The Garner Files: A Memoir

I've enjoyed watching James Garner through the years and so I was eager to read his memoir (this review is based on the Kindle edition, available before other editions shipped.).

Fans looking for biographical details about Garner should be satisfied. For example, who would have guessed that Garner hates public speaking and had to battle this to work on screen? He never grew fond of acting on stage.Readers can discover how and why he grew to dislike performing live, an adversion rooted in traumatic childhood experiences.

Although there are plenty of fascinating gems about Garner in his book it is a slow read at first. Garner starts with recollections of his childhood and then moves on to his first love, time spent in the military, and struggles as an actor in the 50's - alongside Clint Eastwood and others who weren't yet famous. The book does pick up speed and finally falls into a comfortable pace.

I felt that the section about his childhood and family roots could have been tighter, focusing more on the pivotal moments rather than drier parts about his family tree. Looking at these sections from the perspective of prospective readers it is likely that they'll be eager for events to " cut to the chase" sooner.

It was inspiring to see how Garner's tenacity serves him well, keeping him from giving up when even respected acting coaches told him he'd never succeed. Friends such as Henry Fonda allowed Garner to observe and pick up valuable techniques.

All in all, well worth reading for anyone interested in Garner's take on life and acting.

Bonus features: introduction by Julie Andrews and a special section where family and friends include recollections of Garner. They include Doris Day, Tom Selleck, and Joel Grey.

Reading "The Garner Files" James Garner's long awaited memoirs written with Jon Winokur is like being in the room with Jim having a "one on one" conversation. Jim's voice comes through loud and clear (Very loud when the need arises). Having spent two years on the set of "The Rockford Files" I can attest that Jon Winokur does an excellent job of letting Jim do the talking. Jim's wonderful sense of humor, dry wit and yes his shyness comes through revealing a man who in my opinion is so good at his craft, he doesn't have to brag about his talents, he lets the work speak for itself.

His love of golf and his "Antics" on the links are some of the funniest moments of the book. Reading Jim's telling of his ability "To bury a golf club in the turf" I swore I was sitting in Jim's motor home on the set of "Rockford" laughing along with everyone else. I am so thrilled that Jon Winokur was able to do what biographers for years have been unable to do. To get James Garner to talk about...James Garner.

Whether he's Rockford, Maverick, Murphy Jones, Charlie Madison or any of the other wonderful characters Jim has played in over fifty years of acting, in "The Garner Files" you get Jim Garner, and his no holes barred approach to life, love, acting, politics all in that warm voice that comes off the page and touches our hearts like James Garner has done for 83 years.

James Garner is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, with longevity to rival Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford. He has always had the easy good looks of a man who is not vain (for precisely that reason). He has been willing to change with the times, where other actors simply fall out of our consciousness. But when I heard about his new memoir, "The Garner Files," I hesitated to read it. I was afraid I might be disappointed. I thought I might prefer to just watch "Maverick" and "The Rockford Files" or download "The Americanization of Emily" from NetFlix, take in Garner's cool charm on screen, and leave the rest of his personal storyline to my imagination.

Wouldn't you?

Well, if you would, don't.

Because James Garner is not only a good actor, he's great story teller and an even better person. To skip this book would be to miss a memoir of honesty and depth -- the story of Hollywood's Golden Age told with grace and clarity. The Garner Files is a lovely trip back to a time when guys were guys, and gals were both glamorous and tough.

I especially enjoy the way Garner writes about the women in his life. His daughters, his wife, but also his co-stars, Rita Moreno, Mariette Hartley and Julie Andrews, who, in turn, writes a heartfelt introduction to the book.

Another surprisingly moving part of the book is the chapter entitled simply "Politics." Garner, it turns out, is cut from the celebrity cloth of "Do Something" rather than the other more familiar swatch: "Lay Low, Lest Political Action Hurt Me At The Box Office." In Garner's day, the choices were presented starkly -- literally, in black and white. Garner marched on Washington, for example, in 1963, a highly controversial move; he tried to make the moral choice, every time.

They just don't make stars of the Silver Screen quite like that anymore. But if you are feeling nostalgic for a hero, read "The Garner Files."

I enjoyed how the book started. You get a chance to know Jim and understand how he really differs from the typical Hollywood type. Throughout the book, Jim is open and honest on a variety of subjects. Regardless if you agree or disagree with his politics or various philosophies on life, it is refreshing to see him speak honestly allowing the reader and inside into his personality.

So why only 3 stars? I was a Rockford Files fanatic and was disappointed by the amount of coverage it gets in the book. Regardless what Jim may think, Rockford really took him to the next level. I was hoping for more insight into the series, the stunts, and some of the key moments that moved Jim. Outside of that omission, the book can be a little dry at times. As a reader it feels like Jim is almost embarrassed to be writing the book.

The comments from others in his life at the end of the book are superb as is the summary of the films that Jim did.

Biggest surprise? What you saw on the screen is what Jim is. He was real and that is rare in Hollywood.

I was a huge fan of The Rockford Files and always liked James Garner in just about anything I saw him in. This book however has vastly changed my opinion of him. I could care less about the politics, although it seems a little childlike to just dismiss someone as a person because they don't have the same political beliefs as you. He seems very inflexible, very.... my way or the highway. I suppose it's difficult to write an autobiography without coming off as some kind of braggart, but it just seemed over the top in this one. And, as if all of his tooting his own horn wasn't enough, the end of the book where there are like 30 testimonials to how great he is was ridiculous. I wish I had never read the book and I would still have the same image of him that I had before.

I am not reviewing this book because I have not read it. I gave it three stars because it would not be fair to give it less without reading the entire book first. However I looked through it at a bookstore and have a comment about what I read. First of all, I have nothing against James Garner. "Maverick" is one of my all-time favorite westerns, "The Rockford Files" is one of my 5 favorite tv shows of the 1970s and "The Great Escape" is one of my 20 favorite films. The section of the book I delved through was about Garner's politics. First he comments that Barack Obama, far and away the worst President of my lifetime, is the second smartest man to ever run for the White House (after Adlai Stevenson. He next mercilessly condemns the late Charlton Heston and Ronald Reagan, 2 men I admired greatly. At that point I had had enough and realized that I could never purchase this book.
As stated in the beginning, this is not a review, just my opinion. You can buy this book if you want, just thought you should know.

I fell in love with James Garner when I was 4 years old and saw him on TV in an old movie on with Doris Day. For me it was love at first sight.

I watch all his movies whenever they are on TV and I was so happy to see him in films on the big screen such as the NoteBook. So I was very eager to find out more about this man I've had a crush on since I was 4.

The book was very interesting to me and I couldn't put it down. I read it in 3 days. I would have never guessed he had such a tough childhood and that the demons of that childhood would plague him for his entire life. He makes acting look so easy and he is such a strong presence on screen it was fascinating to learn how hard it is for him.

If you are a fan you will not be disappointed in this book. If you are not a fan of Mr. Garner you will be by the end of this book. I've read the reviews by people who complained he didn't speak badly of anyone. I respect him for that. Given his childhood and how he was able to become one of hollywoods best actors I would think he would be too grateful to focus on the negative. Plus he has always been a good guy, a man's man, and someone who was never in the tabloids. I suspect he did his job, went home and if he knew of anyone's secrets he figured that's their business not mine.

I'm really happy to learn more about the man who stole my heart at age 4

If you're of a certain age -- probably a Social Security and Medicare recipient like the present reviewer, or close to it -- James Scott Bumgarner, later James Garner -- will always be Bret Maverick or Jim Rockford. For me it was "The Rockford Files," airing from 1974 to 1980. My friends knew better than to interrupt my Friday evenings with phone calls.

I would never have imagined Jim Rockford as a curmudgeon -- his dad Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, played by Noah Beery Jr.,well, yes, but Garner's co-author Jon Winokur of "The Garner Files: A Memoir" (Simon & Schuster, 288 pages, two sections of black & white glossy photos, $25.99 is widely known for a series of books on curmudgeons, including "The Portable Curmudgeon."

My treasured and well thumbed "Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary" (you'll have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers! defines curmudgeon as "a cantankerous person", leading me to look up cantankerous: "ill-tempered or disagreeable." No way would I consider Jim Garner in that light! But he certainly can play a curmudgeon, he's a pro.

Born in Norman, Oklahoma on April 7, 1928, Garner admits to certain anger management issues, including throwing golf clubs (he was an avid, low handicap golfer until arthritis made him give up the game a few years ago) and even going after a heckler with his fists at a golf tournament. Unlike actor Jack Nicholson, he never used a golf club to smash another person's car, as Nicholson infamously did in 1994 when Nicholson used a golf club to bash the roof and windshield of Robert Blank's Mercedes-Benz in a road rage incident. The resulting trial yielded a reported $500,000 settlement from Nicholson, who almost ten years later starred in a movie called "Anger Management."

"The Garner Files" features an introduction by Julie Andrews, his co-star in the 1964 Arthur Hiller- directed, Paddy Chayefsky-written film "The Americanization of Emily," (Garner's favorite film) and much later in "Victor/Victoria" (1982) directed by Blake Edwards, Andrews' husband.

Garner is the kind of man women love and men admire, a good combination, which -- along with his versatility and willingness to work in both feature films and TV -- has contributed to his long and successful career. He's made more than 50 movies. The back of the book contains a filmography and a number of comments about Garner called "Outtakes" from friends, family and co-workers, including his co-author who explains how they met and how his books on curmudgeons cheered up the ailing actor.

Garner's father had a drinking problem and Garner's stepmother liked to beat him with a spatula, until, at the age of 14 he decked her. Garner eventually left high school before graduating, heading for California, a brief stint in the Merchant Marine until seasickness made him quit and army service in Korea where he was wounded by shrapnel and friendly fire. The first Korean War draftee from Oklahoma, Garner in 1983 finally received his Purple Heart. He's a big backer of more recognition to Korean "conflict" veterans, noting that as many military people died in Korea in three years as did in many more years in Vietnam.

Garner is a liberal Democrat who changed the political identification of his character in the 2000 movie "Space Cowboys" from Republican to Democratic. He says his wife of many decades, the former Lois Clarke, would "leave him" if he played a Republican. Lois contributes to the book's "Outtakes" section. Garner was born into what he called a "fair weather Methodist" family -- they would go to church if the weather was good -- and his wife is Jewish. They met at a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson in the summer of 1956.

"It was love at first sight," he writes, "the 'thunderbolt'. She was as beautiful as she was sweet. She reminded me of Audrey Hepburn, only full bodied, like Sophia Loren. And she was obviously a good Democrat. I was nuts about her from the moment we met. Still am."

Garner treats Kimberly, Lois' daughter from a previous marriage, and Greta "Gigi" Garner, their daughter, the same way, as their comments in "Outtakes" reveal. I had no problem liking Jim Rockford and I'm sure I'd like Jim Garner, too. In my years in California, I never met him, as I did his friend the late, great Dennis Weaver. I liked Weaver from the start.

Garner recounts the many injuries received on the job filming "The Rockford Files" and his health problems. I was surprised that the actor did many of his own stunts, which down through the years contributed to his physical problems, including many knee problems that led to joint replacements. He comes across as a workaholic, no doubt reflecting growing up poor in Oklahoma.

Garner has nothing but contempt for the "suits" of Hollywood, and his book recounts in considerable detail his lawsuit against Universal Studios for back money Garner believed due him for his work in "The Rockford Files." He writes that Lew Wasserman and Universal didn't invent "creative accounting" --- "they just made it a science." The studio -- employing the form of accounting the Industry is infamous for -- claimed that the wildly popular show was not as profitable as it obviously was. The suit was settled out of court in 1989 for a sum that Garner can't disclose: "It's been reported that I walked away with somewhere from $9 million to $20 million," he says.

Winokur and Garner have managed to capture what most people would visualize as the real Jim Garner. He's a car nut who raced in the Baja 1000 and formed his own racing team, and the kind of actor who doesn't look like he's acting -- the mark of a true professional. If you're a fan of movies like "Grand Prix" (1966) -- where he did his own driving and stunts -- or "The Great Escape" (1963) or "Support Your Local Sheriff" (1969) with the wonderful Joan Hackett -- you'll find much to enjoy in "The Garner Files." I just named my three favorite Jim Garner movies, but I find something to like in all of them. Nobody could accuse Garner of phoning in his performances, but if you want his frank opinion of some actors who did -- or actors Garner had issues with -- you find them in this memoir.

No, that's not redundant.
Thanks to Kindle I didn't waste too much money, but I did waste some time.
Half way through this exercise in self adoration I'd had it and quit.
I read to learn and no one is going to learn much of anything from this Garner's paean to himself.
The man actually believes he can do no wrong and is over "generous" with his criticisms of any number of now deceased personalities who are unable to defend themselves or respond to Garner's self serving, mean spirited sniping.
I had thought (hoped) he was a better man than that. Too bad, but not surprising.
In fact this may be all too typical of Hollywood types whose claim to fame is memorizing and repeating what others have written. Kids do that alot as well.
The real take on this exercise is what most of us have learned and know...you cannot become a better or more talented person by degrading your peers.
Unfortunately, even at this late stage in his life, Garner has yet to learn that. Too bad...for all of us.

...I think The Rockford Files is one of the greatest shows of all time. Maverick, Support Your Local Sheriff and Gunfighter...all undeniable classics, and all due to James Garner. This book was fun to read, but I often realize that the less I know about actors...in this case, their politics, the better. For Garner to state that President Obama is one of the smartest presidents, when I have made a list of hundreds of things he's said or done since day one that are "objectively" reckless, irresponsable, purely partisan or just plain stupid, really astounds me and goes back to my earlier statement; the less I know about an actor's views, the better. Garner can put anything his his book that he wants, but the political stuff just soured it, for me.
I've never met Garner, but anyone who could play such marvelous characters SO well, has to be a heck of a guy. Oddly enough, I would never expect Jim Rockford to feel like James Garner, politically. I mentioned that to a friend, and he sent me a link to a Youtube clip, of Garner as Rockford. It pretty much sums up how I think "Rockford" would feel about much of the political mindset of some young people, today, but, I'm sure, is a far cry from how Garner feels.
[....]
If you can overlook his politics, a pretty good read.