Not only is it an incredible fact that Tom Selleck and Jillie Mack have been married for over 30 years, but it’s also astounding that the two tied the knot in secret. Before the private ceremony, the two first met when freshly divorced, 38-year-old Selleck first got a glimpse of his future love at a musical production of Cats.
While filming Lassiter in London, he started regularly attending the West End production of Cats, befuddling his cast and crew. “He kept telling me how great ‘Cats’ was,” his co-star Jane Seymour told People. “I thought it was good, but I couldn’t see going back a dozen times.”
Little did she know, Selleck had developed a crush on a young woman playing Rumpleteazer, who was none other than Jillie Mack. After having dinner, the two became inseparable. Later, she moved to Hawaii to be with Selleck. At the time, the island was the setting of Selleck’s T.V. show, “Magnum P.I.”
Tom Selleck Did A Lot To Keep His Wedding Secret
Later, in 1987, Tom Selleck’s brother helped the love birds plan a secret wedding ceremony. In facts, it was so hush-hush that they used aliases like “Tom Jenkins” and “Suzie Mark” while planning.
Even the pastor didn’t even realize who they were marrying until moments before the ceremony. Selleck was so rigorous about keeping their special day private that the wedding photos were taken with a polaroid camera so they couldn’t get leaked.
After their private ceremony in Lake Tahoe, the couple welcomed a daughter one year later. After the birth of their daughter, Selleck took a step back from acting to focus on his family. During a 2012 interview with People, he revealed that when he was working on “Magnum P.I.,” he was working 90 hour weeks and shooting films whenever he had time off.
Needing some much-needed rest, he relocated his family to a ranch in Ventura County, California. The couple decided that they wanted to raise their daughter outside of Hollywood. “I quit Magnum to have a family,” he said at the time. “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.”
“We both thought,” Mack told the outlet, “it was the best environment for her to grow up.” Although he took a break from Hollywood in the ’80s, Selleck eventually returned to entertainment. Today, you can catch him playing the role of NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan in the CBS TV series “Blue Bloods.”