Miguel: she played Gene Hackman’s long-suffering girlfriend in “The Conversation”. A small role but she was heartbreaking in it.

Huxley: yes, James Garner had a lousy childhood. His mother died when he was five and he endured an abusive stepmother. His father departed for California soon after that marriage broke up and left Garner and his brothers to fend for themselves in Oklahoma. Garner bounced around during the Depression and WWII, eventually joining the Merchant Marine at 16. He later joined the Army and saw combat in Korea, where he was twice wounded. He drew on his experiences as a “scrounger” in the Army for his role as a General’s aide in “The Americanization of Emily” (1964)–his favorite movie role. Smart, centered guy. And a lifelong Democrat.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708419/

A fun bottle episode.

Lovely quote about Teri Garr. I had no idea. Though it’s true there are those artists who Make It in spite of all and are still decent grounded individuals.

Unless I’m deceived, James Garner — Maverick, Rockford — had an horrific early life, but in person and on screen was a decent, good-natured, talented fellow.

It’s curious that Lange and Garr were both up for supporting actress Oscars in “Tootsie.” Lange should have been considered a lead actress and wouldn’t have had much shot at an Oscar — but maybe the Academy thought that Dustin’s Dorothy Michaels was the female lead.

Rest in peace, Teri Garr and thank you for the wonderful memories!

When Garr was 11, her father died in Los Angeles of a heart attack. She recalled that his death “left us bereft, without any kind of income. And I saw my mother be this incredibly strong, creative woman who put three kids through college — one of my brothers is a surgeon. Any kind of lessons we wanted, we had to have scholarships or sweep the floors. It had to be free. And so we always had to try harder. That was instilled in me very early.” During her youth, Garr expressed interest in dancing and trained extensively in ballet. “I’d go for three, four hours a day; my feet would be bleeding”, she recalled. “I’d take buses all over the city just to go to the best dancing schools. You could just stand there and be quiet and beat yourself up, push the body.”