James Garner - RIP

ssjones · Jul 20, 2014

Lost another one:

http://news.msn.com/pop-culture/police-movie-tv-legend-james-garner-dies
I first knew him thru "The Rockford Files" but my favorite role was as an F1 driver in "Grand Prix".
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/8146/Grand-Prix-Re-issue-Trailer-.html

tbradsim1 · Jul 20, 2014

One of my favorite Actors, loved all his stuff.

papipeguy · Jul 20, 2014

Class guy and talented actor. His comedic roles were always understated and never campy. That's tough to do.

rockford · Jul 20, 2014

He was my favorite. Time to set up a Rockford Files marathon.

ssjones · Jul 20, 2014

This one is a favorite and flew under the radar as a '93 television movie. Here's the whole movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPhF_YwWvoM

irish · Jul 20, 2014

Loved the Rockford files but grew up watching him in "Maverick" . He was the one and only original . Mel Gibson sucked as Maverick when they remade the movie. Loved him the movie Tank also . Like everything he did . One of my favs was " The Great Escape" where he was the scrounger! RIP

12pups · Jul 20, 2014

There is a line stuck in my memory I attribute to him as Maverick. Maybe wrongly. And I don't know if I read it or saw him say it. There was an outrageously certain bet he wouldn't take. And knowing him for a gambling man, a guy asked him why he wouldn't bet. And ... if I got this right ... he said:
"My old pappy always told me if a man bets you five bucks he can make the Jack of Spades pop up from a brand new deck and squirt water in your eye, and you take that bet, one thing is certain: you're going to lose five bucks and go home with your eye full of water."
Was it him? Google said Sky Masterson said it in Guys and Dolls, but I've never seen Guys and Dolls.
(But yeah, Maverick and Rockford Files. Loved him)

warren · Jul 20, 2014

The Americanization of Emily is absolutely one of the best 5 movies ever made. Garner shines amongst a great cast.

loneredtree · Jul 20, 2014

Pups,
My favorite line also. I do think the liquid was lemonade and it was to be squirted in is ear. It is a classic never the less.
:puffpipe:

crazypipe · Jul 20, 2014

Great actor , may he rest in peace I sure will miss him.

newbroom · Jul 20, 2014

His Maverick role was also one of my favorites. He never failed to deliver a compelling performance. I used to love to get home in time to watch re-runs of Rockford Files back in 1978. I can still watch them and enjoy them.

ssjones · Jul 20, 2014

My favorite line from Barbarians:

"All I want from my bankers is a calendar every year and for my lawyers to be back in their coffins before sunrise"

dread · Jul 20, 2014

I would watch Maverick after school and loved the Rockford Files. One of my favorite actors and a heck of a guy. RIP James Garner, I'll lift my bowl to you tonight.

kcghost · Jul 21, 2014

He was just one of the greats. He may have been the prime reason that actors now get residuals on reruns

fnord · Jul 21, 2014

One of my earliest childhood film memories is watching "The Great Escape" at a backwater Missouri small town drive-in theater back in 1963 or 1964. I was wearing my PJs and eating popcorn my mom had fixed earlier in the evening on our kitchen stove in an old cast iron skillet.
James Garner as Hendley blew me away. He was so smooth, so handsome and so damned spiffy in that RAF uniform plus being such a hustler in the way he played that friendly German guard. Years later I was blown away by his performance in "The Americanization of Emily" and loved him as the expatriated Chicago hood in "Victor Victoria" (He adored Julie Andrews onscreen and in real life and that was certainly good enough for me)and the small town pharmacist in "Murphy's Romance."
Garner had charm and, like James Coburn, he was incredibly talented. As Papipeguy said, "His comedic roles were always understated and never campy. That's tough to do." You've got to have chops to pull that off.
Fnord

sablebrush52 · Jul 21, 2014

Very sad news. Jame Garner was one of my all time favorite actors. I can't remember a bad performance. I grew up watching him on Maverick and later on The Rockford Files. He always brought a smile to my face.
Rest In Peace.

pipetraveler · Jul 21, 2014

I remember James and Doris Day movies in the 60s. He was cool in whatever he did. as like Paul Newman he loved racing and cars. Truly a class act.

brass · Jul 21, 2014

It seems to me that an actor retains and conveys some of who they are, no matter the role they play. Most celebrities, I couldn't care less about and I will not waste the energy typing their names. There are other who convey a sense of decency and with whom I would have liked to share a beer and smoke. John Wayne was one, Jimmy Stewart another. Garner, certainly. I feel sad over his loss. Garner's demise is another sign of the passing of an epoch of grace, style and civility, the of loss which I grieve greatly.

derfatdutchman · Jul 21, 2014

I remember watching The Rockford Files as a kid. I always liked the little printing press he kept in the back seat to print different business cards.

James Garner - RIP

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