From 2005–2015, he portrayed troubled small-town police chief Jesse Stone in nine television films based on the Robert B. Parker novels.

He appeared in recurring television roles as Monica Geller's love interest Dr. Richard Burke in Friends, as Lance White, the likeable and naive partner on The Rockford Files, and as casino owner A. J. Cooper on Las Vegas.

[10] He graduated from Grant High School in 1962[11] and enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College, living at home and saving money.

[12] Selleck, who stands 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall, transferred to the University of Southern California during his junior year to play for the USC Trojans men's basketball team.

While he was majoring in Business Administration, a drama coach suggested Selleck try acting and, in his senior year, he dropped out of the university.

He began his career with bit parts in smaller movies, including Myra Breckinridge (invited on the set by Mae West),[18] Coma, and The Seven Minutes.

[18] Selleck appeared in a commercial for Right Guard deodorant in 1971, with Farrah Fawcett in 1972 for the aperitif Dubonnet, and another in 1977 for the toothpaste Close-Up.

I'm proud that I lived up to my contract, and some people said, "You've got to get into a car and drive into a brick wall and get injured and get out of Magnum and do [Raiders]."

The show continued until 1988, lasting 8 seasons and 163 episodes, winning him an Emmy Award[21] for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1984.

[25] During the Magnum years, he also starred as an acrophobic police detective in Runaway and a stand-in father in Three Men and a Baby, which was the biggest hit at the American box office in 1987.

[18] In the mid-1990s, Selleck played the role of Richard Burke, Monica Geller's older boyfriend, beginning at the end of the second season of the TV series Friends.

His decision to star in a six-episode plot of Friends was seen as a digression from the movies back to TV shows and a mistake by his career advisers.

In the mid-1990s, Selleck hosted a special series on TLC called The Practical Guide to the Universe, in which he talked about the stars, planets, galaxies, etc.

Despite the high pedigree, and the expectations for Selleck's first series since Magnum, P.I., low ratings caused the show to be canceled after ten episodes.

His last two cowboy roles to date were in the 2001 TNT movie Crossfire Trail (based on a Louis L'Amour novel of the same name), and the 2003 motion picture Monte Walsh.

The production toured for four months, playing in North Carolina, Chicago and Boston before opening on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre.

Critics, though far from uniformly negative about Selleck's performance, generally compared it unfavorably to that of Jason Robards, who won awards in the 1960s for playing the character on the stage and in a movie version.

Selleck played the role of General Dwight D. Eisenhower in A&E's 2004 made-for-TV movie Ike: Countdown to D-Day.

The movie showed the planning, politics, and preparation for the 1944 Invasion of Normandy, and Selleck was critically lauded for playing a cool, calm Eisenhower.

Since 2005, Selleck has starred in the role of transplanted lawman Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on Robert B. Parker's novels.

[29] Since 2010, he has starred as Frank Reagan in the CBS American police procedural/drama series Blue Bloods, filmed on location in New York City.

[31] Selleck appeared in a recurring role on the acclaimed ABC drama Boston Legal as Ivan Tiggs, the troubled ex-husband of Shirley Schmidt (Candice Bergen).

[32] During that time, he adopted her son, Kevin Shepard (born 1966), who would go on to be the drummer for the American rock band Tonic.

[35] Selleck has said he is Episcopalian, and got instruction from Blue Bloods co-star Bridget Moynahan on how to properly cross himself when playing his Catholic character Frank Reagan.

[36] Selleck and his family live near Thousand Oaks-Westlake Village, California, on a 60-acre (24 ha) avocado ranch in Hidden Valley formerly owned by Dean Martin.

[38] Selleck is an accomplished indoor and beach volleyball player, playing the outside hitter position for the Outrigger Canoe Club, Honolulu.

He was very patient with all of us, and we relished the big crowds that replaced the usual sparse number of players' friends and spouses at the national tourney matches.

"[39] Selleck is an avid ice hockey fan and has been seen attending Los Angeles Kings games at Staples Center.

[40] Selleck believes his training helped him considerably in his film role, having gained valuable experience from attending team meetings and developing an understanding of how competitive players function together.

He is a board member of the non-profit Joseph and Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics and co-founder of the Character Counts Coalition.