James Garner RIP

[dave jenkins]

Garner is one of the actors that was much better than his filmography indicates.
RIP

That's a good way to put it. And it's true largely because he did so much good TV work. He's actually an unusual case--a guy who divided his professional life between movies and TV almost from the beginning of his career. He kept going back and forth between the two formats, and was a success in both. He even did those wildly popular Polaroid ads with Mariette Hartley. American audiences probably know him best for his TV work.

[stanton]

None of his theatrical features was a big success. Or am I wrong?

[cigar joe]

None of his theatrical features was a big success. Or am I wrong?

It was a question of timing, he came on the scene at the changing of the old guard, if the counterculture of the 60's hadn't happened, who knows.

[T.H.]

I agree with joe that he got lost in the shuffle, and that was pretty much due to bad timing. The US film industry was in a transitional state at the time, as we all know.

Was Garner the first actor to really take refuge with television? I feel like before him, that's where former screen stars went to die or a young actor was relegated to a lifetime of tv roles.

[wind demon]

"red sky in the morning, sailor take warning, red sky at night, sailor's delight."

[titoli]

The ideal Marlowe. As pointed out he was probably submerged by the flood of neurotic acting of  the '70's. His underplaying was outdated then, but to me he was as good as any of the greats.

[drinkanddestroy]

On page 545 of Scott Eyman's new bio of John Wayne, Eyman is discussing who some of Wayne's favorite actors were.

And he had a personal favorite who habitually flew under the radar. "I think the best actor in the world today is James Garner. He can do anything – comedy, detective. Just his facial expressions alone are enough to crack you up. They rave about Brando and Scott, but they couldn't hold a candle to him."

(It would be nice if we knew when Wayne said it - what year it was, at what point in Garner's career, so we can know which movies Garner had recently made, etc. – but unfortunately, while Eyman provides the source for the quote, he doesn't provide a date.)