CitizenBBN
07-20-2014, 01:04 PM
Great actor, incredibly multifaceted, with a unique take on the American hero role. He played Maverick and Jim Rockford with a more "talk his way out of trouble" style and odd mix of sardonic but hopeful outlook.
Was in every kind of movie ever made from war films like The Great Escape to comedies with Doris Day, Academy Award level films like Murphy's Romance, even musicals.
But I loved his work for the Rockford Files. I grew up in that era of 3 channels and maybe an independent and PBS, so if you found a show that didn't annoy you you were lucky, and Rockford files had a little different take on the whole cop/hero show genre, as did Maverick before it. It got a little formulaic, which is when Garner quit b/c he felt it had lost creativity.
I thought he was a big part of the success of The Great Escape, providing that background of the sublime scrounger to the understated British leadership and balance to Steve McQueen. Between them they really capture the American cultural contrast to the British.
I didn't know this but he married in 1956 and that marriage didn't end until his death today. Pretty unusual in Hollywood.
Was in every kind of movie ever made from war films like The Great Escape to comedies with Doris Day, Academy Award level films like Murphy's Romance, even musicals.
But I loved his work for the Rockford Files. I grew up in that era of 3 channels and maybe an independent and PBS, so if you found a show that didn't annoy you you were lucky, and Rockford files had a little different take on the whole cop/hero show genre, as did Maverick before it. It got a little formulaic, which is when Garner quit b/c he felt it had lost creativity.
I thought he was a big part of the success of The Great Escape, providing that background of the sublime scrounger to the understated British leadership and balance to Steve McQueen. Between them they really capture the American cultural contrast to the British.
I didn't know this but he married in 1956 and that marriage didn't end until his death today. Pretty unusual in Hollywood.