James Garner made being likable look like the easiest job in Hollywood, but the story behind the smile included real fights. The man born James Scott Bumgarner in Norman, Oklahoma, served in the Korean War, sued Warner Bros. over Maverick, rebuilt his career as Jim Rockford, and lived the documented life detailed here — including the health timeline, marriage, and surname mix-up with Jennifer Garner.
Born: April 7, 1928, Norman, Oklahoma ·
Died: July 19, 2014, Los Angeles, California ·
Known for: Maverick and The Rockford Files ·
Spouse: Lois Clarke, married 1956 ·
Military service: U.S. Army, Korean War
Quick snapshot
- Born James Scott Bumgarner on April 7, 1928, in Norman, Oklahoma (Biography.com — actor biography archive)
- Died July 19, 2014, at age 86 (Reuters — international news agency)
- Married Lois Clarke in 1956 and still married at his death (Fox 13 Seattle — US local news)
- The Rockford Files ran 1974–1980 and won him an Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama Series (BBC News — UK broadcaster)
- Whether “tough” described the private man or only the screen persona
- What his marriage was like in private, beyond the absence of public scandal
- Which actress he considered his single favorite leading lady
- Net worth figures: estimates, not independently audited numbers
- Whether the Purple Heart was awarded in 1983 or later; primary source not public
- Whether the cause of death was definitively a heart attack, as no detailed medical report was released
- Exact terms of the Universal lawsuit settlement remain confidential
- Korean War service and wound in 1951 (BBC News — UK broadcaster)
- Maverick contract dispute resolved in his favor (Biography.com — actor biography archive)
- Died in Los Angeles at 86 (Reuters — international news agency)
- Maverick and The Rockford Files remain in circulation on streaming and syndicated TV
- The Jennifer Garner surname mix-up will keep recurring as long as both names stay searchable
- Open items — exact quotes, net worth — now depend on primary-source verification
Six rows compress the essential record, and the pattern is consistent: the roles changed, the fighter underneath didn’t.
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | James Scott Bumgarner |
| Born | April 7, 1928, Norman, Oklahoma (Biography.com — actor biography archive) |
| Died | July 19, 2014, Los Angeles, California (Reuters — international news agency) |
| Known for | Maverick and The Rockford Files |
| Spouse | Lois Clarke, married 1956 (Fox 13 Seattle — US local news) |
| Notable films | The Great Escape, Murphy’s Romance, Victor/Victoria, The Notebook |
What TV shows did James Garner do?
Garner’s television career had two centerpiece shows, with shorter-lived attempts around the edges. The first made him a star; the second made him a legend.
- Maverick (1957–1960 with Garner as the lead) — the Western that made his name (Biography.com — actor biography archive)
- The Rockford Files (1974–1980, 122 episodes) — the comeback that won him an Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama Series (BBC News — UK broadcaster)
- Nichols and the Bret Maverick revival — later series attempts that never matched the originals
- Multiple television movies through the 1980s and 1990s
Around those shows, he built a film career that stretched from The Great Escape and Support Your Local Sheriff! to Murphy’s Romance, Victor/Victoria, The Notebook, and Space Cowboys (Biography.com — actor biography archive).
What are James Garner’s best movies?
- Action: The Great Escape
- Comedy: Support Your Local Sheriff!
- Romance: Murphy’s Romance
- Starring turn: Victor/Victoria
- Later career: The Notebook, Space Cowboys
That range is why his name stayed in circulation for so long: he could headline a Western and a romantic drama without the audience blinking. Murphy’s Romance also matters for this story because it connected Garner to Sally Field.
The pattern: Garner worked best when writers let him be the smartest person in the room — Maverick’s cardsharp and Rockford’s wise guy are the same character, solving problems with charm instead of violence.
Why did Garner leave Maverick?
Garner left Maverick because the money and the trust ran out at the same time. The dispute centered on Warner Bros. suspending him without pay during a writers’ strike; a judge ruled in Garner’s favor after finding that the studio still had writers working during the period in question (Biography.com — actor biography archive).
He left the series in 1960, and the studio kept Bret Maverick alive with other faces — Roger Moore and Robert Colbert among them (Fox 13 Seattle — US local news). The case became one of Hollywood’s well-known contract disputes.
The Maverick fight was not a tantrum; it was a legal test of whether a studio could dock an actor’s pay for a strike the studio itself had triggered. The judge sided with Garner, and that verdict became part of his toughness legend.
What this means: Garner’s “tough” reputation was built in a courtroom before it ever reached the screen — and it followed him through every later studio negotiation.
How old was James Garner when he did The Rockford Files?
Garner was born on April 7, 1928, in Norman, Oklahoma (Biography.com — actor biography archive). The Rockford Files ran from 1974 to 1980, produced 122 episodes, and earned him the Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama Series (BBC News — UK broadcaster).
- Age at The Rockford Files premiere (1974): 46
- Age at The Rockford Files finale (1980): 52
- Total episodes: 122
Garner left the series in 1980 amid health and contractual problems (Fox 13 Seattle — US local news). The fallout moved from the studio lot to the courthouse: according to IMDb’s trivia archive, Garner filed a $16.5 million lawsuit against Universal Studios in July 1983, alleging breach of contract, failure to deal fairly and in good faith, fraud, and deceit; the case settled out of court in 1989 (IMDb trivia — film industry database).
Mariette Hartley appeared so often as his on-screen partner that the pairing became a signature of the series.
Rockford was a midlife comeback, not a young man’s role: Garner was 46 when the show premiered and 52 when it ended, and he won its Emmy at an age when most actors have already been aged out of leading roles.
The catch: the same stubbornness that won the Emmy and the legal settlement also cost him the series. Rockford ended because the studio relationship broke down, not because audiences stopped watching.
Was James Garner tough in real life?
Tough is a word Hollywood throws around loosely, but Garner’s version didn’t need a stunt double. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, was wounded in Korea in 1951, and received a Purple Heart in 1983 (BBC News — UK broadcaster).
Was James Garner considered a nice person?
- Co-stars and colleagues, in the profiles and obituaries gathered after his death, described him as genuinely likable, down-to-earth, and generous.
- Sally Field’s tribute, covered later in this article, became the most quoted example of his warmth.
The two reputations — fighter and nice guy — coexisted without much conflict: he fought institutions, not people.
Was James Garner a faithful husband?
- Married to Lois Clarke from 1956 until his death in 2014 (Fox 13 Seattle — US local news).
- No public scandal about infidelity was widely reported.
In public records, the marriage is one of the most stable in classic Hollywood. The private version of that story is something no biography can fully verify — which is why the confirmed record stops at the dates.
The man who played easygoing con men took on two studios, fought two lawsuits, and came out the other side intact. The same man stayed married to the same wife for 58 years.
The pattern: his public toughness came from real fights — military service and courtroom battles — while his private life stayed quiet enough that the biggest confusion around his name is a search-engine coincidence.
What disease did James Garner have?
The health record is the least dramatic part of his story, but it explains why his later career slowed down.
- 1988 — heart bypass surgery (BBC News — UK broadcaster)
- 2008 — stroke, followed by surgery (Reuters — international news agency)
- July 19, 2014 — died at age 86 in Los Angeles; the cause was reported at the time as an apparent heart attack (Reuters — international news agency)
Did James Garner have heart problems?
- The 1988 heart bypass surgery was the first documented major cardiac event.
- He lived 26 more years after the bypass, including a slower decade after the 2008 stroke.
Those extra years matter because they produced his late career: after the bypass, he still made Space Cowboys and The Notebook, the films many younger viewers know him from.
The gap between the 1988 bypass and the 2008 stroke — 20 years — is the quiet center of his health story. Garner kept working through both decades, which is why his death at 86 still surprised people who assumed he had long retired.
Why this matters: the health timeline is the skeleton key to his filmography. The breakneck 1970s output, the slower 1980s after the bypass, and the 2000s revival with The Notebook all line up with the medical record.
Is there any relation between Jennifer Garner and James Garner?
No. The shared surname is a coincidence, and the clearest evidence sits in his birth name: James Scott Bumgarner (Biography.com — actor biography archive). He chose “Garner” as his professional name; the two families have no documented connection.
The confusion is understandable, because both actors built their reputations on the same warm, grounded screen persona. A second James Garner complicates searches even further: a midfielder for Everton, born decades later, with no connection to the actor.
If you land on a “James Garner” page and see a young footballer in an Everton shirt, you are reading about a different person. The Maverick actor’s surname came from a stage-name change; everything else is search-engine coincidence.
Why this matters: every year, a fresh wave of search traffic mixes these people together. The fix is boring but reliable — check dates and birth names before repeating a “fact” about either Garner.
What did Sally Field say about James Garner?
Sally Field and James Garner co-starred in Murphy’s Romance, and the friendship outlasted the movie’s run. When Garner died in 2014, Field’s tribute cut through the usual celebrity condolences: she publicly described him as the love of her life (Reuters — international news agency).
Who was James Garner’s favorite leading lady?
- Documented closest bond: Sally Field, his Murphy’s Romance co-star.
- Documented on-screen pairing: Mariette Hartley, who appeared opposite him frequently on The Rockford Files.
Garner and Field praised each other’s acting abilities in interviews over the years. But a single declared “favorite” does not appear in the verified record — so the honest answer is that no single favorite is documented.
What is documented is endurance: he and Field remained close friends for decades after Murphy’s Romance wrapped, and her tribute after his death is the clearest statement of what he meant to his colleagues.
Garner’s legal fights built the “tough” half of his reputation; Sally Field’s tribute built the “likable” half. Both halves are documented, and neither cancels the other out.
The implication: the warmth people remember is not a press-agent invention. Field’s words were the unfiltered version of what co-stars had said for decades — and they came from someone with no professional reason left to flatter him.
Key moments in James Garner’s life
The full shape of his life fits into one column, and the spacing tells part of the story by itself.
- 1928 — Born James Scott Bumgarner in Norman, Oklahoma (Biography.com — actor biography archive)
- Early 1950s — Served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War; wounded in 1951 (BBC News — UK broadcaster)
- 1956 — Married Lois Clarke (Fox 13 Seattle — US local news)
- 1957–1960 — Starred as Bret Maverick on Maverick (Biography.com — actor biography archive)
- 1974–1980 — Starred as Jim Rockford on The Rockford Files (BBC News — UK broadcaster)
- 1988 — Heart bypass surgery (BBC News — UK broadcaster)
- 2008 — Suffered a stroke (Reuters — international news agency)
- 2014 — Died in Los Angeles at age 86 (Reuters — international news agency)
Read as a sequence, the dates tell a story the photos don’t: every comeback was built on a fight — with a studio, with a health scare, or with a public that had written him off.
Confirmed facts and open questions
Separating the documented record from the speculation is the core of a fair biography. Here is the line.
Confirmed facts
- Born April 7, 1928, in Norman, Oklahoma; died July 19, 2014, at 86 (Biography.com — actor biography archive; Reuters — international news agency)
- Starred in Maverick and The Rockford Files and won an Emmy for the latter (Biography.com — actor biography archive; BBC News — UK broadcaster)
- Married Lois Clarke in 1956 and remained married until his death (Fox 13 Seattle — US local news)
- Not related to Jennifer Garner; he was born James Scott Bumgarner (Biography.com — actor biography archive)
- Served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, wounded in 1951, Purple Heart in 1983 (BBC News — UK broadcaster)
- Sally Field publicly described him as the love of her life after his death (Reuters — international news agency)
What’s unclear
- Whether “tough” described his private personality or only his screen persona.
- What his marriage was like in private; the public record shows no scandal, but no biography can verify the private version.
- Which actress he considered his single favorite leading lady.
- Net worth figures: published estimates vary and are not independently audited.
- The cause of death was reported at the time as an apparent heart attack, but no detailed public medical record was released.
- The exact sequence of his withdrawal from Maverick’s final seasons depends on studio records that were never fully made public.
- Some widely shared quotes attributed to Garner and his co-stars circulate without original source links; verify exact wording before repeating them.
- Whether the Purple Heart was awarded in 1983 or later; primary source not public.
- Exact terms of the Universal lawsuit settlement remain confidential.
The balance of the record is firm on dates and events, and thinner on interpretation — which is exactly where a biography should be humble.
In their own words: what people said about James Garner
Two voices define the public memory of Garner: the woman who loved him, and the man himself.
“He was the love of my life.”
Sally Field, tribute to James Garner after his death in 2014 (Reuters — international news agency)
Garner’s position on the Maverick walkout never changed over the years: he was suspended for not working while a strike had made work impossible, and the studio knew it. The court, he would point out, agreed with him.
James Garner, interviews about his Warner Bros. contract dispute (Biography.com — actor biography archive)
Read together, the two voices sum up the paradox: a man who described his biggest fight in calm, factual terms, and a friend who described him in love-struck terms decades after they stopped working together.
The James Garner takeaway
James Garner’s life reads like one of his scripts: a fighter who preferred charm, a family man who took on two studios, and a health story that explains the slow years without dimming the highlight reel. The documented record — Maverick, The Rockford Files, the 1956 marriage, the 2008 stroke, the 2014 death — is clear enough that none of the lingering confusion has to survive. For classic-TV fans sorting through search results, the test is simple: if the “James Garner” in front of you isn’t the man who served in Korea, fought Warner Bros., and married Lois Clarke, keep scrolling — the real one won’t be hard to recognize.
Frequently asked questions
What was James Garner’s net worth?
No independently audited figure exists; published estimates vary widely. The clearest number in the public record is the $16.5 million lawsuit he filed against Universal in 1983, settled out of court in 1989 (IMDb trivia — film industry database).
Did James Garner serve in the U.S. military?
Yes. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, was wounded in Korea in 1951, and received a Purple Heart in 1983 (BBC News — UK broadcaster).
Who was James Garner married to?
Lois Clarke. They married in 1956 and remained married until his death in 2014 (Fox 13 Seattle — US local news).
When did James Garner die?
He died on July 19, 2014, in Los Angeles, at age 86; the cause was reported at the time as an apparent heart attack (Reuters — international news agency).
Are any James Garner movies on Netflix?
Streaming availability changes by region and catalog rotation, so the reliable approach is to search the platform directly. Titles such as The Notebook and Murphy’s Romance appear in streaming catalogs periodically.
Was James Garner related to Jennifer Garner?
No. James Garner was born James Scott Bumgarner and chose his stage name; there is no known family connection to Jennifer Garner (Biography.com — actor biography archive).
Did James Garner win an Emmy?
Yes — for The Rockford Files, where he won Lead Actor in a Drama Series (BBC News — UK broadcaster).
Did James Garner have a stroke?
Yes, in 2008. He underwent surgery after the stroke and died in 2014 at age 86 (Reuters — international news agency).
These questions address the lingering uncertainties while confirming what is well established about the actor.
Related reading
If this kind of fact-checked Hollywood biography is useful to you, these two companion profiles go deeper into the same territory.
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Edward Davies Bennett is Editor-in-Chief and Responsible Publisher at Insight Britain, overseeing editorial standards, publication decisions and the corrections process.