James Garner of ‘Maverick,’ ‘Rockford Files’ Dies at 86 The Rockford Files Theme

Variety

Amiable actor James Garner, whose moderately successful film career was eclipsed by two extraordinarily popular television series, “Maverick” and “The Rockford Files,” has died, according to reports. He was 86.

Like many popular leading men of Hollywood’s heyday, Garner boasted all-American good looks and a winning personality that carried him through comedy and drama alike. He was one of the first of TV’s leading men to cross over into films in the ’60s with such popular movies as “The Thrill of It All” and “The Americanization of Emily.” But he had his greatest impact in television, first on “Maverick” in the ’50s and then in the ’70s on “The Rockford Files,” for which he won an Emmy in 1977. He later appeared in several quality telepics including “Promise,” “My Name Is Bill W.” and “Barbarians at the Gate,” as well as the occasional strong feature such as “Victor/Victoria” and “Murphy’s Romance,” for which he captured his sole Oscar nomination for lead actor.

Garner won two Emmys and racked up a total of 15 nominations...

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...He briefly went to work in his father’s carpeting business in Los Angeles until being called for duty in the Korean War. He served more than a year in the Korean peninsula and was awarded the Purple Heart before his discharge in 1952. He studied business administration at the U. of Oklahoma but left after a semester to wander and take on a variety of odd jobs.

Garner starred with Mariette Hartley in a series of noted commercials for Polaroid in the 1970s.

He won the Screen Actors Guild’s Life Achievement Award in 2005.

Garner is survived by his wife, the former Lois Clarke, to whom he was married since 1956; daughter Greta “Gigi” Garner; and an adopted daughter, Kimberly, from Clarke’s first marriage...

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Clip from Maverick tv series w/guest Clint Eastwood. (Late 1950's?)

The Rockford Files Theme

The Rockford Files was a television series about an ex-con who became a private detective in Los Angeles and lived in a weathered trailer on the beach. The show, starring James Garner, ran from 1974 to 1980. It was one of my favorite television shows of all time.

Another of the popular Polaroid commercials starring James Garner and Ma
riette Hartley, this one from 1981 for the Polaroid Time Zero One Step Camera.