As an actor, James Garner was so easy to root for. He managed to perform in A-list screen projects long enough to endear himself to three generations of fans. Snarky and witty yet reserved, Garner guarded his privacy throughout a long career in the public eye, and when he died Sunday he left behind his wife Lois of nearly sixty years.
After serving in the Army in his early 20s during the Korean War years, Garner found his way to acting. In the 1950s he starred in TV’s Maverick. He was detective Jim Rockford for six years in the 70s, and took his most famous 21st century turn in The Notebook.
The 1994 film version of Maverick is still a rare fun western of the past few decades, and Garner still pulled viewers in effectively during his last feature film role in The Ultimate Gift.
CNN put together this short report on Garner’s life.
2 replies on “Remembering Acting Legend James Garner”
Sad! I used to love The Rockford Files reruns when I was a kid. Just got into Maverick recently and still working my way through season 1 of that. This was an actor you just liked, like he could be your neighbor or something. Somebody you’d invite over for a burger and hang out.
For sure Michelle. You know how relatively few people watch old movies. Even fewer watch old b&w TV shows, but Maverick holds up surprisingly well because of the tongue-in-cheek element he refers to in this CNN video. I just watched the ’94 movie version with a couple teenagers a couple weeks ago, and they enjoyed it.