Jim Rockford (television character) Logan Echolls calls the titular character "Rockford", referencing Jim Rockford. Jim Rockford (television character) James Scott Rockford is a fictional character on the television series "The Rockford Files". The character, played by James Garner, is a struggling private investigator operating in the greater Los Angeles area. Rockford is the principal character of the series, and Garner was the only actor to appear in every episode of the series. Unlike many other fictional "private eyes", he is an ex-convict, albeit one who was falsely imprisoned (at San Quentin Prison) and later fully pardoned. One episode tells that because of the carelessness
The Rockford Files and Beery's version of Rocky was honest and reliable, albeit sometimes gullible and too trusting. Angel Martin: Rockford's scheming former San Quentin cellmate, Evelyn "Angel" Martin was something of a comic relief character played by Stuart Margolin. Jim employs Angel as an operative from time to time, often to gather street-level information, or to help him access the files of the newspaper where Angel works as a low-level filing clerk. Keeping this job is a condition of Angel's parole; even so, it's doubtful that the ever-shifty Angel would be capable of doing so, except that his brother-in-law owns the paper.