James Garner

James Garner was an award-winning American film and television actor who passed away July 19, 2004 of a heart attack. He starred in several television series over the period of fifty years which included such popular roles as Bret Maverick in the "Maverick," and Jim Rockford in the 1970s drama, "The Rockford Files." One of his first jobs was working at a theater reading lines to cast members during rehearsals; it was during this time he honed his craft as an actor. Garner joined the Merchant Marines as a young man and he earned a Purple Heart in Korea. He first got international recognition playing a gambler in the “Maverick” television series. This followed with the films “The Great Escape” and “Support Your Local Sheriff!” He returned to television in the 1970s in the show “Rockford Files.” Later in his career, in 1985, he won an Academy Award for his performance in “Murphy's Romance.” One of his last films was starring in the film “The Notebook.” On April 21, 2006, a 10-foot-tall bronze statue of