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 Jim also uses Angel on a few occasions to play a supporting role in the elaborate con games that he sets up to sting especially difficult adversaries. Angel is himself forever running some sort of (usually very bottom-of-the-barrel) con game, and is consistently ready to sell anyone out at a moment's notice for his own benefit — and often does. In doing so, Angel almost always gets Rockford in trouble, usually by involving him in hare-brained scams ... often without Jim's knowledge, and never with his consent. As often as not, Angel's antics result in Angel's, Jim's and/or others' arrests,