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James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner on April 7, 1928) is an American film and television actor. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades, including his roles as Bret Maverick in the popular 1950s western-comedy series, Maverick, Jim Rockford in the popular 1970s detective drama, The Rockford Files and the father of Katey Sagal's character on 8 Simple Rules following the death of John Ritter. He has starred in dozens of movies, including The Great Escape (1963) and Paddy Chayefsky's The Americanization of Emily (1964).

The youngest of three children, Garner was born James Scott Bumgarner in Norman, Oklahoma to Weldon Warren Bumgarner and Mildred Meek, and is one quarter Cherokee Indian through his maternal grandfather, Charles Bailey Meek. His father was a carpet layer, and his mother died when James was four years old. After their mother's death, James and his brothers were sent to live with relatives. James was reunited with his family in 1934, when Weldon remarried. Garner grew to hate his stepmother, Wilma, who beat all three boys, but especially young James.

In his book, The Art of the Interview: Lessons from a Master of the Craft, Lawrence Grobel quoted a portion of an interview he had done with Garner:

In 1994 I interviewed James Garner, who told me that when he was four his mother died and a year later his father remarried “a nasty Bitch” who “used to beat the hell out of me” I asked him if she was the one who made him wear a dress and called him Louise if he did anything wrong.

Garner: Yeah, where did you find that out? It was out in the country and we’d be in some little store and I’d just go hide because it would embarrass me terribly. Then my brothers would tease me and call me Louise and a fight would break out.

Q: How often did that happen?

Garner: Oh gosh, a lot. If I did anything wrong I’d have to go put on the dress.

Q: At what point did you fight back?

Garner: At around thirteen. I decked her. I had her on the bed, choking her. My dad and my brother pulled me off of her. I can understand how kids can rebel to the point of murder. I don’t agree with it, but I don’t know what I’d have done – because she was tough. Tough. I’m sure I wouldn’t have let go of her until she quit breathing because she’d have killed me if she got up. Then they held me down so she could ship me. But that’s the night that broke up the marriage with my dad and her.

Shortly after the breakup of the marriage, Weldon Bumgarner moved to Los Angeles while Garner and his brothers remained in Norman. After working at several jobs he disliked, Garner joined the Merchant Marine at sixteen. At seventeen, he joined his father in Los Angeles and enrolled at Hollywood High School, where he was voted the most popular student.

He also modeled Jantzen bathing suits at this time. It paid well, but, in his first interview for the Archives of American Television, he said he hated modeling, and soon quit and returned to Norman There he played football and basketball for Norman High School. Later he joined the National Guard, before serving in the Army in the Korean War, where he received a Purple Heart.

In 1954, a friend, Paul Gregory - whom Garner had met while attending Hollywood High School - convinced Garner to take a non-speaking role in the Broadway production of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, where he was able to study the actor Henry Fonda at close quarters, night after night. Garner subsequently moved on to television commercials and eventually to television roles. His first movie appearances were in The Girl He Left Behind and Toward the Unknown in 1956.

He changed his last name from Bumgarner to Garner after the studio had credited him as James Garner (without permission). When his first child was born, he decided she had too many names and legally changed his surname to Garner.
One of his two brothers, Jack, has also had an acting career, and similarly changed his surname to Garner. His other brother, Charlie, a non-actor, retained the Bumgarner surname.

Filmography

* Toward the Unknown (1956)
* The Girl He Left Behind (1956)
* Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend (1957)
* Sayonara (1957)
* Darby's Rangers (1958)
* Up Periscope (1959)
* Alias Jesse James (1959) (Cameo)
* Cash McCall (1960)
* The Children's Hour (1961)
* Boys' Night Out (1962)
* The Great Escape (1963)
* The Thrill of It All (1963)
* The Wheeler Dealers (1963)
* Move Over, Darling (1963)
* Action on the Beach (1964) (short subject)
* The Americanization of Emily (1964)
* 36 Hours (1965)
* The Art of Love (1965)
* Grand Prix: Challenge of the Champions (1966) (short subject)
* A Man Could Get Killed (1966)
* Duel at Diablo (1966)
* Mister Buddwing (1966)
* Grand Prix (1966)
* Hour of the Gun (1967)
* Once Upon a Wheel (1968) (documentary)
* The Man Who Makes the Difference (1968) (short subject)
* How Sweet It Is! (1968)
* The Pink Jungle (1968)
* The Racing Scene (1969) (documentary)
* Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)
* Marlowe (1969)
* A Man Called Sledge (1970)
* Support Your Local Gunfighter! (1971)
* Skin Game (1971)
* They Only Kill Their Masters (1972)
* One Little Indian (1973)
* The Castaway Cowboy (1974)
* HealtH (1980)
* The Fan (1981)
* Victor/Victoria (1982)
* Tank (1984)
* Murphy's Romance (1985)
* Sunset (1988)
* The Distinguished Gentleman (1992)
* Fire in the Sky (1993)
* Maverick (1994)
* Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick (1996) (documentary)
* My Fellow Americans (1996)
* The Hidden Dimension (1997) (documentary) (narrator)
* Twilight (1998)
* Space Cowboys (2000)
* Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) (voice)
* Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
* The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration (2003) (voice) (direct-to-DVD)
* The Notebook (2004)
* Al Roach: Private Investigator (2004) (short subject) (voice)

Upcoming:

* The Ultimate Gift (2007)
* The Magic Shoe (2007)
* Terra (2008) (voice)

Latest news about James Garner

James Garner and Anxiety Actor James Garner may have suffered from anxiety throughout his life. Many inventive, influential, and creative people have been said to have suffered from anxiety. These include Anthony Hopkins, David Bowie, and Edie Falco. ... Continue reading james garner on Flickr - Photo Sharing! james garner. ... james garner. james garner by lonniec61. To take full advantage of Flickr, you should use a JavaScript-enabled browser and install the latest version of the Macromedia Flash Player. ... Continue reading F. Murray Abraham, Stockard Channing, James Garner, Timothy Hutton ... The Goodman Theatre's annual production of "A Christmas Carol" is going to have some star-studded competition this year. It was announced Tuesday that a new version of the Dickensian favorite will play Chicago's Civic Opera House from ... Continue reading Girl Talk by Gigi Garner Book Review: About the Author: As the daughter of actor James Garner, life came with some benefits, of course, but it also let Gigi Garner know she'd never be content with simply being known as a star's daughter. Gigi grew up in Brentwood, ... Continue reading Inspectagadget gets a new blogger... at last! LOL (Computer Weekly ... blogger · blogging · gadgets · inspectagadget. Posted by James Garner on October 28, 2009 6:13 PM | Permalink | View blog reactions. TrackBack. TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.computerweekly.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/69681 ... Continue reading A Maverick At Daytona – James Garner at the 1969 24 Hours of Daytona For those of you out there who are too young to remember James Garner is best known for such TV shows as Maverick and Rockford Files. He also starred in movies like The Great Escape where he co-starred with good friend Steve McQueen. ... Continue reading Actor: James Garner But my favorite James Garner movie was the sweet Murphy's Romance. He owned a pharmacy in a small town, and along came Sally Field, trying desperately to make it as a single mother. The development of their relationship is a lovely bit ... Continue reading MamaBuzz Review: Girl Talk by Gigi Garner Women are compassionate listeners, knowing intuitively when to dispense advice, when to laugh your cares away or when to merely offer a shoulder to cry on, and Gigi Garner, daughter of actor James Garner, has captured these intimate ... Continue reading Using social media to market your products: the case of Red Bull ... media140 · red bull · social media. Posted by James Garner on October 26, 2009 2:43 PM | Permalink | View blog reactions. TrackBack. TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.computerweekly.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/69127. Post a comment ... Continue reading What is it with twitter and ROI? (Computer Weekly Editor's Blog) brands · media140 · social media · twitter. Posted by James Garner on October 26, 2009 11:24 AM | Permalink | View blog reactions. TrackBack. TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.computerweekly.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/69079 ... Continue reading Hollywood Actors Jessica alba James Garner pictures and James Garner biography

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