Tom Selleck’s Wild Secret Life

Tom Selleck set hearts aflutter in the ’80s as laid-back “Magnum, P.I.” — and today he’s still flying high as the no-nonsense top cop on “Blue Bloods.”

But in real life the strapping star is a shotgun-toting wild man who nearly got busted in a barroom ruckus, lived a bachelor’s life while married to his first wife — and is battling a crippling disease in a bid to keep working! “Tom seems like an easy-going, peaceable guy. But in his younger days he was a hellion!” one Hollywood insider tells The National ENQUIRER. “It’s sometimes a wonder that he’s made it to 72 years old!”

Larry Manetti, who played Tom’s “Magnum” sidekick, has recalled a crazy night the two shared at a restaurant in Hawaii when Tom invited several "Hawaiian Tropic" models to join them. Before long, the group ran out of things to say. “Tom was just sitting there twisting his mustache, staring at the ceiling,” Larry wrote in his memoir of the show. “I kicked him under the table and asked what was wrong. ‘I’m bored,’ he said. ‘Bored?’ I said. ‘I can fix that!’ ”

Larry pulled out his Beretta .22-caliber automatic pistol and emptied it into the ceiling of the crowded restaurant! The owner came over, demanded the gun — and a new clip! He then emptied it at a row of beer cans on the bar! Panicked, Tom grabbed Manetti and said, “We’re leaving! Right now, before the cops get here!” Today, Tom remains unabashed about his love of firearms, and is on the board of the National Rifle Association. “I know shotguns are politically incorrect, but it’s too late for me to be concerned about such things,” said Tom.

After “Magnum” made him a household name, Tom had struggled for years to hit the big time while wed to wife Jacki Ray. On location in Hawaii away from home, the mustachioed hunk found “paradise in the arms of a bevy of local beauties,” a source said. “He fell in love with the island and with the local girls.” Tom and Jacki split in 1979, and in 1981 he rekindled a romance with “Days of Our Lives” star Francine York. After that, Tom filled his dance card with Goldie Hawn, Mimi Rogers, Victoria Principal and “Vega$” beauty Phyllis Davis while his divorce from Jacki was still being ironed out!

“All of Hollywood’s women want Tom Selleck,” a source dished at the time. Ironically, Tom says perceptions of him changed after he became a star. “If I’m sexy now, I was just as sexy two years ago and nobody thought so at all,” he said during the run of “Magnum.” Tom’s divorce was finalized in October 1982 — and the single stud moved on to woo "Bond" girl Jane Seymour and model Paulina Porizkova before marrying British actress Jillie Mack in 1987. They have a 28-year-old daughter, Hannah.

The 6-foot-4 actor is battling arthritis, and insiders say he’s “in a lot of pain and agony” due to the disease. “He’s putting on a brave front and gutting it out, but obviously it’s affecting him,” one insider said. “He’s been to doctors and has learned techniques to alleviate the pain, but it’s a disease that isn't going to go away." “He learning to adjust to it as best he can. But Tom’s days as the car-jumping, scuba-diving action star are a thing of the past."

While starring on “Magnum,” Tom was famed for performing his own stunts — but that derring-do has led to physical problems today. Like most stars, there’s a stunt double for dangerous action shots on ‘Blue Bloods,’ but Tom even uses the guy for simple scenes.” An insider says Tom’s arthritis “bothers him more days than others.” But, “Tom is an old-school, true professional, so he never complains about the pain.”