James Scott Bumgarner was born in Norman, Oklahoma, to Mildred Scott (Meek) and Weldon Warren Bumgarner, a carpet layer. He dropped out of high school at 16 to join the Merchant Marines. During the Korean War, he received two Purple Hearts after being wounded twice.
After the war, he had his first acting experience in the Broadway stage play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" (1954),where he read lines to the lead actors. This led to small television roles, television commercials, and eventually a contract with Warner Brothers.
Director David Butler saw potential in Garner and gave him the attention he needed when he appeared in "The Girl He Left Behind" (1956). After co-starring in a handful of films during 1956-57, Warner Brothers gave Garner a co-starring role in the western series "Maverick" (1957).
The show was highly successful, and Garner continued in it until 1960 when he left the series in a dispute over money. In the early 1960s, Garner returned to films, often playing the same type of character he had played on "Maverick". His successful films included "The Thrill of It All" (1963),"Move Over, Darling" (1963),"The Great Escape" (1963),and "The Americanization of Emily" (1964).
After that, his career wandered, and when he appeared in the automobile racing movie "Grand Prix" (1966),he got the bug to race professionally. Soon, this ambition turned to supporting a racing team, not unlike what Paul Newman would do in later years.
Garner found great success in the western comedy "Support Your Local Sheriff!" (1969). He tried to repeat his success with a sequel, "Support Your Local Gunfighter" (1971),but it wasn't up to the standards of the first one. After 11 years off the small screen, Garner returned to television in a role not unlike that in "Support Your Local Sheriff!" (1969).
The show was "Nichols" (1971),and he played the sheriff who would try to solve all problems with his wits and without gunplay. When the show was canceled, Garner took the news by having Nichols shot dead, never to return in a sequel. In 1974, he got the role for which he will probably be best remembered, as wry private eye Jim Rockford in the classic "The Rockford Files" (1974).
This became his second major television hit, with Noah Beery Jr. and Stuart Margolin, and in 1977, he won an Emmy for his portrayal. However, a combination of injuries and the discovery that Universal Pictures' "creative bookkeeping" would not give him any of the huge profits the show generated soon soured him and the show ended in 1980.
