to tell Dad.”

He wasn’t one to fly off the handle. He said, “Thank you for telling me. I’ll see you in the morning.” In the morning, he took me down the block to the Rockwell house. He said, “Knock on the door and tell him.” Mr. Rockwell answered. I said, “I’m the one who broke your window.” He said, “Thank you for telling me.”

We went in the house and measured the window, and then my dad took me to the hardware store and bought all the stuff to replace a window. We replaced that window.

I played forward on the USC basketball team, riding the pine.

I didn’t think a lot of things through then. I was on academic probation every year, always on the edge, almost ineligible once.

You were deferred from the draft if you were in college. I had signed a contract at 20th Century Fox, and I was in their new-talent program. I didn’t have a student deferment anymore. So I was either going to be drafted or I’d volunteer for the Army. I enlisted in the California Army National Guard and did six years. I’m proud to be a vet.

After my six months of active duty, I drove down from Fort Ord in Monterey. I wore my uniform because I wanted to have it on when I saw my folks. It was a very difficult time in the country. Military veterans weren’t treated very well. The country was going in a different way, and I didn’t agree.

You can read the rest of the interview via the below link:

Tom Selleck Talks 'Blue Bloods,' 'Magnum,' and Being in the Military (esquire.com)