I think I enjoyed his role as 'the scrounger' in "The Great Escape" the most.
Mr. Garner was an Army veteran serving in Korea and receiving 2 Purple Hearts.
His big break into show business came with the Maverick series (1957-1960).
The first film I remember seeing him in was in 1963 when we visited NYC - he starred with Doris Day in "The Thrill of it All" at Radio City Music Hall. They were both wonderful.
The list of film work and television roles goes on and on - including as mentioned "The Rockford Files" - which was intended to be a modern day Maverick role for Mr. Garner.
Mr. Garner married Lois Clark in 1956 only 14 days after meeting her at an Adlai Stevenson for President rally and they had one daughter together plus one from her previous marriage.
In his lifetime aside from acting Mr. Garner was involved in racing, golf, and politics.
I also enjoyed the TV commercials he made for Polaroid....
On November 1, 2011, Simon & Schuster published Garner's autobiography "The Garner Files: A Memoir." In addition to recounting his career, the memoir co-written with non-fiction writer Jon Winokur, detailed the childhood abuses Garner suffered at the hands of his stepmother. It also offered frank, unflattering assessments of some of Garner's co-stars like Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson.
In addition to recalling the genesis of most of Garner's hit movies and television shows, the book also featured a section where the star provided individual critiques for every one of his acting projects accompanied by a star rating for each.
Garner's three-time co-star Julie Andrews wrote the book's foreword. Lauren Bacall, Diahann Carroll, Doris Day, Tom Selleck and Stephen J. Cannell and many other Garner associates, friends and relatives provided their memories of the star in the book's coda.
RIP James Garner.