James Garner passes at 86

[Russ_Byth]

So sorry to see this - one of my favourite actors. I remember him best from Maverick, Rockford Files and Support Your Local Sheriff.

From PEOPLE:
James Garner, for more than 50 years one of Hollywood's most likable leading men on the big screen and on TV, died at his Los Angeles home Saturday night, reports TMZ. He was 86.

The star, best known for the Maverick and The Rockford Files TV series, had suffered what had been described as a minor stroke in 2008.

More here: http://www.people.com/article/james-garner-dies

[hagopian]

Mr. Garner was so good, he made acting look effortless.

Not an easy thing to pull off, and made Garner a fellow actor and Fan favourite for three generations.

He was superb and 'The Rockford Files' defined an era for me and, I am sure, many others.

I loved his work on "The Great Escape" - with his neighbour and good buddy, Steve McQueen, too.

RIP - and THANK YOU, Mr. Garner.

[jon]

Ouch! That one really hurts. Never got a definitive answer, but I suspect he is my wife's, my mother-in-law's and maybe even my father-in-law's and my favourite actor.

Here are some things that were delayed so long they almost didn't happen until after he passed away:

• The complete Maverick series of the 1950s and early '60s was finally released on DVD, Season by Season, by Warner Brothers. In fact, the final season was only released a couple of months back. Admittedly, Jim was gone after the first few seasons after he took Jack Warner to court over suspension of salary during a Writer's Strike. And I believe one or two of the seasons are still only available directly from WB and shipped only to addresses in the U.S.
• An autobiography ($12.27 from amazon.ca) has finally been written and released in the last 2-3 years. All previous attempts at bios have very little direct input from James Garner, though there was a good Maverick reference book written with Jim's help in the early '90s.
• The little known one season Nichols series from the early '70s was released on DVD in the last year. Both my wife and I watched it as teenagers when it first came out, and loved it. Unfortunately, we seemed to be almost alone at the time, and it didn't last.
• The single season Bret Maverick from the 1980s was just released on DVD. It too is excellent but was not aired on any of the Edmonton stations, either originally or when aired a second time around 1990. The only episode I ever saw was while DX'ing Channel 2 one summer evening when either Salt Lake City or Denver was airing it the second time around.
• The first DVD set of Rockford movies has been released. I just ordered it about 10 days ago, and expect it to arrive soon. Like others I've seen comment on-line, I wish they would release the last half of those movies.
• The only exception: All of the full Rockford Files seasons have been available for years.

Not to dismiss any of his other TV work, or all of his movies.

There are, of course, lots of interesting aspects to his personality that make his acting very good. There is one thing that I didn't pick up on until I read his Autobiography: he really focuses on Listening when other actors are doing their parts of the speaking roles in a movie, TV episode or live Play. You can see that in his eyes and face.

He went out of his way to learn that by taking a part in a Play that had little, if any, speaking role, but lots of stage time. This at a time not that early in his career when most other actors would have demanded a juicy speaking role. He spent the long run of the Play just watching the other Actors, and learning from them, while simultaneously perfecting a "Listening Style" of Acting that has almost been a secret weapon for the rest of his career.