# RIP James Garner **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 20, 2014, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591 "2014-07-20T07:42:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/1 "2014-07-20T07:42:41Z")
James Garner has died: [James Garner Dead -- Legendary Actor Dies at 86](http://www.tmz.com/2014/07/19/james-garner-dead-dies-maverick-rockford-files/) I always really liked him. One of my favorite actors from that generation. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/2 "2014-07-20T07:44:27Z")
Damn he was the best. He made it look easy ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/3 "2014-07-20T07:49:26Z")
\<\3 ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/4 "2014-07-20T08:03:56Z")
I hate that. Good actor. Great guy. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/5 "2014-07-20T08:21:25Z")
I must admit I didn’t know he was still alive. Which in my mind means he has had a damned good run, at 86 years. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/6 "2014-07-20T08:49:17Z")
[This is Jim Rockford. At the tone leave your name and message…](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SijxE8S6wYQ) ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/7 "2014-07-20T10:55:12Z")
Awww. Grew up watching him in The Rockford Files. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/8 "2014-07-20T11:36:06Z")
Don’t forget the quintessential guy movie, _[The Great Escape](http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/195778/Great-Escape-The-Movie-Clip-Scrounger.html)._ ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/9 "2014-07-20T11:39:42Z")
And the best movie of all time, robbed of an Oscar due to the prevailing Hollywood political climate: [_Tank_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088224/) ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/10 "2014-07-20T11:53:26Z")
One of my favorite movies with him was _Murphy’s Romance_, with Sally Field. I’ll miss him. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/11 "2014-07-20T12:01:45Z")
I was going to mention a role I particularly liked him in, but want to add instead that I’ve never _not_ liked him in anything; the guy was always terrific. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/12 "2014-07-20T12:04:12Z")
Wow. Married to wife Lois for 58 years. Rare. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/13 "2014-07-20T12:15:36Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Wow. Married to wife Lois for 58 years. Rare. They got married two weeks after first meeting too! Guess they were meant for each other. He made acting look utterly effortless. I’ve got the Rockford Files theme stuck in my head now, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/14 "2014-07-20T12:22:10Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > I’ve got the Rockford Files theme stuck in my head now, dammit. Tough luck, but better than [this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIVX1_J_87s) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/15 "2014-07-20T12:26:03Z")
He made anything he was in look good. Even the post-John Ritter _8 Rules for Dating My Teenaged Daughter_. Even the American Beef ads. Even those Polaroid ads with Mariette Hartley, where they had such chemistry that everyone assumed they were married, even years afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/16 "2014-07-20T12:54:06Z")
Aw, Darn it. I liked him in everything. But The Rockford Files is probably my favourite show of all time. I guess Jimmy won’t be getting back us this time… ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/17 "2014-07-20T13:47:20Z")
I didn’t really appreciate Rockford Files during it’s original run, but when I was in college one of the local TV stations would rerun it on Sunday nights after the 10pm news and I was hooked. R.I.P Jimmy. ---
**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/18 "2014-07-20T13:52:19Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > And the best movie of all time, robbed of an Oscar due to the prevailing Hollywood political climate: [_Tank_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088224/) You’ve got to be joking, there is no way in hell a movie like that would ever be in contention for an Oscar. LOL Thanks for the chuckle. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/19 "2014-07-20T14:09:19Z")
Every week, we hoped the episode of _Maverick_ would focus on Bret–played by James Garner. No offense to the other brother, but Bret was much cooler & funnier… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591/20 "2014-07-20T14:10:27Z")
As a kid, I loved him in Maverick. Then came the movie Support Your Local Sheriff, which was kind of a continuation of the role. Like others, I never saw him do a bad job in anything. He just had that easygoing manner that sat naturally with him, and he was smart enough to not stray too far from it (although I admit to not seeing all his movies). Rockford was a great show; I looked forward to it every week. Damn. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-garner/693591.md?page=2)