James Garner, the witty leading man best remembered for his television portrayals of Western anti-hero Bret Maverick and sometimes larcenous private eye Jim Rockford, as well as his appearances in iconic late 1970s-early 1980s TV commercials with actress Mariette Hartley for Polaroid cameras, passed away on Saturday night at his Los Angeles home at age 86.
Mr. Garner's publicist said that the actor, who had been in ill health in recent years, passed away from natural causes.
Jim appeared in more that 50 theatrical motion pictures, including "The Great Escape," "The Americanization of Emily," "Support Your Local Gunfighter", and "Murphy's Romance," for which he received an Academy Award nomination who his portrayal of a small-town pharmacist.
But it was on Maverick (ABC 1957-62) in which Jim really made his reputation for portraying an ironic hero. In this Warner Brothers-produced Western series, he played Bret Maverick, whom along with his brother Bart (played by Jack Kelly) sometimes skirted the law to outwit the bad guys.
On The Rockford Files (NBC 1974-80), private investigator---and ex-con----Jim Rockford kept alive the Bret Maverick tradition of sometimes skirting the law to outwit the bad guys, sometimes with the help of Jim's father Rockey (Noah Beery, Jr.) and his con-man pal Angel (Stuart Margolin).
Maverick was a send-up on television Westerns and The Rockford Files did the same for private-eye shows.
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