Tom Selleck

Selleck in 2010, Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Thomas William Selleck

Place of Birth: Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

Date of Birth: January 29, 1945

Ethnicity:
*father – English, Scottish, Irish, more distant German
*mother – English

Tom Selleck is an American actor and film producer. He is known for starring on the series Magnum, P.I. and Blue Bloods, and in High Road to China and the Three Men films.

Tom is the son of Martha and Robert Dean Selleck, a real estate developer. His father was of English, as well as Scottish, Irish, and more distant German, ancestry. His mother’s ancestry is English. Tom is married to Jillie Mack. He has a son with his former wife, model Jacqueline Ray, and a daughter with Jillie.

There is an internet rumor that Tom’s father was of Slovak/Rusyn descent, possibly because of his perhaps unusual-sounding, English surname, Selleck. This is not accurate.

Tom’s patrilineal line traces to Robert Selleck/Sellock, who was born, c. 1575, in England.

Tom’s paternal grandfather was George Samuel Selleck (the son of Samuel/Sam H. Selleck and Mary Clementine Fricke). Tom’s grandfather George was born in Hunters Creek, Lapeer, Michigan. Tom’s great-grandfather Samuel was the son of Samuel Horace Selleck and Sarah Augusta Daily/Daley/Dailey. Mary was the daughter of John Francis Fricke and Phebe Shadbolt.

Tom’s paternal grandmother was Nellie Louisa Fife (the daughter of William L. Fife and Sarah Elizabeth/Eliza Glenn/Glynn). Nellie was born in Chatham, Kent, Ontario, Canada. William was born in Peterborough, Peterborough County, Ontario, and had roots in Kincardine, Fife and High Comorie, Nielstoun, Renfrewshire, Scotland. He was the son of John William Fife and Elizabeth Pearl Learmonth. Sarah was born in Vernonville, Northumberland County, Ontario, to an Irish father, Joseph/John H. Glynn, and to a mother, Sarah Chambers, with English ancestry.

Tom’s maternal grandfather was Fred Grant Jagger (the son of Thomas/E. Jagger and Eliza James). Fred was born in Philipsburg, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, to English parents. Thomas was born in West Riding, Yorkshire, the son of Robert Jagger and Elizabeth/Eliza Jackson.

Tom’s maternal grandmother was Martha Birchall/Birchell (the daughter of James Birchall and Mary Ann Brown). Martha was born in Pennsylvania, to English parents, from Lancashire. Mary Ann was the daughter of James Brown and Sarah Ann Partington.

Sources: Genealogies of Tom Selleck – http://famouskin.com
https://www.geni.com

Genealogies of Tom Selleck (focusing on his father’s side) – http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com

Genealogy of Tom’s father – http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com

Obituary of Tom’s father – http://articles.latimes.com

Marriage record of Tom’s paternal great-grandparents, William L. Fife and Sarah Elizabeth/Eliza Glenn/Glynn – https://www.familysearch.org

Tom’s mother on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Marriage record of Tom’s maternal grandparents, Fred Grant Jagger and Martha Birchall/Birchell – https://www.familysearch.org

Tom’s maternal grandfather, Fred Grant Jagger, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Tom’s maternal grandmother, Martha Birchall/Birchell, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

20 Responses

  1. Kimmel says:

    He has none of the ethnic features of his listed ancestry. Something is missing….

  2. madman says:

    William Learmonth Fife had Scottish ancestry. Sarah Elizabeth/Eliza Glynn’s father was Irish and her mother had English ancestry.

    I suppose that the German comes from the Fricke line. Most genealogies seem to end at John Francis Fricke, Tom’s great-great-grandfather, but one says that he was the son of Heinrich Augustus Fricke, who was German, and Anna Catharina. I’m not sure if this is the case, but Fricke is most likely German in origin.

    Also, there is no need to divide his ancestry in father and mother when they are this similar. His ancestry is English, 1/8th Scottish, 1/16th Irish, more distant German

    Genealogies: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=huppe&id=I286167
    http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=williams1934&id=I234544
    http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=46403&id=I61432
    http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=dowfam3&id=I126658

    One of his father: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=dowfam3&id=I126663

    • follers says:

      His mother’s ancestry is just English as far as I know. I think it’s notable when a parent is from a single ethnic group (even if Henry Louis Gates, Jr. strongly disagrees with me on that).

  3. phaedra says:

    So you look like men who resemble your dad? Lolz

  4. August says:

    But he could be Serbian too. That was the info on Wikipedia some while ago.

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