This is the hardest one of all. James Garner, the understated actor is even more understated now. And underrated. The guy who made it all look so effortless is moving on with less effort. What can I say about James Garner? Icon. Iconoclast. Anti hero. Well, not really agin it, but a reluctant hero. Maverick. I wanted to be a maverick too. I walked like him. Danced like him. I wanted to be an independent too. Dressed like him. Cept black wasn’t my color. And I preferred a bathing cap. I wanted to Drive a Maverick, like a big boy!! Maverick... uh Jim taught me all I would ever know about gambling. When I took to the stage, I gambled with gravity... and lost. We met on an audition. Jim was 16; I wanted to be 16. He got the gig as a swimsuit model. He was light & breezy; charming... with a delivery to match. I was drowning in a sea of mediocrity. Next thing I knew he WAS Maverick. Not like the other cowboys. He did his own stunts. Something he picked up in the Korean War. Then Jim made “The Great Escape” to the Big screen with a big “Sayonara”, fueled his passion for Auto-Erotica With “Grand Prix” (doesn’t rhyme with dicks). He was in the fast lane; in the driver’s seat. But lil TV came a calling again. This time he did Not go west; Jim went private—private investigator on the Rockford Files. Once again, he nailed the anti-hero, bringing his disarming (even as a private dick, he wasn’t packing, but could hold his own) ways. Jim got me a gig as a filing clerk on “Rockford Files.” Said I was a natural. Only thing The Rockford Files were incomplete. They short-changed Jim, claiming he didn’t try hard enough & he had to sue. It was that ‘effortless’ thing come back to bite him on the ass. They tried to “Garner his wages”. He won... in a poker game. I was with him at the end. He was watching one of his movies on the small screen. He was watching ‘Tank’ when it tanked... again. He died in my arms.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 05:47:55 +0000
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