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James Garner
Biography Filmography Links Contact Galleries Date of birth:7 April 1928
Handsome, good-humored American leading man whose breakthrough came with the tongue-in-cheek alternative to the spate of sober TV Westerns proliferating in the late 1950s, "Maverick". Bantering winningly alongside co-star Jack Kelly, Garner enjoyed five seasons of popular and critical success with the show, which helped launch him into feature film success in the early 60s.
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
The Ultimate Gift (2006) (post-production) .... Red Stevens
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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