Trivia of James Garner

 Trivia of James Garner (7 April 1928 - 19 July 2014)

*He changed his last name from Bumgarner to Garner when he became a Warner Bros contract player. He was credited as Jim Bumgarner for his two stage roles--first as a non-speaking Member of the Court Martial Tribunal in the Broadway production of "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial", and second as a featured speaking role in the national touring company of the same play. In part because he hated speaking in public, he never again took a stage role, and the name Bumgarner "died" when his Warners contract was signed in 1956.

*Garner got his big break playing the role of professional gambler Bret Maverick in the Western series Maverick from 1957 to 1960 along Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick.The episodes featuring both Garner and Kelly were audience favorites. Bret and Bart often found themselves competing for women or money, or working together in some elaborate scheme to swindle someone who had just robbed one of them.Maverick series shocked the industry by quickly besting the powerful The Ed Sullivan Show and The Steve Allen Show in the television ratings.

*Garner enlisted in the California Army National Guard, serving his first 7 months in California. Then, during the Korean War, he went to Korea for 14 months as a rifleman in the 5th Regimental Combat Team, then part of the 24th Infantry Division. He was wounded twice: first in the face and hand by shrapnel from a mortar round, and second in the buttocks from friendly fire from U.S. fighter jets as he dove into a foxhole.He received two Purple Hearts for his service in Korea.His war experience later influence his acting in movie The Great Escape (1963).James Garner developed his "Scrounger" character from his own personal experiences in the military as a self-described scrounger for his company in the Korean War.

*During the filing of Grand Prix (1966), it was discovered that he was actually too tall for Formula One racing. In order to fit in the cars, the seats had to be removed and he sat on the frame with just a towel or a mat protecting his posterior. Additionally, the roll bars needed to be removed and fitted with taller bars, so they would look realistic and not be noticeably shorter than the top of his helmet.

*He portrayed the main character Philip Marlowe in Marlowe (1969), which also Hollywood film debut for Bruce Lee.Philip Marlowe is no stranger to film and TV, having been portrayed numerous times by the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Alan Ladd, Elliott Gould, Robert Mitchum, Dick Powell and even Danny Glover. But the one actor who most closely matches the description of the original Marlowe--over six feet, dark hair and eyes, "more than passably good looking"--is none other than James Garner.

*He was a student of Bruce Lee's in his "jeet kune do" style of martial art, after starring with Bruce Lee in Marlowe (1969).

*Of all his films, The Americanization of Emily (1964) was his favorite.Though on the last day of shooting, he broke two ribs after trying to dive over the camera during the D-Day landing scene with James Coburn.