OUTLINE: The Rockford Files
The main character was played by James Garner ( “Jim Rockford”). James Garner was born April 17, 1928 in Oklahoma. James Garner dropped out of high school to be a merchant marine, continued for a while with odds and ends jobs. He was 6’3’’ and his nickname was “Slick”. Garner received a purple heart when injured in the Korean war. When out of the war, Garner had his first chance to act. His friend landed him a non-speaking role in the Broadway play, “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial” (1954). He was then discovered by Warner Brothers and did many T.V. commercials for them. This helped him land a spot in the 1956 movie, “The Girl He Left Behind”. He then costarred in the T.V. show “Maverick from 1957-1960. He was then in other movies from 1963-1966, such as, “The Thrill of it All”, “Darling More Over”, “The Great Escape”, “The Americanization of Emily” and “Grand Prix”. In 1969 he was in the western comedy, “Support Your Local Sheriff”. And in 1971 he was in the T.V. series “Nichols”. It wasn’t until 1974 that James Garner landed his Claim to fame role. He became T.V.’s classic Private Eye Jim Rockford in ‘The Rockford Files”. He more recently was in the 1985 movie “Murphy’s Romance” which was nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe. He also appeared in Hollywood’s remake of the T.V. series “Maverick” in 1994. he was also in the 2000 movie “Space Cowboys” with Clint Eastwood.
Rockford Files was a NBC Crime Drama. The type of drama was LEADER, where one person is violated by others and the leader is usually the character that faces blame. James Garner’s role of “Jim Rockford” wasn’t a flashy T.V. Private Eye and was no superhero. This is what made him so popular because this made him more human and likeable by viewers. “Jim Rockford” lived in a trailer, wore lots of browns, blues, and plaids. His car was the only new thing he had. He had a new car each season even though his character never seemed to make much money. “Jim Rockford” was an ex-convict, imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. This gave him a twist- he was a PI with a difference. He always took cases that were closed. He had a knack for turning up evidence that would reverse already established verdicts.
“Jim Rockford” had a love-hate relationship with “Detective Becker”(Joe Santos). Jim was always getting him involved with situations he’d rather avoid.“Angel Martin”(Stuart Margolin) was Jim’s ex-con friend that was constantly in need of Jim’s help. “Beth Davenport”(Gretchen Corbett) was Jim’s on and off love interest. She was always there to bail him out of trouble. “Rocky”(Noah Beery) was Jim’s father and a truck driver. Dad on occasion helped Jim with situations with Beth.
The Rockford Files has a total of123 episodes, Running from September 13, 1974 to July 25, 1980. There are books for many of the episodes, very popular to this day, most were checked out at Wilmington’s downtown library. There were nine made for T.V. movies including a pilot. James Garner also appeared on the cover of three covers of T.V. Guide. The T.V. show was so popular, Garner was nominated for the Emmy of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama series in the second, third, fourth, and fifth season. Margolin was nominated for Outstanding Supporting actor in the third season. Beery is nominated for Outstanding Supporting actor in the third, fifth, and sixth season. The series in nominated for Outstanding Drama Series in the fifth and sixth season. Garner wins the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in Drama Series during the third season. Margolin won the Emmy for Outstanding supporting Actor in Drama Series during the fifth and sixth season. The series itself won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series during its fourth season.
The show is still currently popular
to this day! It still plays on TV Land every day at 1:00 in the afternoon and
at midnight. The reruns at one point were taken off the air and angry viewers
wrote letter after letter to get it back on the air. To this day there are
on-line chat rooms where fans can go talk about their favorite show such
as: alt.tv.Rockford-files
Bibliography