Tom Selleck

Actor and producer Tom Selleck would forever be cemented as one of the biggest sex symbols of the 1980s, thanks to a pleasant eight-year stint zipping around Oahu in a Ferrari in the top-rated series "Magnum, P.I." (CBS, 1980-88). As often happens with long-running, star-making roles like "Magnum," audiences were initially unwilling to accept him as anything other than an adventurous wise-cracking detective, but Selleck eventually nabbed big screen roles with films like "Three Men & A Baby" (1987), "Mr. Baseball" (1992) and "In & Out" (1997), which played up the actor's natural tendency towards playful, aw-shucks charm. Television, however, proved to be his most solid platform, with the 6'4" Selleck's all-American Marlboro Man looks maintaining a steady presence in cable Westerns, historical miniseries, a popular recurring role on "Friends" (NBC, 1994-2004), a turn as the new owner of the Montecito Resort and Casino on the NBC drama "Las Vegas" (NBC, 2003-08), and a string of made-for-TV "Jesse Stone" movies (NBC, 2005- ). Selleck's charm proved more potent than simple nostalgia, and audiences continued to welcome him in any role he essayed.