James Garner dead at 86

Heard about this while on holiday and was so upset I could barely sleep that night. I've loved thus guy for years and wish I had a 100th of his cool charm. If he'd born twenty years earlier he'd have been a major movie star. As it is, and as much as he was in good movies, he was seldom in a movie as great as he was - Americanization of Emily, I think, being the main exception.

RIP

http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/james-garner-rip.html

http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/friday-night-boy-cool-james-garner.html

 

3am pacific TCM starts showing his movies. Some good ones.

 

RIP

Jim Garner was great and always brought a light touch and a sense of humor to almost every role he had.

He was also a great race car driver, like McQueen and Newman, and could have gone professional if he took the time.

 

Maybe....maybe not. If he had became a MAJOR movie star, we'd have missed out on Maverick and The Rockford Files. I suppose his movie career could've been more successful (not that it wasn't), but I just think that his iconic TV characters overshadowed his work in movies.

In 2005, when Morgan Freeman got up on stage after winning the Best Supporting Actor award (for "Million Dollar Baby") at the SAG Awards (James Garner was up for the same award for "The Notebook"), instead of making a speech, Mr. Freeman pointed at Mr. Garner and then led a sing-along to the Maverick theme song....which put a big smile on Mr. Garner's face. Mr. Garner didn't go home empty-handed that night....he was awarded the SAG Life Achievement Award. It was also the first time a Life Achievement Award recipient being in the running for an acting award.

 

Am re-watching The Rockford Files. Who else could deliver dialog like this as effectively as James Garner. He was perfect for that role:

"Well, he's your average clean-cut bunko creep. Probably goes to a bunch of Humphrey Bogart movies. He talks out of the side of his mouth a lot ... calls you 'buddy' and 'pal'. A real brass cupcake." ("Aura Lee, Farewell" -- Season 1)

Love it! So many great Rockford quotes.

 

Thanks. I hadn't heard that story!

 

And there are plenty of good "Maverick" quotes too, like this one from Shady Deal At Sunny Acres:

Bret Maverick: "As my old pappy used to say, "You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, and those are very good odds."

 

Great one!

 

JUST rented that, and read this thread title the next morning.
He was unbelievably good in The Notebook, just spot on.

 

I find that one tough to watch, I'm afraid, because of the subject matter.

 

Have been enjoying the JG movie marathon all day today, but wish I had gotten up a bit earlier. Also wish they did these more often, and didn't generally wait for the star to pass. His characters are such a joy to watch.

 

God bless and good rest.

 

14 years ago it seemed to me they did, but with all of us getting older, and more legendary actors dying off, the frequency, not to mention the reason, has increased.

 

And with Garner dead, even tougher.

 

With all the recent news about the upcoming season of "Big Bang Theory", I thought James Garner, had he been in good health, would be great in the role of Penny's grandfather. James Garner previously played the grandfather of Kaley Cuoco (who now plays Penny on BBT) on "8 Simple Rules...." after John Ritter's passing. Just imagine James Garner vs. Sheldon Cooper.