James Garner: His Extraordinary Life (Jerry Skinner Documentary)

this is James Garner one of the most loved and respected actors in Hollywood not only for his acting ability but also for his personal life he was born James Scott Bumgarner on the 7th of April 19 and 28 in Norman Oklahoma James had two older brothers Jack and Charles now this is a picture taken in 1931 of James his mother Mildred and his two brothers they're standing in front of gas pumps at his daddy's grocery and hardware store Weldon James's daddy whom they called billed Bumgarner his store was located in the Denver community just outside of Norman now the location of his store is now gone because it's underwater beneath Lake Thunderbird James Garner's family has deep roots in the founding of Oklahoma actually his mother Mildred was one-half Cherokee and years later garner will name his movie production company Cherokee productions in honor of his mother's Cherokee heritage only a few days after James's fifth birthday his mother suddenly dies of heart disease on the 17th of April 1933 it was a tremendous shock to everyone Mildred Scott Bumgarner is buried at the Fairview Cemetery in Shawnee Oklahoma she was only 26 years old after his mother's death the boys were separated living with relatives until the next year in 1934 when they're dead bill married Wilma Reese anger their nickname was red according to the boys the next nine years they suffered under their stepmothers strong hand including severe beatings and verbal abuse the boys said that she was especially mean to young James in 19 and 43 when James was 14 he had a heated argument with Wilma she left never to return after Wilma left their dead moved to Los Angeles and the boys stayed in Norman with family James went to work doing odd jobs and trying to make it on his own with the help of his family when Gardner was 16 he joined the Merchant Marines it was 1944 towards the end of the Second World War James was discharged after a few months due to severe chronic seasickness after leaving the Merchant Marines Garner went to California where his dead was he entered Hollywood high school and while attending school one of his teachers suggested that he tried modeling he did but it didn't last long and he hated it he said so each son quit school and returned back to Oklahoma he attended Norman High School where he played sports and was popular but not the best student till months told a story about standing in front of the Woolworths and Norman with a few of his friends he was bragging and said that he could just walk off with that peanut machine and they dared him to so he picked it up and he walked down Main Street he said then he didn't know what to do with it so he took it back he said after that everybody started calling him slick in the 12th grade Jim quit school and joined the Oklahoma National Guard and he was quickly sent to Korea during the next 14 months James Garner seen action his unit was on the front lines when the Chinese came across the 38th parallel his unit suffered 60% casualties Jim was wounded twice and received two Purple Hearts one with an oak leaf cluster now this is a picture of James Garner and a Korean offered by the name of Joe Cole that Gardner took it on his self to take care of while he was in Korea in 1952 he was discharged from the military he eventually returned to Los Angeles and went to work with his dead laying carpet laying carpet was bad on his knees and painful because of his war wounds it would affect him and grow worse the rest of his life eventually having to have both knees replaced garden once said that for pain he smoked marijuana and thought that it should be legalized and that alcohol should be illegal as luck would have it while he was on his way to an interview for another job trying to get away from carpet lien he spotted us and advertised and Paul Gregory's talent agency and he wondered if it could possibly be the same Paul Gregory he was friends with when he attended Hollywood high it was he said that he would have never stopped to see except a woman pulled out of the parking spot right in front of the agency he also stated that he wouldn't have been an actor today if it hadn't been for that woman pulling out Gregory told garner that he could get him a spot in a play called the Caine Mutiny court-martial it was starring he Lloyd Nolan just standing there and not saying anything was better than laying carpet he said that he had no desire to be a movie star he just wanted a way to make a living but Caine Mutiny led to a hundred and fifty dollar a week contract with Warner Brothers this led in nineteen and fifty five to his first on-camera appearance on Warner Brothers weekly TV show Cheyenne that starred Clint Walker that in August of 1956 James Garner meets Lois Clark and aspiring TV actors Lois said that Gemma always said that they admit at an ad Lee Stevens Presidential ready but it wasn't true it was at a Sunday afternoon barbecue at a mutual friend's home in Studio City after meeting they went to dinner every night for two weeks straight and then married at the Beverly Hills courthouse they honeymoon for two days at the lodge Olien hotel in San Diego garter said he had $77 and it took every bit of it now this was a true Hollywood romance that lasted almost 58 years until his death it was James Garner's only mage and Lois had a 7 year-old daughter named Kimberly from her previous page Laura said that she was a total wreck when she met Jim Garner her daughter Kimberly was in the hospital and at that time had polio within a year Jim adopted Louise stouter Kimberly and two things happened to James Garner the next year in 1957 first he was a sand of star with Marlon Brando in the movie sayonara and while that was being filmed he learned that he had been picked by Warner brother brace to star and a new TV Western called maverick on September the 22nd 1957 maverick made its debut Jim said that maverick made him a star but not rich although the show was a major success its star was only making 500 per week while starring as Bret maverick James and loys had a baby girl greta scott garner they called her GG and that same year he also played in his first starring role in a movie Darby's Rangers James Garner was one of a few actors that was able to cross between television and movies successfully in 1960 after three seasons on maverick the star asked for a raise he thought they'd give him a raise after the show was making so much money he said he thought surely they could not be so crazy as to turn him down they were the studio begins shifting the cast around and brought in a co-star Jack Kinney when the writers strike occurred in Hollywood they laid Gardner off without pay claiming that there was no script garner sued and won he showed that Warner Brothers had 15 writers they were using under the table in court the studio admitted that Gardner was right the court also released him from his contract and from 1961 through 1970 he starred in some 20-something movies including the one that he liked the best the Americanization of Emily with Julie Andrews next he did support your local sheriff with Joan Hackett and in 1963 he co-starred in the Great Escape with his friend Steve McQueen and others garter said the role he played as a scrounger came easy as that that was what he was when he was in Korea also in 1963 he starred with Darcy Day in the movie move over darling in 1974 garner returned to television in the Rockford Files while his show was a success Garner developed health problems he did his own stunts and in the process broke bones strain muscles and had five knee operations once on both knees at the same time although he suffered depression because of the pain and said he was sick and tired of it all ironically he won an Emmy for Rockford in 1977 and in 1979 he separated from his wife Lois for 18 months before they reconciled in 19 and 81 when he was asked about this years later Jim said 99% was pressure from Rockford it was not us it was me needing to get away and get my head together and in 1980 the Rockford Files stopped all of a sudden Jim's doctors ordered rest for his bleeding ulcers although garner owned 37 and a half percent of the Rockford Files he suspected that the studio was cheating him out of profits from syndication and foreign sales Jib said right is right and he always took up for the cast or anyone that was being bullied whether it was Universal Studios or an abusive stepmother he never decked anyone he said that didn't deserve it Jim filed suit against Universal and it took until 1989 to reach a settlement he stated he wasn't allowed to reveal the amount that they paid him but that his wife Lois had to remind him to wipe the smile off his face after Rockford in 1981 he starred in a series of commercials for Polaroid with actress Mariette Hartley and in nineteen and eighty four Jim's brother Charles dies the next year in 1985 James stars with Sally Fields in Murphy's romance for this role he was nominated for an Oscar now after James's death in 2014 Sally Field said my heart is broken there are a few people on this planet that I've adored as much as I've adored James Carter a year after Murphy's romance Jim's dead Bill Bumgardner dies March in 1986 he was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills California he was 85 years old in 19 and 88 James Garner was rushed to the cedars-sinai hospital with chest pains where he had quintuplet bypass heart surgery two years after his heart surgery garner had replacement knee surgery and in 1994 he started with Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster in the new Maverick in 2004 at the age of 76 garden gives one of his best performances in the movie notebook with Gina Rollins Carter was asked about his own love affair with his wife Lois one of the longest marriages in Hollywood he said when there's trouble and your young love will overcome when you're older mature attitudes prevail I just let her get away with murder when asked about the women in his life that he had worked with he said I've worked with a lot of great-looking actresses and I made it my business not to dislike any of them I also made it my business not to fall in love with any of them either and in May of 2008 when Jim was 80 years old he suffered a severe stroke he was cared for at home by his family and 2011 month September 13th Jim's brother Jack garner also an actor dies at the age of 84 two years later on July the 19th 2014 around 8 p.m. medics were called to 33 Oakmont Drive in Brentwood the house that James alloys Gardner had lived in for 58 years he was pronounced dead of a massive heart attack at his request there was no memorial service and his body was cremated James Garner star is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 69 27 Hollywood Boulevard now this is a ten-foot statue in Norman Oklahoma educated to James Garner a true Oklahoman that often returned to his hometown where many of his relatives still live after James Garner's death Gigi one of his daughters said my father was the only man that actually lived his life by the Golden Rule he spent his life discreetly do it random acts of kindness my dad went through his entire Hollywood career without a single scandal or blemish James garter was 86 years old you

Channel: Jerry Skinner

Views: 2,761,572

Rating: 4.875484 out of 5

Keywords: James Garner, Rockford Files, Maverick, Notebook, Sally Field

Id: w_03n_PyVqA

Length: 18min 15sec (1095 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 03 2016