Profile of James Garner on Famous Like Me

James Garner (born April 7, 1928) is an American film and television actor of partially Cherokee Indian descent.

Born James Scott Bumgarner in Norman, Oklahoma to Weldon Warren Bumgarner and Mildred Meek. He has found fame in both movies and television. At 16, he joined the Merchant Marine. He was later in the National Guard, before he was drafted. He received a Purple Heart in the Korean War.

After modeling Jantzen bathing suits in print ads, in 1954 Garner had a non-speaking role in the Broadway production of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. He moved on to television commercials, and then to television roles. His first film role was in 1956, in two movies The Girl He Left Behind and Toward the Unknown.

After four smaller feature film roles, playing a military man, in the late 1950s he got his big break when he starred in a popular Western series, Maverick, playing the role of Bret Maverick from 1957 to 1960. Other actors had prominent roles in the series as well, but Garner was the big star of the show, making him a household favorite. One of the producers for Maverick was Roy Huggins, a relationship that would again pay dividends for Garner later on. Garner's popularity eventually made him the sole star of the series. In 2004, Garner became one of the first three honorees in the World Poker Tour Walk of Fame for this portrayal.

In the 1960s he starred in such films as The Thrill of It All, Move Over, Darling, Boys' Night Out, The Great Escape, The Americanization of Emily, Grand Prix (which gave him a car racing bug; he was also executive producer), and Support Your Local Sheriff!.

In the 1970s Roy Huggins had an idea to redo Maverick, but this time do it in the form of a modern day private detective. Huggins teamed with co-creator and TV icon Stephen J. Cannell, and the pair tapped Garner to help re-kindle the success of Maverick. Starting with the 1974 television season, Garner was back on television as private investigator Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files. For six solid seasons Rockford was arguably his best role, for which he received an Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1977. Garner pulled the plug on the show, despite consistent ratings, because it was taking too much of a physical toll on his body. Being in almost every scene, and a practice of doing many of his own stunts – including one that injured his back – was wearing him out. In addition a knee injury that he had received in the National Guard was coming back bother him. He was also hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer in 1979. Between his knee, back, and ulcer, he was done.

In 1986, he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Murphy's Romance. In 1994, Garner co-starred with Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster, in the movie version of his original Maverick role, this time playing Marshall Zane Cooper.

On the death of John Ritter, Garner joined the cast of 8 Simple Rules, as Grandpa Egan (Cate's father). Originally intended to be a one-shot guest role, he received a starring role and stayed with the series until its end.

He recently starred as "Duke" in Nicholas Spark's The Notebook.

For his contribution to the film and television industry, James Garner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (6927 Hollywood Blvd). In 1990, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On 9 February 2005 he received the Screen Actor's Guild Lifetime Achievement Award.

Quote from Jim: "Marriage is like the Army; everyone complains, but you'd be surprised at the large number of people who re-enlist."

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article James Garner