James Garner: Big Screen and Small Quiz

Answer: Norman, Oklahoma

Although he did not graduate with his class from Norman High School (he got his GED in the service) nor from the University of Oklahoma, he was a life-long Sooner fan and booster. OU presented him with an honorary doctorate of letters, and he contributed half a million dollars to help endow the University's Drama Department with the James Garner Chair.

Answer: James Scott Bumgarner

In his memoir, "The Garner Files", Garner said that early on in his career, the Warner Brothers studio changed his name, dropping the Bum, without his permission. But his motivation for making the change official was for the sake of his young daughter, Kim, who was known variously as Kim Clarke, for her mother's name (Kim was born to Garner's wife by a previous marriage) as well as by Kim Garner and Kim Bumgarner, which as Garner said, could be confusing for a child. So in 1956 Garner officially changed his name to James Scott Garner.

Answer: The Great Escape

"The Great Escape" was based on a true incident in Nazi Germany's Lower Silesia (now in Poland), in which 76 prisoners escaped from a supposedly escape-proof POW camp.

At one point, McQueen had quit the project, but he was talked back into completing the picture by Garner and Coburn. One of the results of the incident was the inclusion in the picture of the motorcycle scene.

Answer: Support Your Local Sheriff

The original title of the film was to be "The Sheriff", but Garner felt that was too dull-sounding, so he came up with the final title after seeing a sign that said, Support Your Local Police. In 1971, Garner, Morgan, and Elam rejoined to do a sequel called "Support Your Local Gunfighter".

Answer: Space Cowboys

In his memoir, Garner refers to the film as "Space Geezers". At the time of the filming, Jones was the youngest of the four, at 53, Sutherland was 66, while Garner and Eastwood were both 72.

Answer: Murphy's Romance

Sally Field was also an executive producer of the film. She had to convince Columbia Pictures to film Garner in the starring role, because the studio wanted a more established Hollywood actor and mentioned Marlon Brando. On an A&E biography of Garner, Field said her kiss with Garner was the best movie kiss she'd ever had.

Answer: Sayonara

Red Buttons and Myoshi Umeki earned Academy Awards, in Supporting Actor and Actress roles, as lovers who wish to marry, but are harrassed into committing double suicide. Garner, who considered Brando to be America's best actor, said the highlight for him in making the film was working with Brando.

Answer: private investigator

In his memoir, Garner observes that Bret Maverick, his character in "Maverick", and Rockford are "...pretty much the same guy. One is a gambler and the other a detective, but their attitudes are identical." Although he does add that Rockford "isn't your typical detective."

Each episode of "The Rockford Files" opened with a message on Rockford's answering machine, usually with no relationship to the episode's plot. Each message gave a little hint into the character of Jim Rockford. For example, one message, from a market, asked what they should do with his bad check, while another, a dry cleaner, told him they'd lost his best jacket. It was usually not good news.

Answer: Streets of Laredo

The miniseries also featured Sissy Spacek and Sam Shepard. "Streets of Laredo" (published in 1993) was the second published book of McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove" series. It was followed by "Dead Man's Walk" (1995) and "Comanche Moon" (1997). In the plot line, however, "Dead Man's Walk" is first, being set in the 1840s, just prior to "Comanche Moon" (1850-1860s) and "Streets of Laredo" is last, being set in the 1890s and following "Lonesome Dove" (1870s).

Answer: Heartsounds

Garner was also nominated for a Golden Globe for his role as Harold Lear. All of the incorrect answers were also among Garner's 20+ made-for-TV movies.