James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner, April 7, 1928 â July 19, 2014) was an American actor and producer. He starred in several television series over more than seven decades, including popular roles such as Bret Maverick in the 1950s Western ABC series Maverick and as Jim Rockford in the 1970s private detective NBC show, The Rockford Files.
At age 16, after working at several jobs he disliked, Garner worked as a merchant mariner in the United States Merchant Marine near the end of World War II. He liked the work and his shipmates, but he suffered from chronic seasickness.
Garner was drafted in 1950, serving his first 7 months in California. Then, during the Korean War, he went to Korea for 14 months as a rifleman in the 5th Regimental Combat Team, then part of the 24th Infantry Division. He was wounded twice: first in the face and hand by shrapnel from a mortar round, and second in the buttocks from friendly fire from U.S. fighter jets as he dived into a foxhole. Garner received the Purple Heart in Korea for the first wound. He qualified for a second Purple Heart (eligibility requirement: “As the result of friendly fire while actively engaging the enemy”), but he did not actually receive it until 1983, 32 years after the event. Garner was a self-described “scrounger” for his company in Korea, a role he later played in The Great Escape and The Americanization of Emily. He served from November 1950 to 1952 and was discharged as a corporal.
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