The Man And ‘Maverick,’ Actor James Garner Dead At 86

Actor James Garner, whose big break came from the 1950s TV Western “Maverick,” is dead at age 86. Garner built a successful career in both TV and films, including a role in “The Rockford Files” and his Oscar-nominated “Murphy’s Romance.”

He was found dead of natural causes at his home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles Saturday evening after police responded to a call at around 8 p.m. PDT, Los Angeles police officer Alonzo Iniquez said early Sunday. LAPD confirmed Garner’s identity from family members, Iniquez told The Associated Press. Garner had suffered a stroke in May 2008, just weeks after his 80th birthday.

Garner was best known for his low-key, wise-cracking style, specifically beginning with his hit TV series, “Maverick” and “The Rockford Files.”

His quick-witted avoidance of conflict provided a refreshingly new take on the American hero, contrasting with the steely heroics of John Wayne and the fast trigger of Clint Eastwood.

A native Oklahoman, Garner remained active in both TV and film well into his 70s. In 2002, he played Sandra Bullock’s father in the film “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.” The following year, he joined the cast of “8 Simple Rules … For Dating My Teenage Daughter,” playing the role of grandfather on the sitcom after star John Ritter, who played the father, died during the show’s second season.

Garner also appeared in the 2004 American romantic drama film “The Notebook” directed by Nick Cassavetes, which based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film starred Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, who play a younger version of him and Gena Rowlands, in a love story that takes place over the course of the 20th cetury.

When he received the Screen Actors Guild’s lifetime achievement award in 2005, he quipped, “I’m not at all sure how I got here.”

In his 2011 memoir, “The Garner Files,” he provided some insight to the man, including his propensity to bluntly expressed his opinions and decking people who said something nasty to his face. An obnoxious fan and an abusive stepmother found that out the hard way. They all deserved it, Garner writes in his book.

In 1957, the ABC network was desperate to compete on ratings-rich Sunday night, so they scheduled “Maverick” against CBS’s giant “The Ed Sullivan Show” and NBC’s “The Steve Allen Show.” “Maverick” would quickly top them both.

Maverick, the character, was fresh to be sure. Networks were crowded with hard-eyed, traditional American Western heroes until Bret Maverick provided another kind of hero. With his sardonic tone and his eagerness to talk his way out of a squabble rather than pull out his six-shooter, the con-artist Westerner seemed to scoff at the genre’s values.

After a couple of years, Garner felt the series was losing its creative edge, and he found a legal loophole to escape his contract in 1960.

His first film after “Maverick” established him as a movie actor. It was “The Children’s Hour,” William Wyler’s remake of Lillian Hellman’s lesbian drama that co-starred Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine.

He would go on to do many, many more films so his diversity and depth as an actor. He even returned several times to TV, unlike other actors who got their start in television only to remain on the big screen.

Garner was born James Scott Bumgarner (some references say Baumgarner) in Norman, Okla. His mother died when he was 5, and friends and relatives cared for him and his two brothers for a time while his father was to California.

In 1957, Garner married TV actress Lois Clarke, and the union prevailed despite some stormy patches. She had a daughter Kimberly from a previous marriage, and the Garners had another daughter, Gretta Scott. In the late 1990s, the Garners built a 12,000-square-foot house on a 400-acre ranch north of Santa Barbara.

“My wife and I felt … we’d just watch the sunset from the front porch,” Garner said in 2000. “But then the phone started ringing with all these wonderful offers, and we decided, `Heck, let’s stay in the business for a while.”‘