I know nothing about James Garner. And I want to keep it that way.
When I was young, I had several TV Westerns from which to choose: Have Gun Will Travel, Branded, Bonanza, F Troop, The Rifleman, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, and Maverick, just to name a few.
By far, Maverick was my favorite, and James Garner was the reason why.
Later, when Mr. Garner showed up in a new series, The Rockford Files, I tuned in regularly.
Growing older, I looked farther back and found his movies, including Sayonara, The Great Escape, and my favorite, The Americanization of Emily (which I echoed in the title of my novella, The Revitalization of Emily).
In short, I was a fan.
James Garner was a great role model or, to put it more accurately, I found his characters to be great role models. They were manly without bluster, self-effacing yet confident, and humorous without being acerbic or cruel. Mostly, his characters just wanted to get by, get along, and get ahead, even if it meant bending a rule or two to make it happen. He created an array of likable, honorable, small-town, small-time heroes who did good things for people who deserved a break, and I adored them.
But I knew nothing of James Garner, the person. Nor do I want to know.
You see, I don’t want to be forced to reconcile any conflicting feelings that might arise if I knew more about James Garner the man. I don’t want to know if his politics were radical or his love life was stormy.
I’ve been burned by that too many times.
Take Charlton Heston, for example. As a boy, I thought Ben Hur was the greatest movie of all time. Chuck Heston was larger-than-life, heroic, commanding, supremely confident, and could do no wrong. In subsequent years and in subsequent roles, he became an icon, delivering lines that became embedded in pop culture before I even saw the movies that spawned them. He was a leading man’s leading man, and his strong, quiet strength was to be emulated.
When he first entered the political arena, his politics aligned with my own. Then he switched, supported Nixon, supported Reagan, became a spokesman for the NRA, and all my admiration for him soured and his grand legacy of memorable roles became tainted and dulled.
I don’t want that to happen with James Garner. I don’t even want to risk it happening. It may be that James Garner was a Democrat, a liberal, a faithful and loving husband and father, but there’s also a chance that he wasn’t. I hope the former is the case, but if it’s the latter, I just don’t want to know.
I want my memories of James Garner to remain unsullied and pure. I want to always remember him as that smiling, charming quipster from all those movies and episodes of my younger days. I want to remember with fondness my running home from school to see what Bret Maverick would do this week.
Whenever I think of James Garner, I want to smile.
May he rest in peace.
k
Unraveling Time
Desert Wind
Ploughman's Son
Ploughman King
The Year the Cloud Fell
The Spirit of Thunder
Shadow of the Storm
The Cry of the Wind
Beneath a Wounded Sky
Cryptogenesis: A Memoir
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 
Pretty great post. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and wished to mention that I
have really loved surfing around your weblog posts.
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and I’m hoping you write again soon!
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Much appreciated, Malcolm. Thanks for dropping by!
–k
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Thanks. A proper appreciation. Regards from Thom at the immortal jukebox.
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I loved The Rockford Files when I was a kid.
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I remember watching the opening theme for The Rockford Files and thinking, Wow, how cool, he’s got an _answering_ machine!
Yeah, I’m _old_.
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I like the idea of remaining blissfully ignorant on this. Rockford was the best. So was Colonel Hogan. Bob Crane. Ugh. Nuff said.
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People, unable to leave me ignorant, have been giving out bits of info on Garner all day.
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My husband knew Charlton Heston for a short period and he always said he was one of the kindest people in Hollywood.
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I don’t doubt it, and there’s nothing to say that a person’s politics make them naughty or nice. To be fair, there were probably as many people attracted to Heston for his politics as were repelled by them.
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Curiously, I think James Garner is among the least disappointing celebrities in terms of his personal views. “It may be that James Garner was a Democrat, a liberal, a faithful and loving husband and father…” is a pretty good guess actually.
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Lalalala…not listening…lalala…
😉
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I sympathize with your not wanting to know too much about the person, so it won’t interfere with enjoying the work. I used to have that problem too, until I just decided artists don’t have ANY responsibility to be the same as characters they play, films they direct, songs they perform yadda yadda. Now I don’t care (so far as viewing choices) if Woody Allen’s a pedophile, or John Wayne was a right-wing a-hole etc. If the work’s good, it stands on its own. I’m not trying to be friends with these people, date them or be their parole officer. I’m enjoying their art!
I liked Maverick, Rockford and Emily too. Garner could be touching and serious, as in Great Escape, Mister Buddwing, and My Name is Bill W., but there were none better in comedies, including Support Your Local Sheriff & Gunfighter.
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I agree: an artist has no responsibility or requirement to match their work and their reality. I, on the other hand, have no responsibility or requirement to separate them, especially when the artist uses his/her celebrity to promote an agenda.
Celebrities’ lives are put under the microscope, and in that way a single misstep is magnified and remembered forever (Hugh Grant). I do my best to ignore such issues and judge that artist’s work on its own merits. However, when the offense is large or systemic (Mel Gibson), or when the artist uses the fame we have provided them to give voice to a cause or idea (Charlton Heston), then they are putting their work on the line, linking the two forever.
Thanks!
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