Tom Selleck & His Wife of 34 Years Quietly Built a Life Together After a Secret $75 Wedding Ceremony
He called his first divorce "one of his greatest sorrows"—but fate had other plans.
When you picture Tom Selleck, it’s usually the mustache and the “Magnum, P.I.” Ferrari that come to mind. But underneath all the Hollywood gloss, Selleck’s real story is about quietly fighting for the kind of life most people never see.
Before he settled into the quiet life he’s known for today, he went through one of his most personal regrets: the end of his first marriage. He married model Jacqueline Ray in 1971 and adopted her son, Kevin, but by 1982, the relationship had quietly unraveled—long before Magnum, P.I. ever hit the air.
As his face began appearing on magazine covers and movie posters, some tabloids painted it as the classic “man gets famous, leaves wife” story after Magnum, P.I. exploded.
The Cats Connection: How Tom Met Jillie
Sometimes, life’s biggest turns happen off-camera. In 1983, just a year later, while filming Lassiter in London, Selleck found himself—strangely—obsessed with the musical Cats. His co-star Jane Seymour thought it was odd. Was he really going to see the show for the dancing cats?
Not exactly.
Jillie Mack was dancing as Rumpleteazer, and Selleck—awkwardly charming even off screen—kept buying tickets. Finally, he worked up the nerve to ask her out. Their first date felt easy.
The second date happened before the first had even faded. The Hollywood icon and the West End dancer didn’t bother playing it cool.
By the time Mack’s contract ended, she moved to Hawaii to be with Selleck as he finished out Magnum, P.I. Suddenly, paparazzi spotted her at his Walk of Fame ceremony. The press had questions. The couple didn’t answer them.
A $75 Secret Wedding—and a Life Out of the Spotlight
Tom Selleck and Jillie Mack didn’t care for Hollywood weddings. In 1987, they snuck away to Lake Tahoe and got married in a $75 ceremony, dressed down until the last minute, walking down a green-carpeted aisle beneath a simple arch of roses. Only family attended.
They picked up their $27 marriage license with Selleck’s parents and brothers in tow. The press didn’t find out until weeks later.
At the height of his Magnum fame, Selleck made a bombshell decision: He quit. "I worked 90 hours a week," he told People. "I left to have a family." The couple welcomed daughter Hannah in 1988, and Selleck doubled down on ranch life in Ventura, California—a far cry from Hollywood glitz where Selleck still works the land.
He jokes about being a romantic—making sure Jillie’s tea is ready every morning, the little gestures that don’t make headlines.
The Yin & Yang Marriage—And Why It Still Works
34 years later, Tom Selleck won’t claim to know the secret to marriage. “We’re both independent. There’s a lot of yin & yang in us. I’m kind of quiet. She’s got this joie de vivre. I don’t know what our secret is, but I’m happy.”
Their daughter Hannah is now a professional equestrian, quietly carving her own path away from the cameras. As of 2021, she was studying for her MBA. The family still prefers ranch life to red carpets.
Maybe that’s the real takeaway: No drama, no spectacle—just two people who keep choosing each other, day after day, theirs is the kind of old-school Hollywood love story we rarely see anymore. And honestly? We’re here for it.
