Garner had played several leads in such enjoyable minor fare as "Darby's Rangers" (1958) and "Cash McCall" (1959) but it was really as "Maverick" wound down that Garner was ballyhooed as the next Clark Gable. William Wyler's 1961 remake of "The Children's Hour" gave him the least showy lead as a man in love with a woman implied in a lesbian affair, but at least the film helped to counteract criticism that his was primarily a lightweight talent. Still, his most popular films of the period were those which spotlighted Garner's wry, easygoing reluctance amid comic mayhem. "The Thrill of It All" and "Move Over, Darling" (both 1963) substituted him for Rock Hudson opposite Hollywood's most popular star at that time, Doris Day, and even the exciting war pic, "The Great Escape" (1963) went for laughs as much as thrills. Indeed, by the time of the enjoyable "Support Your Local Sheriff" (1969) and "Support Your Local Gunfighter" (1971), Garner was back in "Maverick" territory, except with the zaniness quotient gone through the roof.
Some critics found Garner lacking the necessary I've-seen-it-all cynicism to play Raymond Chandler's "Marlowe" (1969), but the provocative comedy "The Skin Game" (1971) and especially his return to the small screen in "The Rockford Files" (1974-80) foregrounded the maturity he had possessed all along. Slightly heavier, his features settling into middle age, Garner made detective Jim Rockford into a likably relaxed loner. The humor was quieter, more often than not aimed ruefully at the "system" or affectionately at his aging father (Noah Beery Jr.). Critics and colleagues were as receptive as fans and Garner received five Emmy nominations in as many years, winning once in 1977.
Garner's film career went on hold during the run of "Rockford" and has been spotty since. The brittle farce "Victor/Victoria" (1982) found him in good form on familiar ground, but he clearly could not continue in romantic leads. "Murphy's Romance" (1985) deservedly brought him an Oscar nomination and showed he could move gracefully into older roles, but Garner was by then typed as a TV star. Adapting to the situation, Garner turned producer and set up some of the most acclaimed work of his career. "Promise" (1986) was a beautifully rendered duet with Garner as a man who must take over the care of his schizophrenic brother (James Woods), and "My Name Is Bill W." (1989) reteamed Garner and Woods in the story of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous. His revival series, "Bret Maverick", and his attempt at sitcom, "Man of the People", faded rather quickly, but Garner has enjoyed showcase roles in such TV presentations as "Decoration Day" (1990) and "Barbarians at the Gate" (1993), the HBO special in which Garner played American Express chief James Robinson engaged in the RJR Nabisco corporate shootout that typified the 1980s. In the 90s, Garner has assumed such supporting feature roles as the paternal Texas ranger who must handle a UFO report in "Fire in the Sky" (1993) and leads as in "My Fellow Americans" (1995), opposite Jack Lemmon as a pair of politically opposed ex-presidents who team to battle a mutually detrimental conspiracy.
The former star of "Maverick" went on to play Zane Cooper in the 1994 film version, which had Mel Gibson in the title role. Garner displayed his usual wit and charm as the lawman hot on Bret Maverick's trail. In a more serious oater, the TV miniseries "Streets of Laredo" (1995) Garner took on the role of author Larry McMurtry's former Texas Ranger Woodrow McCall, made famous by Tommy Lee Jones in the earlier 1989 hit mini "Lonesome Dove"--Garner's more aged McCall was also a bit less flinty. The actor also reprised his most beloved role of Jim Rockford for eight highly-rated TV movies from 1994 to 1999. Along with appearing in many successful TV movies--including a well-received turns as a slick celebrity lawyer in the 1998 telepic "Legalese" and an aged Samuel Clemmons/Mark Twain in "Roughing It" (2002)--Garner continued to find supporting work in feature films, including an ingratiating turn opposite Paul Newman in the crime drama "Twilight" (1998), as one of the over-the-hill astronauts in director Clint Eastwood's lighthearted "Space Cowboys" (2000) and as Sandra Bullock's long-suffering father Shep in "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" (2002).
Garner's career definitely had a vital third act. He returned to television fequently, first as the voice of the Almighty in the short-lived animated primetime sit-com "God, the Devil and Bob" (2000), then that same year for the final season of David E. Kelley's medical drama "Chicago Hope" as the hospital's paternal CEO Hue Miller, again in 2002 as the archconservative Chief Justice Thomas Brankin in the little-seen Supreme Court drama "First Monday" (2002) and once again in a recurring role as Katy Segal's father Jim in the ABC sit-com "8 Simple Rules..." (2001 - ) following the real-life death of series lead John Ritter, a role which reunited him with his "Support Your Local Gunfighter" co-star Suzanne Pleshette, who played his wife on the series. And he proved that he still had some big screen magic to spare when he delivered a captivating and heartbreaking performance as Duke, the devoted, hopeful husband of Alzheimer-ravaged Allie (Gena Rowlands), in the modern-day sequences of Nick Cassavetes' effectively emotional adaptation of the bestseller "The Notebook" (2004).
from movies.yahoo.com
Al Roach: Private Insectigator (2004) .... Al Roach
The Notebook (2004) .... Duke
"8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter" (2002) TV Series .... Jim Egan (2003-2005)
.The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration (2003) (V) (voice) .... Pat
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) .... Shepard James 'Shep' Walker
Roughing It (2002) (TV) .... Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
."First Monday" (2002) TV Series .... Chief Justice Thomas Brankin
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) (voice) .... Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke
"Chicago Hope" (1994) TV Series .... Hugh Miller (2000)
The Last Debate (2000) (TV) .... Mike Howley
Space Cowboys (2000) .... Tank Sullivan
"God, the Devil and Bob" (2000) TV Series (voice) .... God
One Special Night (1999) (TV) .... Robert
"Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story" (1999) (mini) TV Series
The Rockford Files: If It Bleeds... It Leads (1999) (TV) .... Jim Rockford
Legalese (1998) (TV) .... Norman Keane
Twilight (1998) .... Raymond Hope
The Rockford Files: Murder and Misdemeanors (1997) (TV) .... Jim Rockford
Dead Silence (1997) (TV) .... John Potter
... aka Silence de mort (Canada: French title)
My Fellow Americans (1996) .... President Matt Douglas
The Rockford Files: Punishment and Crime (1996) (TV) .... Jim Rockford
The Rockford Files: Friends and Foul Play (1996) (TV) .... Jim Rockford
The Rockford Files: Godfather Knows Best (1996) (TV) .... Jim Rockford
The Rockford Files: If the Frame Fits... (1996) (TV) .... Jim Rockford
"Streets of Laredo" (1995) (mini) TV Series .... Capt. Woodrow F. Call
... aka Larry McMurtry's Streets of Laredo
The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise (1995) (TV) .... Jim Rockford
The Rockford Files: I Still Love L.A. (1994) (TV) .... Jim Rockford
Maverick (1994) .... Marshal Zane Cooper/Bret Maverick, Sr.
Breathing Lessons (1994) (TV) .... Ira Moran
Barbarians at the Gate (1993) (TV) .... F. Ross Johnson
Fire in the Sky (1993) .... Lieutenant Frank Watters
The Distinguished Gentleman (1992) .... Jeff Johnson
"Man of the People" (1991) TV Series .... Councilman Jim Doyle
Decoration Day (1990) (TV) .... Albert Sidney Finch
My Name Is Bill W. (1989) (TV) .... Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith aka Dr. Bob
Sunset (1988) .... Wyatt Earp
Promise (1986) (TV) .... Bob Beuhler
Murphy's Romance (1985) .... Murphy Jones
"Space" (1985) (mini) TV Series .... Sen. Norman Grant
... aka James A. Michener's Space
The Glitter Dome (1984) (TV) .... Sgt. Aloysius Mackey
Heartsounds (1984) (TV) .... Harold Lear
Tank (1984) .... Cmdr. Sgt. Maj. Zack Carey
Victor/Victoria (1982) .... King Marchand
The Long Summer of George Adams (1982) (TV) .... George Adams
"Bret Maverick" (1981) TV Series .... Bret Maverick (1981-82)
Bret Maverick (1981) (TV) .... Bret Maverick/Edmund Trueblood Federal Bank Examiner
... aka Bret Maverick: The Lazy Ace
The Fan (1981) .... Jake Berman
HealtH (1980) .... Harry Wolff
Waylon (1980) (TV) .... James Garner
The New Maverick (1978) (TV) .... Bret Maverick
"The Rockford Files" (1974) TV Series .... Jim Rockford
... aka Jim Rockford, Private Investigator (USA: syndication title)
The Castaway Cowboy (1974) .... Lincoln Costain
The Rockford Files (1974) (TV) .... Jim Rockford
... aka The Rockford Files: Backlash of the Hunter
One Little Indian (1973) .... Cpl. Clint Keyes
They Only Kill Their Masters (1972) .... Eden Landing Chief of Police Abel Marsh
"Nichols" (1971) TV Series .... Nichols (1971-72)
... aka James Garner (Canada: English title)
... aka James Garner as Nichols
Skin Game (1971) .... Quincy Drew/Capt. Nathaniel Mountjoy, Army Medical Corps.
Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) .... Latigo Smith
A Man Called Sledge (1970) .... Luther Sledge
... aka Sledge
Marlowe (1969) .... Philip Marlowe
Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) .... Jason McCullough
The Pink Jungle (1968) .... Ben Morris
How Sweet It Is! (1968) .... Grif Henderson
Hour of the Gun (1967) .... Wyatt Earp (Tombstone city marshal/U.S. marshal)
Grand Prix (1966) .... Pete Aron
Mister Buddwing (1966) .... Mr. Buddwing
... aka Woman Without a Face
Duel at Diablo (1966) .... Jess Remsberg (scout)
... aka Ralph Nelson's Duel at Diablo
A Man Could Get Killed (1966) .... William Beddoes
... aka Welcome, Mr. Beddoes (UK)
The Art of Love (1965) .... Casey Barnett
36 Hours (1965) .... Maj. Jefferson F. Pike
The Americanization of Emily (1964) .... Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison
... aka Emily (USA: reissue title)
Move Over, Darling (1963) .... Nicholas 'Nick'/'Nicky' Arden
The Wheeler Dealers (1963) .... Henry Tyroon
... aka Separate Beds (UK)
The Thrill of It All (1963) .... Dr. Gerald Boyer
The Great Escape (1963) .... Flight Lt. Bob Anthony 'The Scrounger' Hendley
Boys' Night Out (1962) .... Fred Williams
The Children's Hour (1961) .... Dr. Joe Cardin
... aka The Loudest Whisper (UK)
Cash McCall (1960) .... Cash McCall
Alias Jesse James (1959) (uncredited) .... Bret Maverick
Up Periscope (1959) .... Lt. Kenneth Braden
Darby's Rangers (1958) .... Maj./Col. William Orlando Darby
... aka The Young Invaders (UK)
"Maverick" (1957) TV Series .... Bret Maverick (1957-1960)
Sayonara (1957) .... Capt. Mike Bailey, USMC
Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend (1957) .... Sgt. John Maitland
The Girl He Left Behind (1956) .... Preston
Toward the Unknown (1956) .... Maj./Lt. Col. Joe Craven
... aka Brink of Hell (UK)
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