Benjamin Jones
Dey Street Books
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In his new memoir, “Never know” (published May 7 by Dey Street Books), Tom Selleck, star of such hit TV series as “Magnum, PI” and “Blue Bloods,” writes about the serendipity that launched his career.
Read an excerpt below and Don’t miss Tracy Smith’s interview with Tom Selleck on “CBS News Sunday Morning” on May 5!
“You Never Know” by Tom Selleck
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The whole thing is impressive when you think about it.
A child continues The dating game and, through the machinations of a clever agent, two of Hollywood’s biggest studios think the other is interested in him. This boy, who has no real acting experience and no real desire to become an actor, ends up fighting with the president of 20th Century-Fox and is promptly invited to the studio’s New Talents program. And what seals the deal is college basketball. You’ll understand… You never know. And it all happened so quickly that I never stopped to ask myself: Why? Why am I doing this? I’m not sure I can answer that even now. I never had the slightest interest in acting. Ever. But, in my unplanned way, I actually achieved something. I was offered an opportunity that others would kill for. I was developing a healthy respect for serendipity.
Don explained the details. Pay would start at the Screen Actors Guild minimum, just over a hundred dollars a week, which seemed astronomical to me. I made no more than expense money from my job as a campus representative for United Airlines. The minimum SAG would be enough for me to get my own place after the semester and start gaining weight financially. And did I mention that my semester wasn’t going very well?
I went to see my father in his office to tell him about the offer and ask for his advice. At that time, he managed the Coldwell Banker office in the San Fernando Valley.
“I got an offer to sign a contract with 20th Century-Fox,” I told him. I explained everything. I may have accidentally left out the part about not graduating. He listened intently, probably searching for anything he could pick up between the lines. When I finished, he sat there for a moment. When he spoke, it was direct, direct and unwavering. “Well,” he said, “I guess it’s like your brother Bob when he got the offer to sign with the Dodgers. It’s one of those opportunities that’s considered special. And if you don’t go for it, you might be thirty-five and regret it.” You may wonder what if…?”
That was all I needed to hear. I wasn’t really asking for your advice on what I it could to do. I was asking to know what he would be to do.
It was at that moment that I remembered a phrase he used: “Risk is the price you pay for opportunity”. You know what? I’m not sure if my dad actually said that or I just think he did. But anyway, he lived it, that’s for sure.
Then he said: “You’re going to have to tell your boss at United straight away.”
I knew this, even though I secretly hoped he would say, “Oh, it’s okay, son. I’ll call them for you.”
That wasn’t my father.
I said something inappropriate, like “Thank you, Dad,” and got up to leave.
As I did this, my father spoke, almost to himself, but not really. I definitely heard words from him.
“Just don’t let them change you.”
Out of nowhere: “Just don’t let them change you.”
I didn’t say anything else, but I realized how difficult it must have been for my father to give me this advice. Thanks to the management training program I had at United Airlines during my two years at USC, he felt I had an advantage at a company whose business he truly understood. Working in Los Angeles for so long, he needed to be well aware of the many risks of show business. He had heard the stories of all the wasted lives. He certainly didn’t want his son to get sucked into that swamp. So he knew the dangers. But he still gave his advice freely and without hesitation.
From “You Never Know” by Tom Selleck. Copyright © 2024 by Thomas Selleck. Excerpted with permission from Dey Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Excerpts have been edited for length.
Get the book here:
“You Never Know” by Tom Selleck
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For more information:
- “You Never Know: A Memoir” by Tom Selleck with Ellis Henican (Dey Street Books), in hardcover, large print, e-book and audio formats, available May 7
