Actor James Garner, left, smiles as he holds up the Purple Heart medal presented to him in a ceremony in this Jan. 24, 1983, file photo taken in Los Angeles, California. Garner was wounded in April 1951 while with US Forces in Korea, but his medal was never presented to him. Garner, wisecracking star of TV’s “Maverick,” died Saturday, July 19, 2014, according to Los Angeles police. He was 86. AP PHOTO/LENNOX MCLENDON
LOS ANGELES—James Garner, the star of the hit TV series “Maverick” and “The Rockford Files,” has died at the age of 86, celebrity website TMZ reported on Sunday.
No cause of death was given.
Garner made his name on television as the wry, laid-back professional gambler and gun slinger Bret Maverick in the 1957-1960 cowboy series that included guest appearances by Hollywood stars such as Clint Eastwood and Roger Moore.
In the 1970s, Garner starred as James Rockford, a witty and resourceful private detective in the 1974-1980 series “The Rockford Files.”
In 1977, Garner won an Emmy for his work in the series.
Garner also appeared on the big screen in movies like “The Great Escape” (1963) with Steve McQueen; “The Americanization of Emily” (1964) and “Victor Victoria” (1982), both with Julie Andrews; and the romantic comedy “Murphy’s Romance” (1985), for which he was nominated for an Oscar.
He also costarred in the 1994 movie version of “Maverick” along with Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster.
More recently Garner appeared in Eastwood’s “Space Cowboys” in 2000 and “The Notebook” in 2004, and had a recurring role in the ABC comedy “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter” which ran from 2003-2005.
Born James Scott Bumgarner in Norman, Oklahoma, Garner dropped out of school and joined the Merchant Marine at the end of World War II but saw no action.
He later joined the US Army and served during the Korean War, where he was twice wounded.
He became an actor encouragement from a high school friend, working his way up from TV commercials.
People magazine described Garner as “one of Hollywood’s most likable leading men on the big screen and on TV” for 50 years.