Amiable and handsome James Garner had obtained success in both films
and television, often playing variations of the charming
anti-hero/con-man persona he first developed in Maverick, the offbeat
western TV series that shot him to stardom in the late 1950s.
James Garner was born James Scott Bumgarner in Norman, Oklahoma, to
Mildred Scott (Meek) and Weldon Warren Bumgarner, a carpet layer. He
dropped out of high school at 16 to join the Merchant Marines. He
worked in a variety of jobs and received 2 Purple Hearts when he was
wounded twice during the Korean War. He had his first chance to act
when a friend got him a non-speaking role in the Broadway stage play
"The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (1954)". Part of his work was to read
lines to the lead actors and he began to learn the craft of acting.
This play led to small television roles, television commercials and
eventually a contract with Warner Brothers. Director
David Butler saw something in
Garner and gave him all the attention he needed when he appeared in
Playboy - Marsch, marsch! (1956).
After co-starring in a handful of films during 1956-57, Warner Brothers
gave Garner a co-starring role in the the western series
Maverick (1957). Originally planned
to alternate between Bart Maverick
(Jack Kelly) and Bret Maverick
(Garner), the show quickly turned into the Bret Maverick Show. As
Maverick, Garner was cool, good-natured, likable and always ready to
use his wits to get him in or out of trouble. The series was highly
successful, and Garner continued in it into 1960 when he left the
series in a dispute over money.
In the early 1960s Garner returned to films, often playing the same
type of character he had played on "Maverick". His successful films
included
Was diese Frau so alles treibt (1963),
Eine zuviel im Bett (1963),
Gesprengte Ketten (1963) and
Nur für Offiziere (1964).
After that, his career wandered and when he appeared in the automobile
racing movie Grand Prix (1966), he got
the bug to race professionally. Soon, this ambition turned to
supporting a racing team, not unlike what
Paul Newman would do in later years.
Garner found great success in the western comedy
Auch ein Sheriff braucht mal Hilfe (1969).
He tried to repeat his success with a sequel,
Latigo (1971),
but it wasn't up to the standards of the first one. After 11 years off
the small screen, Garner returned to television in a role not unlike
that in
Auch ein Sheriff braucht mal Hilfe (1969).
The show was Sheriff ohne Colt und Tadel (1971) and he
played the sheriff who would try to solve all problems with his wits
and without gun play. When the show was canceled, Garner took the news
by having Nichols shot dead, never to return in a sequel. In 1974 he
got the role for which he will probably be best remembered, as wry
private eye Jim Rockford in the classic
Detektiv Rockford - Anruf genügt (1974).
This became his second major television hit, with
Noah Beery Jr. and
Stuart Margolin, and in 1977 he won an
Emmy for his portrayal. However, a combination of injuries and the
discovery that Universal Pictures' "creative bookkeeping" would not
give him any of the huge profits the show generated soon soured him and
the show ended in 1980. In the 1980s Garner appeared in few movies, but
the ones he did make were darker than the likable Garner of old. These
included Der Tank (1984) and
Die zweite Wahl - Eine Romanze (1985). For the
latter, he was nominated for both the Academy Award and a Golden Globe.
Returning to the western mode, he co-starred with the young
Bruce Willis in
Sunset - Dämmerung in Hollywood (1988), a mythical story of
Wyatt Earp,
Tom Mix and 1920s Hollywood.
In the 1990s Garner received rave reviews for his role in the acclaimed
television movie about corporate greed,
Der Konzern (1993).
After that he appeared in the theatrical remake of his old television
series, Maverick - Den Colt am Gürtel, ein As im Ärmel (1994), opposite
Mel Gibson. Most of his appearances
after that were in numerous TV movies based upon
Detektiv Rockford - Anruf genügt (1974).
His most recent films were
Ein Präsident für alle Fälle (1996)
and Space Cowboys (2000) .
