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 stated, the way Jim and Rocky talk about her would seem to indicate she had died (before the series' start). Rocky was portrayed by Noah Beery, Jr. (nephew of actor Wallace Beery) except in the 1974 pilot film, where he was portrayed by Robert Donley. Though much of the character's backstory is the same, in the pilot Rocky is portrayed as more of a small-time grifter and operator—at one point, working with a partner, Rocky unsuccessfully tries to run a minor scam on Jim, his own son. This element of Rocky's character would largely be dropped as the series started,