RIP Games Garner

[LibraryLady]

Oscar-nominated Hollywood star James Garner dead at 86.


Always liked the Rockford Files.

[BillB]

I never watched Rockford.
I remember his as Bret Maverick.
He was a good actor.
RIP

[ann jusko]

I watched the Rockford Files and really liked James Garner. He always seemed to be a good guy when he did interviews or appeared on other shows. May he RIP.

[Bob Of Burleson]

We watched all of the "Rockford Files" this spring. Very enjoyable. Garner was in his element.

[Bob Of Burleson]

Movie, television legend James Garner dies at 86

FoxNews.com

LOS ANGELES – Actor James Garner, whose whimsical style in the 1950s TV Western "Maverick" led to a stellar career in TV and films such as "The Rockford Files" and his Oscar-nominated "Murphy's Romance," has died, police said. He was 86.

He was found dead of natural causes at his home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles Saturday evening, Los Angeles police officer Alonzo Iniquez said early Sunday.

Police responded to a call around 8 p.m. PDT and confirmed Garner's identity from family members, Iniquez told The Associated Press.

There was no immediate word on a more specific cause of death. Garner had suffered a stroke in May 2008, just weeks after his 80th birthday.

Although he was adept at drama and action, Garner was best known for his low-key, wisecracking style, especially with his hit TV series, "Maverick" and "The Rockford Files."

MORE

[GFB]

For me he'll always be...Scrounger.

[Bob Of Burleson]

For me he'll always be...Scrounger.

As in "The Great Escape."

[grouchy]

I always thought that he was truly a good man.

[Bob Of Burleson]

Alan Sepinwall of The Atlantic added this about Garner's turn as detective Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files:

It was the perfect marriage of storytellers, star and genre: a show where Rockford's cases didn't matter remotely as much as the chance to see Garner banter with Joe Santos as Rockford's cop friend Dennis Becker, or to watch him try to outmaneuver his con man friend Angel (Stuart Margolin), or just enjoy the company of his father, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford (Noah Beery Jr.).

The opening credits sequence is one of the best ever made, mixing Mike Post's irresistible California rock theme song with images of Rockford going through the mundane parts of his work (long stakeouts, working the pay phone) and personal life (shopping in the frozen food section, going fishing with Rocky). The show employed some great writers — it was the first significant TV gig for "The Sopranos" creator David Chase — all of whom understood what a star-driven show this was, and how much they could lean on Garner's smooth, seen-it-all persona.

COMPLETE STORY

[ann jusko]

I didn't see any reference to his purple heart. It took them a couple years to give it to him.

[planosteve]

Garner was one of the original owners of the Dallas Mavericks. Hence the name Dallas Mavericks.

[Bob Of Burleson]

James Garner holds up the Purple Heart presented to him in a 1983 ceremony in Los Angeles. Garner was wounded in April 1951 while with U.S. forces in Korea, but his medal was never presented to him.

Here's THE BEST Garner obit:

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries ... tml#page=1