Nov. 7, 1964 - Having vaulted from a popular T.V. series into full‐fledged movie stardom, James Garner (pictured with wife Lois), 36 years old, is not about to vault back. And why should he? Ten years of acting — with television’s gun‐totin’ “Maverick” as a three‐year centerpiece of national exposure — have finally netted Garner his juiciest movie role to date, that of the iconoclastic naval officer in “The Americanization of Emily.” He was New York this week to promote the recent opening, which drew him a set of approving personal reviews.
“I didn't come into acting until I was well along in life,” Garner said. “I was born in Oklahoma. My mother died when I was young. I moved in and out of several states with relatives, and I finally came out to California to live with my father for a while.” Producer Paul Gregory steered Garner toward a vocation.
“I first met him in ’45 when I was about 17, working at a Shell service station at the corner of Hollywood and Highland. Paul was a soda jerk at the Gotham Drug Store across the street, wanting to be an agent. Four years later, I met him again in Greenblatt’s Delicatessen, when I was on my way overseas in the infantry. This time he drove up in a big Cadillac and said to me: ‘I told you you should have been an actor.’
“Then coming back from Korea two years later, I saw his picture on the cover of Time or Newsweek — a producer with three hits going.” Garner lighted a Kent and puffed thoughtfully.
“When I got my discharge, I didn’t know what to do with myself. There I was at 25, laying carpets for my father’s business in Los Angeles. Well, I didn’t want to lay carpets. I’d never found a job I liked, and I’d had one no‐good year at the University of Oklahoma after the war.”
Garner contacted Gregory in Hollywood and was hired for the stage producer’s “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” graduating from a nonspeaking role as a juror to a leading role on tour. A number of T.V. parts landed him in Warners’ “Toward the Unknown” (1956) with an ironclad, seven‐year contract he later broke in a lawsuit.
“They had me — or thought they had me — for seven years. I had done three solid years of ‘Maverick’ and worthless studio pictures like ‘Darby's Rangers’ and ‘Up Periscope.’ Add a big, fat ulcer.”
“Sayonara,” Garner feels, was his best Warner break in a good supporting role. “How did I feel? Scared to death,” said Garner. “Brando noticed my hands sweating. He offered help and did help in many ways with suggestions.”
Break No. 2 was the doctor’s role in “The Children’s Hour” four years ago.
“I’d won my lawsuit against Warners, so producers were understandably cautious — offers weren’t coming. My agent arranged for me to talk with Willie Wyler, and he hired me. As drama, it was a touchy subject. I simply put myself in his hands. Just to please a director like Wyler made me proud.”
“I hope this one comes off,” he said of the new picture. “It’s a hell of an actor’s part — so well written. Most anti‐war movies are preachy or sentimental or noble. Not this one, at least.”
Garner has two more due out soon — “36 Hours,” a drama co‐starring Eva Marie Saint and Rod Taylor, and “The Art of Love,” a comedy with Dick Van Dyke and Angie Dickinson.
Asked whether he preferred comedy or drama, the actor said: “I’d rather do the story itself. I plan to be around this business quite a while. If you can, you try to balance a career with versatility, for wider audience appeal. I’m trying. The comedies I’ve done — two with Doris Day and the one with Lee Remick — those did well.”
Garner has a reputation for firmly separating career and private life.
“Yes, I’m very particular about it,” he confirmed. “We live in Bel‐Air, though they don’t like to claim us because we’re at the very edge of it. And we’re now building a house in Brentwood. I’ve a wife, Lois; our daughter, Kim, who’s 16, by my wife’s previous marriage; and Gigi — for Greta — who’s six.”
Garner was asked if he had made any mistakes in his career.
“That’s a novel question, and I mean it. I have worked hard, and success didn’t come in a flash. On a Steve Allen show, when the audience was asking questions, one woman called out to me, ‘How long did your overnight success take?’ I told her ten years.
“Mistakes? Well, let’s see. I’m a freelance. Nobody owns a penny of me now. I’ve a wife, kids, my work; I’m healthy and happy. I’ve made mistakes, yes. Oh yes — but apparently, they were the right ones.”
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