Editing James Garner (section)

===Earliest acting roles (1954-1957)===
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In 1954, [[Paul Gregory (producer)|Paul Gregory]], a friend whom Garner had met while attending Hollywood High School, persuaded Garner to take a nonspeaking role in the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] production of ''[[The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (play)|The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial]]'', where he was able to study [[Henry Fonda]] night after night.<ref name="Indie2"/> During the week of Garner's death in 2014, [[Turner Classic Movies|TCM]] broadcast a marathon, July 28, of a dozen of his movies,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wiebe |first=Sheldon |title=TCM Remembers James Garner With An all-Day Marathon, July 28th! – EclipseMagazine |url=http://eclipsemagazine.com/tcm-remembers-james-garner-with-an-all-day-marathon-july-28th/ |access-date=2024-04-25 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kiesewetter |first=John |title=TCM salutes James Garner all day Monday |url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/tvandmediablog/2014/07/28/james-garner-tcm-turner-classic-movies-doris-day-julie-andrews/13262615/ |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=The Enquirer |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-07-21 |title=TCM to honor James Garner with 12-film marathon |url=https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/tcm-to-honor-james-garner-with-12-film-marathon-s11617 |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=Newsday |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=CALIFORNIAN |first=THE BAKERSFIELD |date=2014-07-23 |title=TCM shakes up schedule for James Garner marathon |url=https://www.bakersfield.com/news/tcm-shakes-up-schedule-for-james-garner-marathon/article_9f64d6be-853a-50f6-93f3-c74ea8d1935a.html |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=The Bakersfield Californian |language=en}}</ref> introduced by [[Robert Osborne]], who said that Fonda's gentle, sincere persona rubbed off on Garner, greatly to Garner's benefit.

Garner subsequently moved to television commercials<ref name="Scotsman">{{cite news|first=Brian|last=Pendreigh|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-james-garner-actor-1531120|title=Obituary: James Garner, actor |newspaper=[[The Scotsman]]|date=2014-07-21|access-date=2016-07-24}}</ref> and eventually to television roles. In 1955, Garner was considered for the lead role in the Western series ''[[Cheyenne (1955 TV series)|Cheyenne]]'', which went to [[Clint Walker]] because the casting director could not reach Garner in time (according to Garner's autobiography). Garner wound up playing an Army officer in the 1955 ''[[Cheyenne (1955 TV series)|Cheyenne]]'' pilot titled "Mountain Fortress". His first film appearances were in ''[[The Girl He Left Behind]]'' and ''[[Toward the Unknown]]'' in 1956. Also in 1956, Garner appeared with [[Ralph Bellamy]] and [[Gloria Talbott]] in a half-hour television episode of ''[[Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre]]'' titled "Star Over Texas" in which a rivalry exists between Bellamy and Garner over Talbott until they're attacked by a group of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].

In 1957, he had a supporting role in the TV anthology series episode on ''[[Conflict (American TV series)|Conflict]]'' entitled "[[Man from 1997]]," portraying Maureen's brother "Red"; the show stars [[Jacques Sernas]] as Johnny Vlakos, Gloria Talbott as Maureen, and [[Charlie Ruggles]] as elderly Mr. Boyne, a [[Time travel|time-travelling]] [[librarian]] from 1997, and involved a 1997 Almanac that was mistakenly left in the past by Boyne and found by Johnny in a bookstore.<ref>{{YouTube|FBlfxbH1w3Y|title=''The Man From 1997'' (TV Pilot)}}</ref> The series' producer [[Roy Huggins]] noted in his [[Archive of American Television]] interview that he subsequently cast Garner as the lead in ''[[Maverick (TV series)|Maverick]]'' due to his comedic facial expressions while playing scenes in "Man from 1997" that were not originally written to be comical (Huggins knew this because he'd written the episode himself). Garner changed his last name from Bumgarner to Garner after the studio had credited him as "James Garner" without permission. He then legally changed it upon the birth of his child, when he decided she had too many names.<ref name=GoogleVideo/>
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