Editing James Garner (section)

===1970s===
====''Nichols'' (1971–1972)====
[[File:James Garner and Margot Kidder 1971.png|right|thumb|upright|With [[Margot Kidder]] in ''[[Nichols (TV series)|Nichols]]'']]
In 1971, Garner returned to television in an offbeat series, ''[[Nichols (TV series)|Nichols]]'', in which his character was killed and replaced by a less colorful twin brother at the end of the series. In one explanation for the unusual denouement, the recast as the character's somewhat more normal twin brother would have hopefully created a more popular series with few cast changes.<ref name="USATodayBio">{{cite web | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/07/20/actor-james-garner-appreciation-robert-bianco/12909399/ | title=Appreciation: James Garner, reluctant hero | work=USA Today | access-date=July 20, 2014}}</ref> However, according to Garner's 1999 videotaped Archive of American Television interview, Garner killed his character because they had already cancelled the show and played his own twin because they had to finish the episode.<ref name="AATInterview">{{cite interview |last=Garner |first=James |subject-link= James Garner |interviewer= Karen Herman, Morrie Gelman |title=Interview with James Garner |url=http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/james-garner |location=Los Angeles, California |date=March 17, 1999 |work=[[Archive of American Television]] |access-date=July 21, 2014}}</ref>

====Feature films====
Also in 1969 he starred in ''[[Support Your Local Gunfighter!]]'' (similar to the Western spoof ''Support Your Local Sheriff!''), while in the frontier comedy ''[[Skin Game]]'', Garner and [[Louis Gossett Jr.]] starred as con men pretending to be a slaveowner and his slave during the pre-[[American Civil War|Civil War]] era.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Garner Files: A Memoir|first1=James|last1=Garner|first2=Jon|last2=Winokur|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2011|page=258}}</ref> The following year, Garner played a small town sheriff investigating a murder in ''[[They Only Kill Their Masters]]'' with [[Katharine Ross]]. He appeared in two [[Disney]] films also starring [[Vera Miles]] as his [[leading lady]], ''[[One Little Indian (film)|One Little Indian]]'' (1973), featuring [[Jodie Foster]] in an early minor role, and ''[[The Castaway Cowboy]]'' (1974) with [[Robert Culp]].

====''The Rockford Files'' (1974–1980)====
[[File:James Garner Rockford Files 1974.JPG|right|thumb|upright|Garner in the 1974 episode "Tall Woman in Red Wagon" featuring [[Sian Barbara Allen]] with David Morick as the county coroner]]
[[File:James Garner James Whitmore Jr. Rockford Files 1977.JPG|thumb|right|upright|With [[James Whitmore Jr.]] in ''[[The Rockford Files]]'' (1977)]]
In the 1970s, Roy Huggins had an idea to remake ''Maverick'', but this time as a modern-day [[private detective]]. Huggins worked with co-creator [[Stephen J. Cannell]] to rekindle the success of ''Maverick'', eventually recycling many of the plots from the original series in ''[[The Rockford Files]]'', according to both Huggins' and Cannell's [[Archive of American Television]] interviews. Starting with the 1974 season, Garner appeared as [[private investigator]] Jim Rockford for six seasons, for which he received an [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series|Emmy Award for Best Actor]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.com/celebrities/james-garner|title=James Garner &#124; Television Academy|website=Emmys.com|date=July 19, 2014|access-date=July 24, 2016}}</ref> in 1977. In the 2016 book titled ''[[TV (The Book)]]'', film and television critic [[Matt Zoller Seitz]] stated that the series gave Garner "the role he was put on earth to play".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sepinwall|first1=Alan|last2=Seitz|first2=Matt Zoller|author-link1=Alan Sepinwall|author-link2=Matt Zoller Seitz|title=TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time|date=September 6, 2016|publisher=[[Grand Central Publishing]]|isbn=978-1455588190|pages=237–238|title-link=TV (The Book)}}</ref> Veteran character actor [[Noah Beery Jr.]] played Rockford's father "Rocky".

Between 1978 and 1985, Garner co-starred with [[Mariette Hartley]], who had made an [[Emmy Awards|Emmy]]-nominated appearance on ''The Rockford Files'', in 250 TV commercials for [[Polaroid Corporation|Polaroid]], a manufacturer of [[instant film]] and cameras.<ref>{{Citation |title="The Rockford Files" Paradise Cove (TV Episode 1979) - IMDb |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0688030/characters/nm0366866 |access-date=2023-03-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mariette Hartley |url=https://www.emmys.com/bios/mariette-hartley |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=Television Academy |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=James Garner remembered by co-star Mariette Hartley |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/chi-mariette-hartley-remembers-james-garner-20140721-column.html |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=Chicago Tribune|date=21 July 2014 }}</ref> They portrayed a bantering, bickering couple so convincingly that some viewers believed that the two were married.<ref>{{Cite web |title=It Didn't Happen in 60 Seconds, but Her Ads with Jim Garner Developed Mariette Hartley's Career |author-first1=Sue|author-last1=Reilly|date=8 October 1979|url=https://people.com/archive/it-didnt-happen-in-60-seconds-but-her-ads-with-jim-garner-developed-mariette-hartleys-career-vol-12-no-15/ |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=People|language=en}}</ref> After six seasons, ''The Rockford Files'' was cancelled in 1980. The physical toll on Garner resulted in his doctor ordering him to take some time off to rest.<ref name=A&E-Biography>"James Garner: Hollywood Maverick." ''[[Biography (TV series)|Biography]]'' (October 2, 2000)</ref> Appearing in nearly every scene of the series, doing many of his own stunts—including one that injured his back—was wearing him out.<ref name=A&E-Biography/> A knee injury from his National Guard days worsened in the wake of the continuous jumping and rolling, and he was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer in 1979.<ref name=A&E-Biography/> When Garner's physician ordered him to rest, the studio immediately cancelled ''The Rockford Files''.

[[Stuart Margolin]] (who played Angel Martin in ''The Rockford Files'') said that despite Garner's health problems in the later years of ''The Rockford Files,'' he would often work long shifts, unusual for a starring actor, staying to do off-camera lines with other actors, doing his own stunts despite his knee problems.<ref name=A&E-Biography/> When Garner later made ''The Rockford Files'' television movies, he said that 22 people (with the exception of series co-star Beery, who died late in 1994) came out of retirement to participate.<ref name=A&E-Biography/>

In July 1983, Garner filed suit against [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] for [[United States dollar|US$]]16.5 million in connection with his ongoing dispute from ''The Rockford Files.'' The suit charged Universal with "breach of contract; failure to deal in good faith and fairly; and fraud and deceit". Garner alleged that Universal was "[[Hollywood accounting|creatively accounting]]", two words that are now part of the Hollywood lexicon.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/james-garner-a-lawyer-reflects-720549 |title=James Garner: A Lawyer Reflect0s on the Actor's Legal Legacy |date=July 23, 2014 |first=Neville |last=Johnson |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref> The suit was eventually settled out of court in 1989. As part of the agreement, Garner could not disclose the amount of the settlement.<ref name=Strait/><ref name=Variety-1998-09-14>[https://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117480358&categoryid=18 Garner files 'Files' suit] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119074911/http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117480358&categoryid=18 |date=January 19, 2012 }}. – [[Reuters]]. – (c/o ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]];'' September 14, 1998). Retrieved on June 1, 2008</ref>

"The industry is like it always has been. It's a bunch of greedy people," he stated in 1990.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/20/showbiz/james-garner-death/ |title=Famed actor James Garner dies at 86 |first=Todd |last=Leopold |date=July 21, 2014 |publisher= CNN }}</ref> Garner sued Universal again in 1998 for $2.2 million over syndication royalties. In this suit, he charged the studio with "deceiving him and suppressing information about syndication". He was supposed to receive $25,000 per episode that ran in syndication, but Universal charged him "distribution fees". He also felt that the studio did not release the show to the highest bidder for the episode reruns.<ref name=Variety-1998-09-14/>

====''The New Maverick'' (1978)====
Garner and Jack Kelly reappeared as Bret and Bart Maverick in a 1978 made-for-television film titled ''[[The New Maverick]]'' written by [[Juanita Bartlett]], directed by [[Hy Averback]], and also starring [[Susan Sullivan]] as [[Poker Alice]]. As had often been the case in [[List of Maverick episodes|episodes]] of the original series, Bret's brother Bart shows up only briefly toward the end.

''The New Maverick'' served as the pilot for a failed television series, ''[[Young Maverick]]'', featuring the adventures of Bret and Bart's younger cousin Ben Maverick, portrayed in both ''The New Maverick'' and ''Young Maverick'' by [[Charles Frank]]. The series itself, which presented Garner for only a few moments at the beginning of the first show, was canceled so rapidly that some of the episodes filmed were never broadcast in the United States. Despite the title, Frank was three years older than Garner had been at the launch of the original series.