Talk:James Garner

The "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" section…
...seems like an unnecessary digression into a subject more fitting for “Maverick” info; true, it is about a series in which Garner appeared, but whether or not it influenced “The Sting” seems to be neither relevant to a bio of Garner, nor more than heresay. I suspect that the truth is that Roy Huggins read exactly the same source book as the writers of “The Sting”, that is, David Maurer’s “The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man” (it was/ is the go-to book for anyone needing detail of how “long cons” work, and has influenced writers for decades, so there’s an episode of the “The Lives of Harry Lime” radio series which uses much of the same plot in the fifties, and episodes of “Hustle” drew on it in the last few years. Jock123 (talk) 20:50, 18 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Shady Deal at Sunny Acres remains the signature moment of Garner's career. In practically any informal discussion of Garner, his sequences sitting in a rocking chair and saying "I'm working on it" in response to the townspeople's queries during the course of the episode usually comes up rather quickly. Rocketvault (talk) 14:10, 22 June 2019 (UTC)

Health issues
Is the National Inquirer considered a valid source on Wiki??

On May 28, 2014, The National Enquirer reported that James Garner's health was failing rapidly and that he was battling severe depression in addition to the aftermath of his previous strokes. The article cited a source claiming that Garner had been scheduled to make a cameo appearance in a Rockford Files remake, starring Vince Vaughn, but that Garner was "too ill to take part in the show"" and that Garner felt he had "nothing left to live for".

Just asking. Zabadu (talk) 21:29, 26 June 2014 (UTC)


 * I came here wondering the same thing. I question if they meet the standard given in WP:SOURCE.  Silverhand Talk 15:02, 20 July 2014 (UTC)


 * No. Identifying reliable sources Mlpearc  ( open channel ) 23:20, 20 July 2014 (UTC)


 * It's called National Enquirer, and yes, it is a reliable source — probably more reliable than many publications considered "reliable sources" by some very-biased Wikipedia editors, despite it's reputation as a tabloid. National Equirer was sued some years ago for libel, and since then they've instituted very strict fact-checking before publishing.  The paper has carried stories weeks or months in advance of the "Main Street Media" that subsequently proved to be completely true, such as the Clinton-Lewinski sex scandal in 1998.  Garner's death a few days ago has once again proven the paper's veracity.  Please take note, user Mlpearc. — QuicksilverT @ 20:36, 21 July 2014 (UTC)


 * Note you typo'd the spelling once, too, Hg. As far as the rest of it, it's hard to tell if you're joking, but I'll take the bait. "Sued some years ago for libel" is like saying "McDonald's served a burger some years ago". Even the LA Times gets sued more than that. As far as whether they're accurate, even people that think Fox News (or CNN, take your pick) is unbiased roll their eyes when you mention the Enquirer. If you print enough half-truths and speculation, some of it will turn out to be true – "even a broken clock is right twice a day". To cite them in WP, when we're not interested in breaking news, and can wait for the real reporters, is completely unnecessary. —&#91;  Alan M 1  (talk) &#93;— 01:14, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

Cherokee ancestry
James Garner had no Cherokee ancestry. See this. All Hallow&#39;s Wraith (talk) 20:59, 20 July 2014 (UTC)


 * Is that even a reliable source? It doesn't appear to be. - BilCat (talk) 22:12, 20 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Whether or not it's reliable, it is accurate, so since it isn't true, there's no need to mention the Cherokee claim in the article (it could simply say nothing). There are genealogies of Garner's maternal grandfather (the one who was said to be Cherokee) here and here, and Garner's mother's family are listed as "White" on censuses (here, here, and here). All Hallow&#39;s Wraith (talk) 23:18, 20 July 2014 (UTC)


 * Garner has claimed in multiple sources that his mother was at least part Cherokee. You have to have reliable sources to disprove that. Looking at genealogical records and declaring they are accurate is original research, and isn't a valid reason for overturning what Garner has claimed. Even if there is a reliable source that has researched the issue, which to this point hasn't been presented Garner still made the claim, and that should still be included in the article. WP doesn't decide what is truth - it reports v what reliable sources say. - BilCat (talk) 09:07, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

German ancestry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumgartner — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.241.198.43 (talk) 12:03, 3 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Garner always maintained that he was a quarter Cherokee, right from the beginning of his career. 63.117.227.2 (talk) 22:28, 17 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Many people, especially southerners, are part Cherokee but with nothing on paper to prove this. I know about this first-hand since I'm part Cherokee myself but there is no paper documentation for this. 63.117.227.2 (talk) 22:32, 17 June 2019 (UTC)
 * That's exactly right. I'm an example myself.  There was a time when sounding off to a census taker about being part Native American was precluded by prudence. Please scroll down to the "No Native American Ancestry" section on this page to read my detailed response.  George Raft Has Risen From the Grave (talk) 12:32, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

James Garner, RIP
"Mr Garner died of natural causes," the West LA Division of the Los Angeles Police Department told the BBC, adding he died on Saturday. http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-28390309 96.234.180.180 (talk) 01:26, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Quality
I aligned the quality indicators in the banners to be B-class. After all, it's been improved via the ITN process and must be a B-class to be posted, per the instructions. The Rambling Man (talk) 21:23, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Why the weirdness about Kim's age?
My birthday is the same as Kim Clarke's birthday, 8/25/1948 (we had a joint 8th birthday party). The references to her age in this article imply there is something incorrect about the various sources of her age, but they look ok to me. Tina Kimmel (talk) 01:54, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

Book; The James Garner Files A MEMOIR, by James Garner and Jon Winokur, ISBN 9781-4516-4261-2
This book printed in 2011 has information about his life. James Garner himself explains what kind of man he is and facts about his life. They have not been verified, but these facts only James Garner would know.

Carolyn Franks-Fischer — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.82.23.29 (talk) 04:48, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Stroke in 2008
The stroke Garner suffered in May 2008 was thought to be mild at first, but later showed to be severe following hospital tests. (92.7.0.31 (talk) 10:53, 4 September 2014 (UTC))

Orphaned references in James Garner
I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of James Garner's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "LAT": From Nancy Kulp:  From James Garner filmography:  From Stephen J. Cannell:  

Reference named "Variety": From Stephen J. Cannell: Cannell wins back rights to TV series Cynthia Littleton variety.com May 4, 1998, Retrieved on August 30, 2014 From James Garner filmography:  From Michael Caine:  

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT ⚡ 12:19, 17 January 2015 (UTC)


 * The bot's request has been addressed. The orphaned refs were the same as those at James Garner filmography. It may remain to discuss whether this lengthy filmography should appear in both the main article and the spinoff filmography article.--Arxiloxos (talk) 16:31, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

No Native American ancestry
Garner had no Native American ancestry: http://ethnicelebs.com/james-garner (2A00:23C4:638A:5000:E09C:F1F7:8749:854B (talk) 09:03, 23 June 2017 (UTC))


 * That site isn't a reliable source. - BilCat (talk) 21:51, 23 June 2017 (UTC)


 * The US census shows Garner had no Native American ancestry. He just made it up because it sounded good. (2A00:23C4:638A:5000:E09C:F1F7:8749:854B (talk) 00:18, 24 June 2017 (UTC))


 * Or his family lied on the Census forms. Either reason is possible, and there could be other reasons too. The point is that Census data are primary sources, and the site reporting this info is not reliable per WP:RS. Unless a credible, reliable published secondary source has done research to disprove his claims, we can't discount his claims. - BilCat (talk) 01:43, 24 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Down south and in Oklahoma, a huge swath of the populace know for a fact that they're part Cherokee because the information was reliably passed down from generation to generation and it usually doesn't go but so far back, in my own case either great-great grandmother or great-great-great grandmother (making me either one-thirty-second Cherokee or one-sixty-fourth Cherokee; but you could readily see it in my grandfather's brother's countenance). Proving it with documentation, however, is nigh onto impossible since in most cases no such documents exist because the intense stigma at the time, both attitudinally and legally, practically ruled out meticulous documentation regarding that particular matter.  Plus proving Indian heritage is purposely made difficult because of the casino situation and the fact that anyone who can prove even the most miniscule genetic connection can, in the case of the Cherokees, automatically vote regarding tribal matters.  I'm strongly inclined to take Garner's word for it on this one despite the fact that his memory wasn't as reliable as one might hope during later interviews (at one point during his Archive of American Television interview, he insists that Roy Huggins continued to produce Maverick throughout its five-year run but in reality Huggins left after the second season, accounting for its subsequent steep drop in series quality).  While we can't prove that Garner was correct about being part Cherokee, it would be a conscious misrepresentation to conclude that he was definitely incorrect or that he or someone simply made it up out of thin air.  George Raft Has Risen From the Grave (talk) 12:16, 14 January 2021 (UTC)
 * In 1979 a descendant of Cherokee Trail of Tears survivors told me that his great-grandparents 'passed for white' in order to Homestead. <b style="color: #F64A8A;">Shir-El</b>  too  14:04, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

German Ancestry
Bumgarner comes from -> Baumgärtner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumgartner "Bumgarner was born August 1, 1989, in Hickory, North Carolina, and grew up in an area ten miles away nicknamed "Bumtown" because of the abundance of people with the surname Bumgarner who have lived there over the years after their ancestors had arrived from Germany." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Bumgarner#Early_life — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:8109:B00:4776:150:FCEE:D32B:6E80 (talk) 22:19, 24 August 2019 (UTC)

Bumgarner, Not Baumgarner
Unfortunately, Garner grew up and served in the military as James Bumgarner, not James Baumgarner. George Raft Has Risen From the Grave (talk) 22:22, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

References corrupted?
References 75 - 93 don't show up - I guess one ore more references in the golf section are corrupted causing this, but I don't understand the reference system enough to detect the error. --77.23.184.20 (talk) 10:58, 24 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Fixed. Nikkimaria (talk) 12:30, 24 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Thank you. -77.23.184.20 (talk) 01:16, 25 July 2021 (UTC)

Birth name?
The lead and infobox say "born James Scott Bumgarner" but the Early life section says "Garner was born Warwick James Gardner" - which version is correct? JezGrove (talk) 21:59, 7 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Removed. It seems to have been a vanity edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/185.179.122.242 -- BCorr &#124; Брайен 18:20, 30 December 2021 (UTC)

2nd photo with Karen Steele
This does not look like Garner. Can anyone say definitely one way or the other? If not, who is it? 73.201.77.211 (talk) 07:57, 18 February 2022 (UTC)


 * Looks like his distinctive chin to me...! JezGrove (talk) 11:10, 18 February 2022 (UTC)

Awards section
I can look to see if there is a manual of style directive defining where the awards section should go, but it does seem visually a little disruptive to have that large section in the middle of the article with the medals and blank spaces. It seems the end of the article would be the best place to display the medals earned. Does anyone know the guideline or have a comment? AliciaZag13 (talk) 23:19, 1 June 2022 (UTC)

Not of Cherokee descent
The urban myth that Garner had Native American ancestry was debunked during his lifetime. 2A00:23C5:C410:5601:4505:367C:2EC2:A106 (talk) 10:52, 8 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Without reliable published sources, we can't do anything about that. BilCat (talk) 21:03, 8 January 2023 (UTC)

World War II
The article says Garner served in WWII

He was born April 7, 1928, making him still only 17 when the war ended in 1945.

How could he have served so young?

Montalban (talk) 10:36, 18 January 2023 (UTC)
 * As was not uncommon, he lied about his age. Nikkimaria (talk) 02:34, 19 January 2023 (UTC)