James Garner James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor, producer, and voice artist. He starred in several television series over more than five decades, including such popular roles as Bret Maverick in the 1950s western series "Maverick" and Jim Rockford in "The Rockford Files", and played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including "The Great Escape" (1963) with Steve McQueen, Paddy Chayefsky's "The Americanization of Emily" (1964), "Grand Prix" (1966), Blake Edwards' "Victor/Victoria" (1982), "Murphy's Romance" (1985), for which he received an Academy Award nomination, "Space Cowboys" (2000)
The Rockford Files electric guitar-based bridge section played by session guitarist Dan Ferguson. The theme song was released as a single and spent two weeks at No. 10 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, in August 1975. The B-side track (or "flip-side") titled "Dixie Lullabye" was also composed by Post and Carpenter. The single remained on the chart for 16 weeks and won a 1975 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement. Each episode began with the image of Rockford's answering machine, and the opening title sequence was accompanied by someone leaving Rockford a message on a Dictaphone remote Ansafone 660. As the camera focuses