Always a bad day to lose a hero; a role model. As a kid, I wanted to be the coolest guys I knew: Andy Griffith, MisteRogers and/or Bugs Bunny; good, wholesome role models...ennh, 2 outta 3. Later, creative inspirations Jim Henson, Chuck Jones & Jim Starlin (from comics...if not a reader, think 'Stan Lee also able to draw') became my new idols & got me thinking about what I wanted to DO. Then one Friday night in 1978, I met a new kind of hero.
Detective shows hadn't grabbed me yet, tho' they eventually would. Mannix & Ellery Queen, Cannon & Barnaby Jones, Banacek & Columbo...all the same to me back then. And bo-ring. Somehow, I was stuck home on a non-school night & one of these generic shows came on; this was before the ubiquitous remote so I was probably too lazy to rise, walk over & change the channel by hand. It had a weird intro with a phone message left on a machine...pretty funny & turned out every episode had a different one. Little jokes at the main character's expense that clued you that this show might be different. After a KICKin' theme, we were ushered into a dingy mobile home where our hero...lived? Why, this guy wasn't a dashing hero at all; he had a cool car, sure, but made mistakes, avoided fights, was in debt & kept his gun in the cookie jar! But y'know, danged if he didn't TRY. Under a cynical, easily-annoyed, put-upon veneer, this fella had a big, loyal & righteous heart. If you were one of his few friends, he had your back, believe it. He was sincerely more interested in doing right than making money, in finding justice over revenge, & in tricking the bad guy more than punching him. 'Cos that always hurt his hand! No Lance White here (ya gotta be a fan)...this guy, I could aspire to.
I came to know James Garner outside of THE ROCKFORD FILES eventually, through MAVERICK(s), SPACE COWBOYS, THE GREAT ESCAPE, MURPHY'S ROMANCE, NICHOLS, VICTOR/VICTORIA, GOD DEVIL & BOB, HOUR OF THE GUN and tons more. Great actor & many accomplishments. But Rockford...Rockford was the guy. Cool but awkward, suave but nervous, secure but maybe not.
I suspect Rockford was closest to who Garner was; he made $25/hr in Hollywood as a male model in 1946 (!) but hated it so quit & returned to Oklahoma. He'd messed his knees up & complained about stunts but kept doing them. He was generous beyond legal need with staff & co-workers but when done wrong, he fought. He believed human concern should always outweigh the corporate & stood firm. He drew lines of conscience that cost him financially. Using a fairly rough start in life, he grew humbly strong, served his country (WW2 & Korea), became a one-woman family man (in LA!) and fought for his dreams & ideals his whole life.
'Cause that's what your hero's S'POSED to do. Seeya soon, Jimbo!
James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014)
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