Jack Edward Garner was an American film and television actor, known for The Rockford Files and numerous other television roles. He was the brother of James Garner.(September 19, 1926 – September 13, 2011)
Early life and career
Garner was born Jack Edward Bumgarner in Norman, Oklahoma, on September 19, 1926, to Mildred Scott Meek and Weldon Warren “Bill” Bumgarner.[1][3][5] He was the second of three brothers including actor James Garner (youngest) and Charles Bumgarner (oldest).[3][5] The family operated a general store on Denver Corner in eastern Norman.[3] The brothers were sent to live with relatives after their mother died, while Garner's father remarried several times.[1]Garner was a star athlete at Norman High School, playing on the state championship basketball team in 1945.[3] Jack Garner played as a minor league baseball pitcher for a team affiliate with the Pittsburgh Pirates for eleven years.[1][5] He then worked for several golf courses in Florida after leaving the minor leagues.[5] Years later, brother James Garner wrote about Garner's athletic abilities in his memoir, "At Norman High, he was a point guard on a championship basketball team and quarterbacked an all-state football team...But his best sport was baseball: Jack was a pitcher in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization for 11 years. He was a better athlete than I was and a lot more outgoing. I was always in his footsteps."[3] Later in life, Garner became a golf pro at the Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, California.[2][5] His golf experience allowed him to coach at the country club and elsewhere.[4] Garner taught Dan Aykroyd, his co-star in the 1996 film, My Fellow Americans, to properly swing a golf club for a scene in that movie.[4]
Acting
Jack and James eventually moved to Los Angeles to reconnect with their father, who had relocated to southern California.[1][2][4] Both changed their names to Garner after the move west.[3] The third brother, Charles Bumgarner, who died in 1984 at the age of 60, remained in Norman and became a school administrator.[3] Garner entertained as the lead singer for the Coconut Grove nightclub, located in the now defunct Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles early in his career.[5]Jack Garner began acting in television during the late 1960s.[1] His roles included guest appearances on Love, American Style, The Bionic Woman, The Doris Day Show, Daniel Boone, The Green Hornet, Medical Center and Murder, She Wrote.[1][4] He appeared in The Rockford Files in more than sixty television episodes of the show.[1] Garner later appeared in Bret Maverick portraying Jack the Bartender from 1981 to 1982.[1] Garner reprised his Rockford Files roles in a series of television movies based on the series from 1996 to 1999.[2]
Garner's film roles included Wild Rovers in 1971, Maverick in 1994, My Fellow Americans in 1996 and Sunset in 1988.[1]
Jack Garner suffered a fall in September 2011, which resulted in a broken hip.[3][4] Doctors determined that his heart was not strong enough to withstand surgery to repair the hip so Garner was transferred to a facility for long-term care.[3] However, his condition suddenly worsened within one week.[3] Garner died at a hospice in Rancho Mirage, California, near his home in Palm Desert, on September 13, 2011, six days shy of his 85th birthday.[2] He was survived by his former wife, Betty Bumgarner; his daughter, Liz Bumgarner, and son-in-law, Don Dykstra; and brother, James Garner.[1][2] His memorial service was held at the Wiefels Mortuary in Palm Springs, California.[4]
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Wild Rovers | ||
| 1996 | My Fellow Americans | President Haney's Caddy |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Streets of Laredo | ||
| 1974 | The Rockford Files |
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