James Garner is an American film and television actor. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades, including his roles as Bret Maverick in the popular 1950s western-comedy series, Maverick, Jim Rockford in the popular 1970s detective drama, The Rockford Files and the father of Katey Sagal's character on 8 Simple Rules following the death of John Ritter. He has starred in dozens of movies, including The Great Escape (1963) and Paddy Chayefsky's The Americanization of Emily (1964).

Garner, the youngest of three children, was born as James Scott Bumgarner in Norman, Oklahoma, to Weldon Warren Bumgarner, a carpet layer, and Mildred Meek, who died when Garner was four years old. His mother was of part Cherokee ancestry.

Garner is a staunch Democrat.

From Wikipedia

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