James Gardner, R.I.P

One of my all-time favorite actors, James Gardner, has died. He was a very talented, intelligent, and outspoken man who always marched to his own drumbeat. He had a highly successful film career; his own favorite of his films, The Americanization of Emily, was my favorite of his films, too, although The Great Escape comes close. I think his television career was even more impressive, for he starred in two ground-breaking shows that are truly iconic, Maverick in the late 1950’s and The Rockford Files in the 1970’s. He had a long and memorable life, reaching the advanced age of 86, so we do not mourn him in the same way we would someone whose life was cut cruelly short. But I think that the world’s light is a little dimmer without him.