Tom Selleck has been a private eye, a detective and a Police Chief on television. But in real life, he’s a loving father to his children. Even if you’re a Tom Selleck fanatic, you might not know too much about the actor’s daughter, who didn’t exactly follow in her father’s footsteps.
Tom Selleck and his second wife, Jillie Mack, welcomed their only child together, a little over a year after their marriage. Their daughter, Hannah Margaret Selleck, was born on December 16, 1988. Although Selleck was at the height of his fame when his daughter was a toddler—the final season of Magnum, P.I. was airing and his blockbuster hit Three Men and a Baby had been released—the actor pulled back from his career after his daughter was hospitalized with pneumonia at age three.
“It wasn’t worth it. It was never going to be worth it,” Selleck shared years later of that time. “And I said, this is crazy. I quit Magnum really, to have a family, and now I’m jumping at every movie that comes along.”
Instead of starring in films and taking on new roles, Selleck moved out to a quiet ranch in California with his wife and daughter where he could focus on his family. He and his wife believed it would be best to raise their daughter out of the spotlight and for her to grow up in the countryside.
“I’m a fairly private person,” Selleck explained. “And I’ve always treasured the balance between work and time with my family. It’s always about them.”
Of course, her environment seemed to influence her a great deal as Hannah went on to become an equestrian.
Hannah’s early life on the ranch
Growing up on a California ranch had its perks, one of which included the start of her career as an equestrian jumping athlete. Hannah began riding horses at the young age of 4 and she began appearing in shows at age 10. Over the years, Hannah became an award-winning competitor, winning medals at the 2005 Prix des States Junior Jumper National Championship and the 2006 North American Junior and Young Rider Championships.
“I started riding when I was four years old. I grew up on a ranch and was lucky to have some lovely ranch horses,” Hannah said. “My dad knew how to ride; he had learned to ride for Western movies. He is a good horseman.”
In 2018, Hannah had a major accident after falling off her horse, shattering her tibia and fibula. She was competing at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Canada, when the magnetic stirrups didn’t release as they were meant to when her mount refused to jump.
“Being told that I might not run again was pretty intense,” Hannah recalled. “I have always been a very mentally strong rider,” she says. “I have always thought you could just push through everything…They feel so much that we feel. They feel fear; they feel if we are tense. That is why they are such amazing partners.”
Although Hannah spent most of her time around horses and on a ranch, she attended college at Loyola Marymount University, where she majored in communication studies. She had hopes to pursue a career in public relations but ultimately decided she belonged with her horses.
“When I finished college, I thought I might want a career that would support me to ride at a high level as an amateur,” Hannah explained, “I got a job at a public relations firm …That was the first time that I had been away from the horses, and I was miserable. I was only able to ride on the weekends, and that was a huge shock. After that, I realized I have to do the horses, so I quit the PR job.”
While Hannah hasn’t been in the spotlight as much as her father has, she does dabble in the modeling industry a bit, having appeared in ads for brands like Adidas, Tropic of C and Bandier.
