Famed actor James Garner dies at 86

James Garner, the understated, wisecracking
everyman actor who enjoyed multi-generational
success on both the small and big screen, has
died. He was 86.
Police, who were called to his residence
Saturday night in Los Angeles, say he died of
natural causes.
Garner starred in hit TV series almost 20 years
apart — “Maverick” in the late 1950s and “The
Rockford Files” in the 1970s. He also had a
notable film career, starring in such classics as
“Sayonara” (1957), “The Great Escape” (1963),
“The Americanization of Emily” (1964), “Grand
Prix” (1966) and “Victor/Victoria” (1982), as well
as the TV movies “My Name Is Bill W.” (1989)
and “Barbarians at the Gate” (1993). More
recent films included “Space Cowboys” (2000)
and “The Notebook” (2004).
He was fiercely independent, challenging the
studios on both “Maverick” and “Rockford” when
he felt he wasn’t being treated fairly. He sued
studios twice and won both times.
“The industry is like it always has been. It’s a
bunch of greedy people,” he told The Los
Angeles Times in 1990.
He was a valued and convincing pitchman — in
his 1970s and ’80s commercials for Polaroid
cameras he had such good rapport with co-star
Mariette Hartley that viewers were convinced
they were married — and was nominated for a
slew of awards, including Emmys, Golden
Globes, SAG Awards and an Oscar (for 1986′s
“Murphy’s Romance”). His performance in “The
Rockford Files” won him an Emmy.
He could do serious. His performance in the TV
movie “My Name Is Bill W.” — about the
founding of Alcoholics Anonymous — was
straightforward and uncompromising. He could
also show real heartbreak, whether it was
cradling fellow escapee Donald Pleasance in “The
Great Escape” or talking with Gena Rowlands in
“The Notebook.”
But he was rarely one to blow his own horn.
“I got into the business to put a roof over my
head,” he once said. “I wasn’t looking for star
status. I just wanted to keep working.”