Tom Selleck is best known for two things: his iconic mustache and his role as the private investigator Thomas Magnum in the '80s hit TV show Blue Bloods (2010-present).
Selleck served in the US military briefly before moving on to acting. Interestingly, he was the first choice actor to play Indiana Jones but couldn't because he had already accepted the role of Thomas Magnum. Here are some of his other roles that you might have forgotten about.
Mr. Kornfeldt: Killers (2010)
In the action comedy film, a lady named Jen (Katherine Heigl) goes to Nice, after breaking up with her boyfriend. There she meets a man named Spencer—played by Ashton Kutcher—who she goes on a date with. It turns out that Spencer is an assassin.
Tom Selleck plays Jen's father Mr. Kornfeldt in the movie. He accompanies Jen to and throughout the trip, he constantly has doubts about Spencer. Mr. Kornfeldt is later revealed to be a former operative. Even more interesting is that is the man Spencer was sent to kill.
Patrick O'Malley: High Road to China (1983)
In High Road to China, the father of a spoiled heiress disappears in Asia during WWI. The heiress knows that if her father is not found, she might not get her inheritance. She thus dedicates most of her time into trying to locate him.
Seeking the best men, she hires an alcoholic pilot named Patrick O'Malley (Tom Selleck) to help. Patrick's job isn't easy since the heiress chooses to accompany him in the mission, leading to many arguments. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by John Clearly.
Jack Elliot: Mr Baseball (1992)
After Magnum P.I. ended, Tom Selleck was struggling to get any good roles. Such is always the case for actors who have been in a popular TV show for a couple of years. Actors like Aaron Paul have even opened up on how they struggled to land good roles after the hit TV shows they starred in ended.
Selleck finally landed a good role courtesy of the 1992 sports comedy film Mr.Baseball. In the film, he plays a baseball star named Jack Elliot whose career begins going south. He is then traded to a Japanese team where he hilariously struggles to fit in.
Dr. Richard Burke: Friends (1996-2000)
NBC's Friends is undoubtedly one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. Spanning ten seasons, it was was nominated for a whopping 62 Emmys. Each season of Friends also ranked among the top ten most watched American shows.
But fans might have forgotten that Tom Selleck was in it, too. The actor played Dr. Burke, a friend of the Geller family. He eventually became Monica's boyfriend despite being 21 years older than her. She didn't mind and neither do fans.
Peter Mitchell: Three Men And Baby (1987)
In Three Men and a Baby, Selleck played an architect whose life suddenly got complicated after a baby was left at his doorstep. Together with the two dysfunctional friends he shared a bachelor pad with, he had to adapt to his instant "fatherhood."
Three Men And Baby was the highest earning film of 1987, grossing $240 million at the box office. As a result, a sequel was developed. An interesting fact is that the baby was played by twin girls named Lisa Blair and Michelle Blair.
A. J. Cooper: Las Vegas (2003-2008)
The series revolved around the staff at the Montecito Resort and Casino in Las Vegas as they dealt with various work-related issues. Selleck played A.J. Cooper, a billionaire who bought the casino in 2007. He was revealed to be a war veteran and a ranch owner from Wyoming.
Cooper had a net worth of $2 billion. He also owned apartments in Florida, a paper mill in Wisconsin and a tech firm in California. Unfortunately, NBC decided to cancel the series after its fifth season, leaving some of the stories unresolved.
Jimmie Rainwood: An Innocent Man (1989)
In this action-thriller, Tom Selleck plays Jimmie Rainwood, a family man and aeronautics engineer who gets framed by dirty narcotics officers who have a habit of reselling the drugs they seize. After an unfortunate incident, they frame Jimmie and he ends up receiving a lengthy jail term.
Jimmie manages to cope with life in prison and even becomes a hero when he kills a prison bully who had raped another inmate. Once he is released, he goes on a revenge mission. It's a typical '80s action movie, but it's also very entertaining.
Matthew Quigley: Quigley Down Under (1990)
Here, Selleck plays Matthew Quigley, an American gunslinger who offers himself for a job in Australia after seeing a newspaper ment. The skilled Quigley has a specially modified rifle that enables him to hit the target from over 900 yards.
As expected, he can't wait to use it. But it turns out that the job isn't such a clean one. An evil rancher named Elliot Marston wants Quicgley to help him eliminate the Aborigines. Quigley refuses and thus ends up clashing with the rancher and his henchmen.
Will Eubanks: Concrete Cowboys (1979)
Concrete Cowboys was a TV-movie that aired on CBS. Selleck starred as Will Eubanks, a roustabout who spent most of his time gambling. After a game goes wrong, Will and his buddy J.D. Reed are forced to flee from the town in a hurry.
The two hop on a freight train to Nashville. There, they get mistaken for detectives and are immediately tasked with locating a popular singer who has disappeared. They believe its going to be an easy job but they soon realize they bit off more than they can chew.
Jesse Stone: Jesse Stone - No Remorse (2010)
This was sixth installment in the Jesse Stone franchise and it turned out to be the best. Based on the Robert B. Parker novels, the film followed fierce police chief Jesse Stone as he tried to uncover a major crime syndicate once again.
This time, Stone took it upon himself to investigate a series of killings in Boston as a form of help to a state police colleague. He ended up discovering a string of clues that led him to a notorious mafia boss. Events occurred in a fictitious town in Massachusetts.