Tom Selleck built his fame on television, famously as the private eye in Magnum, Private Investigator, but he keeps a different address out of the spotlight. His 63-acre ranch in Ventura County, California, was once owned by Dean Martin and has been his home since 1988, nearly four decades. A 2009 CBS News profile noted that Alan Ladd spent time there and that Roy Rogers had a ranch down the road. Spike, the horse from ‘Quigley Down Under’, lived there in retirement until his death at around thirty. In 2009, his fifth Jesse Stone film premiered; the series reached nine.
A 63-acre ranch with Dean Martin in its past
The ranch covers 63 acres in Ventura County, California, and Dean Martin once owned it. The 2009 CBS Sunday Morning profile reported that it had been Selleck’s home for the past 20 years. Selleck offered Rita Braver a tour of the grounds, pointing out the history around him. Selleck grew up in the San Fernando Valley, the son of a real estate salesman. Before any of the fame, he studied at the University of Southern California, where he decided to try acting. The early years were rough, and he recalls replaying auditions in his used Volkswagen on the drive home.
Alan Ladd and Roy Rogers add more Hollywood history nearby
Dean Martin is not the only star tied to the land. Selleck said he knew Alan Ladd spent a lot of time at the ranch, and that Roy Rogers had a ranch just down the road. He summed the whole thing up in three words, “It’s pretty neat.” Those neighbours give this stretch of Ventura County a layered Hollywood backstory that stretches well beyond Selleck’s own time there. The profile aired on the night his fifth Jesse Stone movie, Thin Ice, premiered on CBS, and the ranch tour was part of a broader look at a career built on talent and staying power.
Selleck and wife Jillie Mack in 1989 (Image: Wikipedia)
Spike the horse retired to the ranch after Quigley Down Under
The ranch became a retirement home for a piece of movie history. In 2009, Selleck told CBS he still looked after the horse he rode in the 1990 western ‘Quigley Down Under’, a horse the profile called Spikey. He had used the animal in two more movies, and the horse was by then, in Selleck’s words, kind of retired. CBS also described Selleck as an avid outdoorsman, which fits the ranch setting. Most actors are enormously talented, he said, but only a few get as lucky as he has, and he never intended to forget it.
The career behind the ranch: Magnum, Private Investigator, a near-miss as Indiana Jones and Jesse Stone
Selleck’s fame rests on Magnum, Private Investigator, which ran eight seasons and earned him a Best Lead Actor Emmy. Taking the role cost him a shot at Raiders of the Lost Ark. He was the last person screen tested for Indiana Jones and says he got the part, but CBS picked up Magnum just then, and he honoured that commitment. At 64, he was starring in ‘Jesse Stone: Thin Ice,’ the fifth film in a made-for-television series based on Robert Parker’s character, and serving as executive producer and co-writer. He called playing the loner police chief one of the highlights of his career. He is married to British actress Jillie Mack, with whom he has a daughter.