‘Magnum, P.I.’ Has a Role in Real Estate

Before he became a Hollywood hunk in his role as a detective in “Magnum, P.I.,” actor Tom Selleck grew up in Van Nuys and attended Grant High School.

The Selleck family, seeking better weather and a brighter future, moved from Detroit to the San Fernando Valley in 1948, in the days when suburban homes were just starting to pepper the region’s farmland. Selleck’s father, Bob, made a living in real estate, supporting Tom and Tom’s mother, two brothers and sister.

After graduating from Grant High, Tom played basketball for USC. His decision to pursue an acting / modeling career landed him on Salem cigarette billboards and got him a job as a model for Chaz cologne.

But all that changed when he won the lead role on the television series “Magnum, P.I.,” which ran for eight years. His lucrative screen work enabled him to go into business with his family and invest in real estate.

Currently, Bob Selleck, his three sons and their family business, Selleck Properties in Westlake Village, are partners with the Voit Co. in the planned rebirth of the old General Motors assembly plant site in Panorama City.

“Maybe we can change some of the personality of the neighborhood,” Tom said in an earlier interview with The Times. “We’re not in business just for civic purposes. But the Valley is where we grew up, and with all of Dad’s experience in the Valley, it seemed a good fit.”

When he’s not brokering real estate deals with the family business, Tom continues to act, including a recent stint on the hit NBC sitcom “Friends,” in which he played the much older love interest of the character played by Courtney Cox.