James Garner's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) 8 Simple Rules Jim Egan The Rockford Files Jim Rockford Maverick Bret Maverick God, the Devil and Bob God First Monday Chief Justi… Space Senator Nor… Man of the People Councilman … Nichols Nichols Bret Maverick Bret Maverick Young Maverick Bret Maverick

Main Movie Roles 2006 - The Ultimate Gift 2005 - Dust to Glory 2004 - The Notebook 2002 - Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood 2001 - Atlantis: The Lost Empire 2000 - Space Cowboys 1998 - Twilight 1996 - My Fellow Americans 1994 - Maverick 1993 - Fire in the Sky 1992 - The Distinguished Gentleman 1988 - Sunset 1985 - Murphy's Romance 1984 - Tank 1982 - Victor Victoria 1971 - Support Your Local Gunfighter 1971 - Skin Game 1969 - Marlowe 1967 - Hour of the Gun 1966 - Grand Prix 1966 - Duel at Diablo 1965 - 36 Hours 1964 - The Americanization of Emily 1963 - The Wheeler Dealers 1963 - The Thrill of It All 1963 - The Great Escape 1963 - Move Over, Darling 1962 - Boys' Night Out 1961 - The Children's Hour 1960 - Cash McCall 1959 - Alias Jesse James 1959 - Up Periscope 1958 - Darby's Rangers

BIOGRAPHY:

The son of an Oklahoma carpet layer, James Garner (born James Baumgarner) dropped out of high school at 16 to join the Merchant Marine. He worked in a variety of jobs and received the Purple Heart when he was wounded during the Korean War. He had his first chance to act when a friend got him a non-speaking role in the Broadway stage play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (1954)". Part of his work was to read lines to the lead actors and he began to learn the craft of acting. This play led to small television roles, television commercials and eventually a contract with Warner Brothers. Director David Butler (I) saw something in Garner and gave him all the attention he needed when he appeared in The Girl He Left Behind (1956). After co-starring in a handful of films during 1956-57, Warner Brothers gave Garner a co-starring role in the the western series "Maverick" (1957). Originally planned to alternate between Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly (I)) and Brett Maverick (Garner), the show quickly turned into the Brett Maverick Show. As Maverick, Garner was cool, good-natured, likeable and always ready to use his wits to get him in or out of trouble. The series was highly successful, and Garner continued in it into 1960 when he left the series in a dispute over money.

In the early 1960s Garner returned to films, often playing the same type of character he had played on "Maverick". His successful films included The Thrill of It All (1963), Move Over, Darling (1963), The Great Escape (1963) and The Americanization of Emily (1964). After that, his career wandered and when he appeared in the automobile racing movie Grand Prix (1966), he got the bug to race professionally. Soon, this ambition turned to supporting a racing team, not unlike what Paul Newman (I) would do in later years.

Garner found great success in the western comedy Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969). He tried to repeat his success with a sequel, Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971), but it wasn't up to the standards of the first one. After 11 years off the small screen, Garner returned to television in a role not unlike that in Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969). The show was "Nichols" (1971) and he played the sheriff who would try to solve all problems with his wits and without gun play. When the show was canceled, Garner took the news by having Nichols shot dead, never to return in a sequel. In 1974 he got the role for which he will probably be best remembered, as wry private eye Jim Rockford in the classic "The Rockford Files" (1974). This became his second major television hit, with Noah Beery Jr. and Stuart Margolin, and in 1977 he won an Emmmy for his portrayal. However, a combination of injuries and the discovery that Universal Pictures' "creative bookkeeping" would not give him any of the huge profits the show generated soon soured him and the show ended in 1980. In the 1980s Garner appeared in few movies, but the ones he did make were darker than the likeable Garner of old. These included Tank (1984) and Murphy's Romance (1985). For the latter, he was nominated for both the Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Returning to the western mode, he co-starred with the young Bruce Willis in Sunset (1988), a mythical story of Wyatt Earp, Tom Mix and 1920s Hollywood.

In the 1990s Garner received rave reviews for his role in the acclaimed television movie about corporate greed, Barbarians at the Gate (1993) (TV). After that, he appeared in the theatrical remake of his old television series, Maverick (1994), opposite Mel Gibson (I). Most of his appearances after that were in numerous TV movies based upon "The Rockford Files" (1974).


TRIVIA:

• Of all his films, _The Americanization of Emily (1964)_ (qv) is his favorite.
• He adopted daughter Kimberly at nine years old. Kimberley is Lois Clarke's daughter from her first marriage.
• Underwent surgery after suffering a severe stroke in May 2008 and is recovering well.
• Enjoyed great celebrity with his Polaroid commercial series with 'Mariette Hartley' (qv), which started in 1977. He and Mariette were so convincing as husband and wife that Mariette had a T-shirt made that proclaimed, "I am not James Garner's wife!" More than 300 commercials were produced.
• Father of 'Gigi Garner' (qv), author of "The Cop Cookbook" and "Girl Talk".
• (1988) Had quintuple heart bypass surgery.
• Is involved with many humanitarian causes.
• Part Cherokee Indian.