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Hard to believe, but Tom Selleck didn’t achieve stardom till he was in his 30s. I feel kind of sorry for Selleck, it seems that his 6’4” frame and good looks held him back in getting acting jobs. That’s what says more than once in his new memoir, You Never Know (2024, HarperCollins).

To be honest, I’ve changed my mind about Selleck numerous times through the years, but I won’t let influence my comments about the book. You Never Know is filled with light-hearted acting and career stories, but light on his life, a choice he made in writing the book. Not a tell-all, he steers away from most of the drama. He does vent about issues on Magnum, but this many years, who cares.

“I don’t want to do a tell all; I don’t want to do a book to get even; I don’t want to do a political book,” he said in an interview with Town and Country Magazine. “What’s left? Hopefully that people will find a rather long journey, that they thought happened overnight, interesting!”

Selleck barely mentions his first wife Jacki, saying he treasured their time together, but isn’t going to try to correct a lot of nastiness and falsehoods written about that time in his life. I can certainly respect that.

I’ve never seen The Sacketts, but I really enjoyed the character on the making of the miniseries and will see it. This is the role that made Selleck an in-demand actor, and led to Magnum P.I., by way of The Rockford Files, and Selleck’s character of Lance White.

The story of Magnum P.I. is worth the read, especially how it developed from a third-rate comedy into a first-rate drama, in a battle with the studio, then a battle with the network over Selleck starring in Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was a complicated time.

Selleck has to be the most positive and optimistic person ever. There’s nary a downbeat word in the entire book. Selleck does offer a few lessons he’s learned through the years, and they are spot-on.

“The lesson I was slowly learning was complicated but really pretty simple. You can go into a room filled with confidence and leave shattered. And you can go into a room nervous and uncertain and leave confident. It isn’t the role of the people in the room to nurture your talent, though that wouldn’t hurt. The people in the room, in many cases, are as insecure as you are.”

“The hard-earned lesson that all those years had taught me was that you can’t control the outcome, but you’re fully in control of the effort.”

That’s how Tom Selleck sees himself and his life. Hard work, a positive attitude and a bit of good fortune. And he expresses his gratitude, usually to his parents, but to others who helped and taught him. Actors like James Garner and Jack Lord gave him valuable advice about how to be a leader, not just a series lead.

Magnum, P.I. takes up a third or more of the book. If you are a fan of the show, you’ll enjoy this. The stories concerning Carol Burnett and Frank Sinatra are worth the read. You won’t read much about his films, they rank barely any mention, which was disappointing. He does talk about Blue Bloods, but only in the epilogue chapter. In between his two successful series, he had a string of films that did not approach the success of Three Men and a Baby, which he does mention because it happened during his Magnum years. I liked some of those films, but no mention. That was disappointing.

Overall, the book was fun, an enjoyable read, but not very revealing about his entire career, and less so about his life.

2/5