Happy Birthday, James Garner!

James Garner as Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files

Once again I celebrate the birthday of my favourite actor, the wonderful Jim Garner. Sadly though, this year will be the first where this great man is no longer here to be the recipient of the many well wishes from his legion of fans, as he had passed away last summer, July 19 2014. For me, there will never be another actor quite like Jim. He was one of the most likeable personalities in TV and the movies, with a big toothy smile and amiable, easygoing manner.

In past years I've tried to caricature Jim Garner in a variety of his roles, including those from The Great Escape, Support Your Local Sheriff, and his breakout role on TV as Maverick. Still, as much as I enjoy all of his work, the role I keep returning to is his six year run as private detective, Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files. I can watch all of those episodes over and over again and never tire of them. In fact, I watched about four episodes from the 2nd season of The Rockford Files in order to do some new sketches of him before settling on this particular expression.

Jim Garner brought so much happiness and viewing pleasure to so many people over the years, that I intend to keep on celebrating his legacy here on The Cartoon Cave. Happy birthday, Jim - we all miss you!