KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:
OK, we don't to let that play much longer for you to know where we're going with this - the theme from "The Rockford Files" and a few seconds to remember actor, James Garner. He died yesterday at home, here in Los Angeles. He was 86. A native of Oklahoma, Garner was a Korean War vet. He got his start in Hollywood with small parts in Westerns. That led to a starring role in the TV show "Maverick." He did films and commercial work, but it was his role as LA private investigator Jim Rockford that won him an Emmy and set his image as a grumpy, slightly miscast, leading man. I don't know about you, but we cannot get that theme song out of our heads. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.