The Rockford Files The Rockford Files The Rockford Files is an American television drama series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974, and January 10, 1980, and has remained in syndication to the present day. Garner portrays Los Angeles–based private investigator Jim Rockford, with Noah Beery Jr. in the supporting role of his father, a retired truck driver nicknamed "Rocky". The show was created by Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell. Huggins created the television show "Maverick" (1957–1962), which starred Garner, and he wanted to recapture that magic in a "modern day" detective setting. He teamed with
Rockford Morning Star Building Express" and the "Rockford Star", both first published in 1840. Both papers lasted only a year. The "Winnebago Forum", renamed "The Republican" in 1845, was the first city paper to have a lengthy publishing period (1842-1862). The "Rockford Morning Star" first published in 1888. It merged with the "Rockford Daily Register-Gazette" in 1928. Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms purchased the paper two years later, and again split the two papers, publishing the "Morning Star" as a morning daily. The paper was purchased by the Gannett Company in 1967, who merged the last two remaining Rockford papers in 1979 to create the