This being April and all, some Spring-strangeness seems to be at work around me (or maybe it's just my allergies). One of my all-time favorite stars is James Garner, and I've been thinking of him as of late. I firmly believe he's been one of the most underrated (though well known) TV and film actors. Like many my age, my first introduction to the man came as a kid via his starring role in the Maverick TV series. IMO, Garner has been such a versatile performer over the decades that he's been taken for granted in many of his roles (and forgotten somewhat for his earlier work). His acting chops allowed him to appear in all sorts of westerns, war films, private detective TV/movies, comedies, and dramas. You name it, he's done it. Just about all of his work has been so consistently top notch (even if the some of the movies were not). He played the only character I know of who figured a way to dispose of Bruce Lee in a film. His performances in whatever TV show or movie always seems to be accomplished with such relaxed ease, too (though, it's well known that this Oklahoma born actor has been one of the hardest working people in Hollywood). If I catch one of his films on cable, I'll stop whatever I'm doing and watch. If a repeat of an old Rockford Files episode shows up on syndicated TV, I've got to see which one it is and squeeze some time with the vaunted character he crafted (and I'll go on record to say it is the height of arrogance by a studio to think Dermot Mulroney can fill Garner's shoes in a new Rockford Files series).The rest of this post has been updated and moved over to my current blog, found here.
