James Garner - # 85

Famed actor James Garner dies at 86

He was number 85 on the list.

James Garner, the understated, wisecracking everyman actor who enjoyed multigenerational success on both the small and big screens, has died. He was 86.

Police, who were called to his residence Saturday night in Los Angeles, say he died of natural causes.

Garner starred in hit TV series almost 20 years apart -- "Maverick" in the late 1950s and "The Rockford Files" in the 1970s.

He also had a notable film career, starring in such classics as "Sayonara" (1957), "The Great Escape" (1963), "The Americanization of Emily" (1964), "Grand Prix" (1966) and "Victor/Victoria" (1982), as well as the TV movies "My Name Is Bill W." (1989) and "Barbarians at the Gate" (1993). More recent films included "Space Cowboys" (2000) and "The Notebook" (2004).

He was fiercely independent, challenging the studios on both "Maverick" and "Rockford" when he felt he wasn't being treated fairly. He sued studios twice and won both times.

"The industry is like it always has been. It's a bunch of greedy people," he told The Los Angeles Times in 1990.

Garner was given a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2004. The actors' union head issued a statement about his death Sunday.

"James Garner was the definition of the smooth, dashing leading man, but his talents were so much more than skin deep," SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard said. "He was a hard worker who dedicated himself wholly to whatever he set out to accomplish, whether it was serving his country or performing for the camera."

He was a valued and convincing pitchman -- in his 1970s and '80s commercials for Polaroid cameras, he had such good rapport with co-star Mariette Hartley that viewers were convinced they were married -- and was nominated for a slew of awards, including Emmys, Golden Globes, SAG Awards and an Oscar (for 1985's "Murphy's Romance"). His performance in "The Rockford Files" won him an Emmy.

He could do serious. His performance in the TV movie "My Name Is Bill W." -- about the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous -- was straightforward and uncompromising. He could also show real heartbreak, whether it was cradling fellow escapee Donald Pleasance in "The Great Escape" or talking with Gena Rowlands in "The Notebook."

But he was rarely one to blow his own horn.

"I got into the business to put a roof over my head," he once said. "I wasn't looking for star status. I just wanted to keep working."

James Scott Bumgarner was born April 7, 1928, in Norman, Oklahoma. His mother died when he was 5 and his father remarried a year later. Garner didn't get along with his stepmother and, after a particularly vicious argument, left home at 14. His father, who divorced his stepmother, eventually moved to Los Angeles. At 16, Garner followed, attending Hollywood High School and finding a job as a swimsuit model.

"I made 25 bucks an hour!" he told People magazine. "That's why I quit school. I was making more money than the teachers. I never finished the ninth grade."

After joining the Merchant Marine and the National Guard, he served in the Korean War, where he won a Purple Heart. After the war, he returned to Los Angeles and took up acting -- for the same reason he started modeling, he told the L.A. Times.

"What was I qualified to do to make a living? Nothing," he said. "You don't need qualifications as an actor or a politician. And I didn't want to be a politician."

A small part in Broadway's "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" led to a contract with Warner Bros., which cast him in both TV and movie roles. After a performance as a Marine captain in "Sayonara," he took the lead role in a new TV series, "Maverick," which was to make his reputation in many ways.

In 1957, "Maverick" was, well, a maverick: a Western filled with comedy, which often parodied other TV Westerns. As a show on ABC, then the third-ranked of the three broadcast networks, it wasn't expected to do well against competitors "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Steve Allen Show." But it won its Sunday-night time slot and became one of the hottest programs on television. In turn, Garner -- who played Bret Maverick, a roving card player -- became one of the medium's biggest stars.

But Garner became dissatisfied with the show's grind and being treated like "ham in a smokehouse," as he put it. In 1960 he sued producer Warner Bros. for breach of contract. He won the case and left the show, which replaced him first with Roger Moore (as Beau Maverick) and then Robert Colbert (as Brent) but soon left the air entirely.

Garner, however, was on the verge of movie stardom. Director William Wyler cast him in the film version of Lillian Hellman's play "The Children's Hour" as a sympathetic doctor; two years later Garner starred as Lt. Bob "The Scrounger" Hendley in "The Great Escape," one of the great war movies.

He remembered star Steve McQueen as being rebellious. "Steven would drive that motorcycle with the swastikas on it all over Munich. People would yell. They didn't think that was too good, and I didn't either," Garner told People in 1998.

But the two were close, he added -- in fact, McQueen was his next-door neighbor in Los Angeles. "He looked at me as an older brother," he told the magazine.

Garner followed "Escape" with the film he ranked as his favorite, "The Americanization of Emily." The film, which had a script by Paddy Cheyefsky ("Marty," "Network"), was about a self-described "coward" Navy officer who romances an Englishwoman (Julie Andrews) and -- against his will -- takes part in the D-Day invasion. "Emily" was nominated for two Oscars and helped make Andrews, a famed stage actress whose film "Mary Poppins" was released earlier that year, a star.

His 1966 film, the John Frankenheimer-directed "Grand Prix," gave him another passion -- auto racing. He founded an auto-racing team and drove the pace car in the Indianapolis 500 three times. It was an avocation he shared with a friend, Paul Newman. Garner was also a good golfer and an avowed fan of his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, where he endowed a chair at the college's drama school.

Garner's movie career languished in the late '60s, though he had a mild hit with "Support Your Local Sheriff!" (1969), and he returned to television in the 1970s. After the short-lived "Nichols" he took the role as Jim Rockford in "The Rockford Files," which was as much an anti-detective series as "Maverick" was an anti-Western. (Both shows were produced by Roy Huggins, who also created "77 Sunset Strip" and "The Fugitive.")

Garner's Jim Rockford may have carried a gun, but he did so rarely (he didn't have a permit anyway) and he would much rather talk than shoot. Once imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, the Pontiac Firebird-driving detective lived in a dilapidated trailer on the Malibu coast. His friends included a grumpy LAPD detective, a former cellmate, a disbarred lawyer and his father, a retired trucker.

Garner did many of his own stunts on "Rockford," and they took a toll, he told People in 1994.

"The work on the show had worn me down to a nub," he said. Over the course of the series, he broke bones, strained muscles and was even treated for depression. "I was sick and tired of it all." Garner also had quintuple bypass surgery in 1988 and had a stroke in 2008.

He left "Rockford" in 1980, partly because of his ailments and partly because of contractual problems with the studio, which eventually led to his lawsuit. After it was settled, he returned to the role for a series of TV movies in the '90s.

But "Rockford" cemented Garner's status on Hollywood's A-list. He made a number of TV and theatrical movies in the '80s, some duds -- "Tank" (1984) and "Sunset" (1988) -- and some successful: He earned praise for his performance in "Victor/Victoria" and an Oscar nomination for "Murphy's Romance."

He worked steadily in the 2000s, with notable performances in TV's "Barbarians at the Gate," the film version of "Maverick," the miniseries "Streets of Laredo" and the theatrical film "The Notebook." He also returned to series television, joining the cast of "8 Simple Rules" after the death of John Ritter.

The work in front of a live audience intimidated him, he said, despite his experience.

"I started in theater, and that's what scared me to death," he told CNN's Larry King in 2004.

Garner famously had one of Hollywood's longest-lasting marriages. He married Lois Clarke in 1956 after a brief courtship; they were still married at Garner's death, 58 years later.

"I just let my wife get away with murder," he joked to The Los Angeles Times in 1994.

His co-stars were equally smitten with Garner.

"Jim is funny and dear, and he laughs at my jokes," Sally Field told People in 1985, before the release of "Murphy's Romance." "That's what makes Jim sexy; it doesn't change with years."

Garner was also a longtime political activist. He helped organize the 1963 March on Washington and frequently donated to Democratic candidates and liberal causes.

But he'll likely be best remembered for a James Garner persona that seemed inseparable from the real-life man: professional, unruffled, witty and never too impressed with himself.

"I'm a Spencer Tracy-type actor," he told People in 2005. "His idea was to be on time, know your words, hit your marks and tell the truth. Most every actor tries to make it something it isn't (or) looks for the easy way out. I don't think acting is that difficult if you can put yourself aside and do what the writer wrote."

He is survived by his wife and their two daughters, Kim and Gigi.


His filmography:

Film

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1956      Toward the Unknown               Major Joe Craven            

1956      The Girl He Left Behind            Preston               

1957      Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend Sgt. John Maitland          

1957      Sayonara[3]        Capt. Mike Bailey, USMC              

1958      Darby's Rangers          Col. William Orlando Darby         

1959      Up Periscope              Lt. j.g. Kenneth M. Braden           

1960      Cash McCall Cash McCall       

1961      The Children's Hour             Dr. Joe Cardin   

1962      Boys' Night Out          Fred Williams    

1963      The Great Escape        Hendley "The Scrounger"             

1963      The Thrill of It All       Dr. Gerald Boyer              

1963      The Wheeler Dealers               Henry Tyroon    

1963      Move Over, Darling  Nick Arden          My Favorite Wife remake

1964      Action on the Beach        Himself                 Short documentary

1964      The Americanization of Emily              Lt. Cmdr. Charles Edward Madison           Paddy Chayefsky script

1965      36 Hours        Major Jefferson F. Pike Roald Dahl story

1965      The Art of Love          Casey Barnett   

1966      Grand Prix: Challenge of the Champions                 Himself (uncredited)      Short documentary

1966      A Man Could Get Killed            William Beddoes              Also executive producer

1966      Duel at Diablo            Jess Remsberg  

1966      Mister Buddwing      Mr. Buddwing   

1966      Grand Prix[2]     Pete Aron            Also executive producer

1967      Hour of the Gun[3]          Wyatt Earp         

1968      Once Upon a Wheel        Himself                 Documentary

1968      The Man Who Makes the Difference       Himself (uncredited)      Short documentary

1968      How Sweet It Is!                Grif       

1968      The Pink Jungle Ben Morris         

1969      The Racing Scene             Narrator               Also producer; documentary

1969      Support Your Local Sheriff!     Jason McCullough           

1969      Marlowe       Philip Marlowe

1970      A Man Called Sledge       Luther Sledge    

1971      Support Your Local Gunfighter! Latigo Smith       Also executive producer

1971      Skin Game    Quincy Also executive producer

1972      They Only Kill Their Masters  Abel Marsh        

1973      One Little Indian               Keyes   

1974      The Castaway Cowboy   Lincoln Costain

1980      HealtH[2]             Harry Wolff        

1981      The Fan                Jake Berman      

1982      Victor Victoria             King Marchand

1984      Heartsounds Harold Lear         TV film

1984      Tank      Sgt Maj Zack Carey         

1985      Murphy's Romance   Murphy Jones   

1985      Promise         Bob Beuhler       TV film; also executive producer

1988      Sunset Wyatt Earp         

1989      My Name Is Bill W.     Dr. Robert 'Dr. Bob' Holbrook Smith         TV film; also executive producer

1990      Decoration Day           Albert Sidney Finch         

1990      Take Me to your Leaders               Narrator               Documentary

1992      The Distinguished Gentleman     Jeff Johnson      

1993      Fire in the Sky    Frank Watters   

1993      Barbarians at the Gate            F. Ross Johnson                 TV film

1994      Breathing Lessons-   Ira Moran            TV film

1994      Maverick              Marshal Zane Cooper    

1995      Larry McMurtry's Streets of Laredo          Texas Ranger Woodrow F. Call   

1996      Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick    Himself                 Documentary

1996      My Fellow Americans               President Matt Douglas

1997      The Hidden Dimension   Narrator               Documentary

1997      Dead Silence                John Potter         TV film

1998      Twilight                Raymond Hope

1998      Legalese               Norman Keane TV film

1999      One Special Night             Robert Woodward           TV film

2000      The Last Debate                Mike Howley      TV film

2000      Space Cowboys          Tank Sullivan     

2001      Atlantis: The Lost Empire              Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke              Voice

2002      Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood               Shepard James Walker "Shep"   

2003      The Land Before Time X                 Pat         Voice, Direct-to-DVD

2004      The Notebook             Old Noah Calhoun "Duke"           

2004      Al Roach: Private Investigator     Al Roach               Short

2007      The Ultimate Gift              Red Stevens      

2007      Battle for Terra Doron   Voice

2010      Superman/Shazam!        Shazam                 Voice

2010      DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection Shazam                 Voice, Video Short, (final role)

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1955      Cheyenne     Lt. Brad Forsythe              Episode: "Mountain Fortress"

1956      Zane Grey Theater           Lt. Jim Collins     Episode: "Star Over Texas"

1956      Cheyenne     Lt. Lee Rogers    episode: "Decision"

1956      Cheyenne     Bret       Episode: "The Last Train West"

1956–1957          Conflict                 Red / Jim Curtis                 3 episodes: The People Against McQuade, Man from 1997, and Girl on the Subway

1957      Sugarfoot            Bret Maverick    Episode: "Misfire"

1957      Cheyenne[2]      Willis Peake        "Episode: War Party"

1957–1962          Maverick              Bret Maverick / Beau 'Pappy' Maverick   60 episodes

1958      Wide Wide World            Himself                 Episode: "The Western"

1958      This Is Your Life Himself                 Episode: "James Garner"

1960–1964          The Bob Hope Show        Himself                 Episodes: 4-20-1960, and 12-18-1964

1961      Angel     Jim         Episode: "The French Lesson"

1971–1972          Nichols[3]            Sheriff Frank Nichols       24 episodes

1974      Backlash of the Hunter   Jim Rockford      TV movie, Pilot for "The Rockford Files"

1974–1980          The Rockford Files            Jim Rockford      122 episodes; director of episode: "The Girl in the Bay City Boys Club"

1978      The New Maverick           Bret Maverick    TV movie

1979      Young Maverick                Bret Maverick    Episode: "Clancy"

1981–1982          Bret Maverick    Bret Maverick    18 episodes

1991–1992          Man of the People           Councilman Jim Doyle    10 episodes

1993      Return to 'The Great Escape'       Himself/Hendley "The Scrounger"            Video Documentary Short

1994      The Rockford Files: I Still Love L.A.             Jim Rockford      TV movie (also executive producer – uncredited)

1994      HBO First Look   Himself/Bret Maverick   TV series Documentary Episode: Maverick

1994      100 Years of the Hollywood Western       Himself                 Documentary TV movie

1995      The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise               Jim Rockford      TV movie (also executive producer)

1995      Streets of Laredo              Woodrow F. Call               Mini-series

1996      The Rockford Files: If the Frame Fits...     Jim Rockford      TV movie

1996      The Rockford Files: Godfather Knows Best            Jim Rockford      TV movie

1996      The Rockford Files: Friends and Foul Play               Jim Rockford      TV movie (also executive producer)

1996      The Rockford Files: Punishment and Crime            Jim Rockford      TV movie (also executive producer)

1996      The Rockford Files: Shoot-Out at the Golden Pagoda        Jim Rockford      TV movie

1999      Century of Country          Host       Mini-series (13 episodes)

1999      The Rockford Files: If It Bleeds... It Leads                Jim Rockford      TV movie (also producer)

2000      Chicago Hope     Hubert "Hue" Miller        4 episodes

2000      Biography            Himself                 Episode: James Garner: Hollywood Maverick

2000–2001          God, the Devil and Bob God        13 episodes

2002      First Monday                Chief Justice Thomas Brankin      13 episodes

2002      The Making of 'Atlantis: The Lost Empire'               Himself/Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke                 Video/Documentary

2003–2005          8 Simple Rules   Jim Egan               45 episodes

2005      James Garner On-Camera Interview: Rockford Files Season 1 DVD              Himself/Jim Rockford     Video Documentary Short

2006      The Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy         Himself                 Video

2011      Pioneers of Television    Himself/Jim Rockford     TV series Documentary episode: Crime Dramas

2011      Pioneers of Television    Himself/Bret Maverick   TV series Documentary episode: Westerns

2013      The Ultimate Life              Howard "Red" Stevens sequel to The Ultimate Gift