Who Is Tom Selleck’s First Wife Jacqueline Ray, Where Is She Now?

Quick Facts

In her heyday, Jacqueline Ray was among the most stunning and enigmatic looking figures in Hollywood who many people had hoped would go-ahead to have a flourishing career that would rank her among some of the greatest in the industry. Jacqueline began her career as a model before turning to the acting world which earned her enormous popularity. Some of the movies she appeared in include In Like Flint (1967), The Killings at Outpost Zeta (1980), and Beyond the Universe (1981) among others.

In addition to her career, another major reason why the actress became very popular was as a result of her relationship and subsequent marriage to actor Tom Selleck. The pair was one of the most talked-about and well-loved celebrity couples of the 1980s and it did appear like their relationship was destined to last forever. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned and the marriage hit the rocks. While both parties have since moved on to other people and Ray’s career did not reach the heights she had hoped, the former Mrs. Selleck has still found some way to make headlines, although mostly for the wrong reasons.

Who Exactly Is Jacqueline Ray?

A beauty to behold, Jacqueline Ray was born on July 17th, 1952. She is of Native American ethnicity and her place of birth is listed as Burbank, California, USA. But despite having a place under the spotlight as a result of her showbiz career, not much is known about her early days and family background. As a result of this, her educational background has also remained a mystery but we can confirm that she started modeling as a teenager.

In her mid-teens, Jacqueline landed her first acting role as Denise in the action film, In Like Flint. After an uncredited role in The Gnome-Mobile, she was cast in Frasier, the Sensuous Lion in 1973, a role she followed up with by working as a model in an episode of Marcus Welby, M.D.

The next time Jacqueline Ray was seen on screen was in 1980 when she played her first lead role in The Killings At Outpost Zeta. The next year, she appeared in another science fiction movie titled Beyond the Universe. She then played two characters in Magnum, P.I, first as Lisa in season one and then as Ms. Roebuck in the third season.

After some guest appearances in a few shows, Jacqueline’s next remarkable appearances were recorded in Nickelodeon’s Unfabulous (2006) and Unfabulous: The Best Trip Ever (2007).

Her Relationship With Tom Selleck

According to several sources, Jacqueline Ray first met Tom Selleck in 1970. They had a whirlwind romance that lasted for a year before they ended up getting married in May 1971. Side by side each other, the duo made several public appearances together and looked like a match made in heaven. They further appeared together in a number of projects that included the very successful Magnum, P.I. television series where Tom featured as the titular character Magnum and Jacqueline appeared in 2 episodes in 1981 and 1983.

The couple managed to stay together for eleven years before things went south and they went their separate ways in 1982. During the course of their marriage, however, Selleck adopted Jacqueline’s son Kevin Shepard who was born in 1966 from her first marriage. Tom loved Kevin like he was his own biological son and was the major father figure in Kevin’s life while he was growing up.

Despite his divorce from Jacqueline, the actor maintained and cultivated his relationship with his adopted son who went on to have a flourishing acting career.

The Truth Behind Their Separation

While the couple has refused to share the facts surrounding their divorce, Tom Selleck himself has at least been sincere enough to admit that he did not handle things well during the marriage and divorce.

The media has since speculated that a reason could be that Jacqueline grew jealous of her husband’s newfound success during their marriage. Some quarters, on the other hand, believe that as Tom began to rise to take more prominent roles, it appeared that he paid less attention to things in the home front which allowed his relationship and marriage to deteriorate.

The latter reason has since proven to be more accurate as Selleck admitted in a number of interviews that one of the reasons his first marriage failed was his inability to cope with the intense pressure of stardom. He seems to have learned from his mistakes as he has gone ahead to have a fulfilling marriage with his second wife.

What Is Jacqueline Ray Doing Now?

Jacqueline Ray has been in prison since 2014. After her bitter divorce from Tom Selleck, she found love again with Clarence Barry Witmer. The pair got married in 1992 and during the course of their marriage, she welcomed a daughter named Umeko. There were unconfirmed rumors, however, that the daughter wasn’t for Clarence but for one of her other lovers.

Later on in life, in the process of trying to protect her daughter, Jacqueline landed herself in jail. She was accused and found guilty of hiring a hitman named Luis Barker to kill her daughter’s husband, Leon Baucham. After Luis had tortured and killed Leon, investigations carried out by the police led to the discovery of the hitman and Jacqueline’s involvement.

The former actress confessed that she paid the hitman $12,000 to get rid of her son-in-law because she was afraid for her daughter and grandchildren who continually endured physical abuse from him. After her trial where she was found guilty, Jacqueline Ray was sentenced to eighteen years in prison while the hitman was sentenced to twenty-nine years.

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