You Never Know: A Memoir

by Tom Selleck, Ellis Henican

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Get to know Tom Selleck from the man himself, finally here to tell his complete story. From his rise to stardom to what was going on behind the scenes, this is everything you ever wanted to know about the man behind the mustache.

***THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER***

There are many miles from the business school and basketball court at the University of Southern California to 50 million viewers for the final episode of a TV show called Magnum P.I. Tom Selleck has lived every one of those miles in his own iconoclastic and joyful way.

Frank, funny and open-hearted, You Never Know is an intimate memoir from one of the most beloved actors of our time, the highly personal story of a remarkable life and thoroughly accidental career. In his own voice and uniquely unpretentious style, the famed actor brings readers on his uncharted but serendipitous journey to the top in Hollywood, his temptations and distractions, his misfires and mistakes and, over time, his well-earned success. Along the way, he clears up an armload of misconceptions and shares dozens of never-told stories from all corners of his personal and professional life. His rambunctious California childhood. His clueless arrival as a good-looking college jock in Hollywood (from the Dating Game to the Fox New Talent Program to co-starring with Mae West and escorting her to black-tie social functions). What it was like to emerge as a mega-star in his mid-thirties and remain so for decades to come, an actor whose authenticity and ease in front of the camera connected with audiences worldwide while embodying and also redefining the clichés of onscreen manhood.

In You Never Know, Selleck recounts his personal friendships with a vivid army of A-listers, everyone from Frank Sinatra to Carol Burnett to Sam Elliott, paying special tribute to his mentor James Garner of The Rockford Files, who believed, like Selleck, that TV protagonists are far more interesting when they have rough edges. He also more than tips his hat to the American western and the scruffy band of actors, directors and other ruffians who helped define that classic genre, where Selleck has repeatedly found a happy home. Magnum fans will be fascinated to learn how Selleck put his career on the line to make Thomas Magnum a more imperfect hero and explains why he walked away from a show that could easily have gone on for years longer.

Hollywood is never easy, even for stars who make it look that way. In You Never Know, Selleck explains how he’s struggled to balance his personal and professional lives, frequently adjusting his career to protect his family’s privacy and normalcy. His journey offers a truly fresh perspective on a changing industry and a changing world. Beneath all the charm and talent and self-deprecating humor, Selleck’s memoir reveals an American icon who has reached remarkable heights by always insisting on being himself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062945761
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/07/2024
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	2,247
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Tom Selleck is an award-winning actor and producer best known for his iconic role as Thomas Magnum in the original Magnum P.I. television series. Among the many unforgettable roles he has played are PI Lance White on The Rockford Files, Peter Mitchell in Three Men and a Baby, Matthew Quigley in Quigley Down Under, and Peter Malloy in In & Out. He was beloved as Dr. Richard Burke, Monica’s older boyfriend, on Friends and is currently starring as NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan on the hit crime drama Blue Bloods, now in its 14^th season. 

Editorial Reviews

06/10/2024

Magnum, PI actor Selleck delivers a breezy autobiography that covers his path from college basketball player to Hollywood heartthrob. While warming the bench for the USC Trojans in the early 1960s, Selleck harnessed his good looks to book a handful of appearances on The Dating Game. His agent then landed Selleck a meeting with Universal head Darryl Zanuck, who was so starstruck by Selleck’s position on the Trojans that he offered him a slot in the studio’s training program. There, Selleck befriended Sam Elliott and Lyle Waggoner, and fell in love with acting, stopping only briefly to serve in an Army reserve unit during Vietnam. With a gleeful propensity for name-dropping, Selleck describes his guest roles on shows including The Rockford Files and The Sacketts; his breakthrough on Magnum, PI; and his run-ins with showbiz royalty including Mae West and Frank Sinatra. The memoir’s opening chapter, which recounts a bone-crunching Mulholland Drive car accident Selleck was in at 17, is a bit of a bait and switch: there’s little gravity here, mostly glitzy recollections from a Hollywood stalwart. For the actor’s fans, it’s an ideal beach read. Agent: Jane von Mehren, Aevitas Creative Management. (May)

Publishers Weekly

04/19/2024

Selleck was a basketball-playing college senior at University of Southern California when, on a lark, he went on The Dating Game. That appearance led to his meeting 20th Century Fox president Richard Zanuck and being invited into the Fox New Talent Program. His first job there was posing with a naked Barbara Parkins for Valley of the Dolls promo art. The actor's memoir primarily concentrates on a play-by-play of his career. He notes that he'd never had an interest in acting before, but he scored a part as Stud #4 in Myra Breckenridge opposite Mae West and escorted her to the premiere. He describes a rocky road before he landed the lead in Magnum, P.I.; he toiled for years doing commercials and small parts on TV and in B movies and making TV pilots that never sold. Some readers may be surprised to learn that he nearly played Indiana Jones. He patently refuses to share personal details, but there are plenty of Hollywood anecdotes. VERDICT The lack of juicy personal information may disappoint celebrity gossip mavens, but Selleck's earnestness and self-deprecating folksy style will satisfy celebrity watchers, especially Magnum, P.I. and Blue Bloods fans.—Rosellen "Rosy" Brewer

Library Journal

2024-04-18
The beloved actor shares his splendid life and career.

In this well-written memoir, co-authored by Henican, Selleck (b. 1945) tracks an ascent in the entertainment industry that largely began in the late 1960s at the program for new talent at Fox and was solidified by his role as the star of the hit TV series Magnum P.I. The book is often Magnum-heavy, which at first blush may be a turnoff for readers more familiar with his later films, memorable guest role on Friends, or starring role in Blue Bloods. Yet even if readers have never seen a single episode of the show that made his career, the author’s style entertains, edifies, and effectively bridges the bookends of his career. Selleck has a knack for maintaining interest in the nuts and bolts of writing and producing Magnum, his own thoughts and actions in the evolution of the character and the show itself, and the difficult decisions he made along the way. As is the case with any celebrity memoir, there are numerous stories about famous people with whom Selleck has worked and known. However, the author, with the blue-collar mentality to which he often alludes by employing the phrase "laying bricks,” mostly focuses on the actual work of the brightest of stars, such as Frank Sinatra and Carol Burnett on Magnum, as well as the direction of Leonard Nimoy in Three Men and a Baby. Those in search of salacious confessions or anecdotes should look elsewhere. Selleck neither avoids difficult topics such as his first marriage, nor stints on details about meeting and marrying the accomplished dancer and actor Jillie Mack. He does so in the elegant fashion that he exudes on screen. Unless the author is a master of deception, the text is like the man himself: witty, charming, and honest.

A celebrity memoir worth reading.

Kirkus Reviews

"Even if readers have never seen a single episode of the show that made his career, Selleck’s style entertains, edifies, and effectively bridges the bookends of his career. Selleck has a knack for maintaining interest in the nuts and bolts of writing and producing Magnum, his own thoughts and actions in the evolution of the character and the show itself, and the difficult decisions he made along the way. Those in search of salacious confessions or anecdotes should look elsewhere—text is like the man himself: witty, charming, and honest... A celebrity memoir worth reading." — Kirkus Reviews

“Selleck’s earnestness and self-deprecating folksy style will satisfy celebrity watchers, especially Magnum, P.I. and Blue Bloods fans." — Library Journal

“A candid memoir. Fans of the iconic actor, will revel in his warmth, integrity, humor, and charm. Selleck is a TV star who keeps on shining, and his countless fans will be thrilled to be able to spend more time with him.” — Booklist

"Selleck delivers a breezy autobiography that covers his path from college basketball player to Hollywood heartthrob, describes his guest roles on shows including The Rockford Files and The Sacketts; his breakthrough on Magnum, PI; and his run-ins with showbiz royalty including Mae West and Frank Sinatra. [G]litzy recollections from a Hollywood stalwart…for the actor’s fans, it’s an ideal beach read." — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher