| Show being chosen by Jantzen to model swimwear But mod- 1 eling didn't give him a direction in life nor did military service during the Korean war—although he ad- Z mits to perpetrating "a real Catch-2- 2 scheme" when he "ck was assigned to an Army post office and turned a bombed-ofactory into "the best rec center around" by withholding mail until he got the supplies he needed "But that wasn't a con" he adds with a Maverick look of mock indignation "That was barter Everyone got their letters from home in exchange" It was only after his return to Los Angeles that Gamer finally came to acting—through an old friend Paul Gregory a producer who offered him a job as an understudy and the nonspeaking role of one of the judges in his production of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial When Garner was promoted to a speaking role in the play's touring company he learned a lesson from his director the English actor Charles Laughton "He said 'Jim your problem is that you're afraid to be bad'" Garner recalls "And he was right—I was so worried that the audience wouldn't like me that I was bland and 1950s James Garner L' starred in Maverick the ut innocuous He told me 'Don't worry about the audience Just go out there and take the risk of being bad!" He pauses "I suppose that applies to life—you have to take the risk You may fail but at least you've given it your best shot" Gamer set himself five years to give act- ing his best shot and TV Western series that ran from 1957 to 1962 It was his comic timing and charm that made the show a hit 1970s refused to renegotiate his "contract-player- " salary Gamer sued for breach of contract and eventually won "They threatened me with never working again but I felt what was important was not letting them treat me or other actors unfairly" Later nearing the end of Rockford's run and believing that he was not receiving his contracted share of the show's net profits from Universal Studios Gamer took his claim to court and triumphed with a multimillion-dolla- r settlement Despite his victory Gamer went into a downward slide He was physically exhausted from the Rockford schedule: 12- - to days five days a week His body was scarred from all the action sequences (he rarely used a double) and one or both knees had to be operated on during each hiatus from filming "I then fell into a terrible depression" says Gamer "As a result Lois and! separated I was so short-fuse- d and edgy that the smallest thing would set me off and I realized that! was about to blow everything I cared about sky high I knew I had to be alone to get myself together and Lois had the good sense to understand" 4 It took two years 14-ho- ur 1 of Garner as the private eye "' - Jim Rockford On The librium and to his Rockford Rios (with i ( '' c--- Noah Beery Jr who played his father) The marriage "We were never angry at each other" he adds "Be sides remembering my father—who had three maybe four divorces-1 knew I didn't want that I'm '—' 0 W''441 4 i I series ran it '"'' from 1974 to 1980 i he launched his career well within the 0 j IL ith otzu ri t vd ppos e mild looked at ta ongevi m an ag wet - acting as q just a very way to make a living and support my I -- ) - fI ow family I went into it -- for the longevity" long-runni- PARADE MAGAZINE JULY 12 1992 PAGES committed to our marriage and so is T are deadline After appearances on TV's Cheyenne and his movie breakthrough in Sayonara Gamer was signed to play the lead on Maverick "Sheer luck and good timing" he insists But in fact it was his natural comic timing and insouciant charm that turned the tongue-in-chee- k Maverick into one of Tv's most popular series Nevertheless Gamer still has a modest reaction to praise for his talent "I'm a Methodist but not as an actor" he likes to quip "No stuff for me Besides" he adds "I'm an good introvert when it comes to acting I do more with small expressions so I realized that if I was going to succeed it would be in movies and TV" Succeed he did with more than 40 fihns to his credit including The Great EscapeVictortilictoria and Mtaphy's Romance for which he was nominated for an Oscar He won an Emmy for his reluctant hero private eye Jim Rockford in the series The Rockford Files and two Golden Globe Awards Last fall he was inducted into The Academy of Television's Hall of Fame Despite his achievements Gamer still likes to portray himself as just an average guy doing a job "My goal has never been to become No 1 at the box office" he explains "If you're No 1 you can only go down I went into acting not for the highs and lows but for the longevity I still look at it as just a very good way to make a living and support my wife and kids" Gamer was married on Aug 17 1956 to Lois Carte whom he had met only two weeks before at a rally for Adlai Stevenson "It was love at first sight" he says "and I also became an instant father" (Lois had a 6- year-ol- d daughter Kimberly from a previous marriage) Two years later Lois and Jim had a daughter Gigi A devoted family man Gamer tends to avoid Hollywood glitz When he ventures out it's usually to take rest and therapy for Gamer to return 4 to an emotional equi- - liberal" he announces up a cause "I'm a bleeding-hea- rt proudly Involved in the Civil Rights movement during the '60s he is also concerned with the plight of Native Americans (His mother's fatter was Cherokee) Opposed to the Vietnam war he nevertheless went to Vietnam with the USO he explains "because I realized that the soldiers were caught in the middle of a terrible situation" He adds "I felt the same way about the Persian Gulf war—as a policy it was a fiasco but I never put down the troops" Gamer now confides that he once was asked to run for California governor on the Democratic ticket "But I know I'm not qualified even if I was vice president of the Screen Actors Guild when Ronald Reagan was guild president" He grins letting the implication hang "Elections shouldn't be popularity contests" Gamer also has challenged the Hollywood system At the height of Maverick's popularity Warner Brothers ed Lois We soon cel- ebrate our 36th an niversary so I sup pose! aimed for longevity in my marriage as well as in my career" But his many years of long hours took a more severe toll on his body than even he had realized In 1988 Garner underwent quintuple- bypass surgery and :n t three months later b- he was operated on again for an aortic aneurysm "That's when I discovered that I'm very much a fatalist" he says "My wife was worrying to pieces but I decided that since it was out of my control I'd just accept my fate whatever that would be" Having made a full recovery—though he still suffers from arthritis in his knees and back—Gamer maintains a balance between work and leisure (golfing and reading are his two favorite ways to relax) Next winter he will be returning to television to star in the HBO film of the book Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco (Unusual for Gamer Hollywood's "Mr Nice Guy" he will be playing what charhe has described as a "greedy and acter") Called back to the set he pauses outside his trailer "You know" he muses "last year it suddenly came to me that I've been in TV and movies nearly five decades At first that was a shock—I thought 'My goodness I'm getting old!' But then !realized longeviDi ty isn't a bad goal after all" self-center- |
