James Garner: A tribute to one of the coolest and most beloved screen legends there ever was.
Legend isn’t enough to describe the iconic James Garner. The actor’s actor, the simple country boy women loved and wanted to get with and men wanted to grab a beer and hang with. No, they sure don’t make ’em like James anymore. And did I mention that he was awarded two purple hearts for injuries he got in Korea? The reluctant hero in real life as much as he was onscreen.
He had a long career on both film and television ranging from his two 1963 movies with another legend Doris Day, The Thrill of it all and Move Over, Darling. Two great romantic comedies:
Also such great films as The Great Escape and The Americanization of Emily. But where Garner truly shined brightest was on television. Starting with Maverick, the western series starring Garner and Jack Kelly. The series went from 1957 to 1962 and made television history by creating a unique tv western, one with humor and a “hero” who was just a regular guy who wanted to avoid that title. It also made James Garner a television star:
But it was Jim’s 1974–1980 detective series The Rockford Files that truly made James Garner a household name for the generation after Maverick.
The role of Jim Rockford didn’t only earn Garner an Emmy in 1977, it also created a unique type of television detective. One who rather go fishing than get in a fist fight, one who happily charged his nutty clients 200 a day plus expenses. A reluctant hero who was as charming as he was witty:
But besides being a terrific actor Jim was also a very honorable and progressive thinking man and participated along with other celebs Diahann Carroll and Paul Newman at the March on Washington in 1963. Jimbo was sitting in the third row listening to MLK’s iconic “I Had a Dream” speech:
The world wept without shame when we lost James Garner to a heart attack at 86 years old on July 19th 2014. Just like with such huge losses as Bernie Mac, Michael Jackson, Peter Falk, Whitney Houston, Diahann Carroll, Mary Tyler Moore, Peter Boyle, Doris Roberts, Prince, Carroll O’Connor, Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, Raymond Burr, most recently Larry King and a great deal of many other iconic celebrities that entertained us greatly, there’s still a huge hole left in our world since losing James.
He was a man that had many friends that mourned him just as terribly as his family and fans:
Tom Selleck: “Jim was a mentor to me and a friend, and I will miss him.”
Sally Field: “There are few people on this planet I have adored as much as Jimmy Garner.”
Ken Levine, famous writer and producer of such landmark sitcoms like The Jeffersons, Cheers, Frasier and Wings also delivered a wonderful tribute to James Garner on his successful blog By Ken Levine:
So all this is to say in a rather long winded fashion, that James Garner was the man and always deserves admiration and honor for all he gave the world whether through his time in the army, his charitable donations and participation and certainly for making us laugh and cry and all the feels in his many tv shows and movies. So for reading this article, I’m afraid I’m going to have to pull a Rockford: That’ll be “200 a day plus expenses”.
