The one and only James Garner (1928-2014) passed away yesterday. Best remembered for his portrayal of slick-talking gambler Brett Maverick and Westlake-esque private detective Jim Rockford, Garner inspired the term “marshmallow macho”. That description perfectly captured Garner’s special place in the history of male role models (as much as I usually hate the expression “role models”) in the larger culture.
For so many American males James Garner and the characters he brought to life represented a happy medium between psychotically macho Clint Eastwood types and the hopelessly femmey Alan Alda types. Garner’s film roles are often overlooked but Balladeer’s Blog will make a point of examining them in the months ahead. In addition Garner served in the Korean War and won two Purple Hearts.
This man was a true original and with his passing he may finally receive all of the acclaim that he always deserved.
Balladeer's Blog 
I loved him. What a loss. I read a stupid piece on the Daily Mail which said his last ‘big’ role was as…wait for it…”the man who played the older Ryan Gosling in The Notebook”…what a dumb shit who wrote that.
Thanks Jo. Leave it to a Daily Mail writer to cite THAT movie. Sheesh! Did you ever see him in Duel to Diablo? That one has a kind of sympathetic attitude to Native Americans. Garner’s character was even married to one in the movie.
Though this article came from a conservative website, I think you might like it anyway:
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/james-garner-anti-authoritarian-everyman/
Thanks! I will check it out. I never really mind websites that have a point of view, I’m just tired of people thinking hardcore liberal or hardcore conservative are their ONLY choices in life.
Nice thing about the article is, any Jim Gardner fan of any political stripe can enjoy it.
I liked him in that movie where he and Jack Lemmon played ex-presidents.
Yeah, that was fun!
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