Jim Rockford (television character)

James Scott Rockford
First appearance	"Backlash of the Hunter"
Last appearance	If It Bleeds... It Leads (TV movie)
Created by	Stephen J. Cannell
Portrayed by	James Garner
Information
Aliases	Many, including "Jim Taggart" and "Jimmy Joe Meeker" (two used most often).
Gender	Male
Occupation	Private Investigator
Family	Joseph "Rocky" Rockford (father), Unnamed mother

James Scott Rockford is a fictional character on the television series The Rockford Files. The character, played by James Garner, is a struggling private investigator operating in the greater Los Angeles area. Rockford is the principal character of the series, and Garner was the only actor to appear in every episode of the series.

Character background

Unlike many other fictional "private eyes", he is an ex-convict, albeit one who was falsely imprisoned (at San Quentin Prison) and later fully pardoned. One episode tells that because of the carelessness of his Parole officer, Rockford had to hire an attorney to be free of parole violations.^[1]

Rockford operates a small private investigation service out of his cluttered beachside mobile home in Malibu, California. He specializes in cold cases, missing person cases and small-time insurance scams to avoid confrontations with police; he charges a flat rate of $200 a day plus expenses for each case, which, in a running gag, he seldom actually receives. He is consistently shown to be short on money; he typically wears sport coats and low-priced off-the-rack suits and his lone indulgences are an answering machine (the source of another running gag at the beginning of each episode) and the latest gold colored Pontiac Firebird Esprit automobile, traded in each year of the series for the newest model. (Garner did not like the look and handling of the 1979 model, so the 1978 was reused for the 1979–80 season; this was an apparent use of product placement in the series.)

Rockford shared many personality traits with the lead characters of two of Garner's previous series, Maverick's Bret Maverick and Nichols's Frank Nichols. Rockford was usually unarmed (he occasionally carried an unlicensed pistol but never used it) and, despite trying to avoid trouble and use reason and negotiation to solve problems, would sometimes be pressed into a fistfight as a last resort.

Military service

During the series, it is also revealed that because of Sgt./PFC Rockford's actions in Korea, he was a sergeant who was WIA and awarded a Silver Star while serving in the Korean War^[2] with the 24th Infantry Division. After being busted to Private he was promoted to Sgt after conning the North Koreans to exchange a tank for 400 cases of K rations so his encircled unit could escape; however he was soon busted back to PFC when it was discovered he was running a string of pool halls in Seoul and stealing a Major General's car. ^[3] He also forgot to return his service pistol and gets a call from the army about it after 23 years.^[4] A running gag is whenever Rockford gets involved with cases connected to members of his old Division, Jim is usually in trouble.^[5][6] (The reference to the 24th Division is an inside reference to James Garner's real-life service; Garner actually served in the 5th Infantry Regiment (United States) of the 24th Infantry Division aka "Taro Division" during the Korean conflict.)

Personal life

Jim dated many women during the course of The Rockford Files (with most relationships not lasting longer than a single episode), most notably his lawyer, Beth Davenport, whom he was said to have dated seriously before the series began. In the 1980s, he was once married to a woman named Halley “Kit” Kittredge according to the storyline in the first of the Rockford Files made for television movies, 1994's "The Rockford Files: I Still Love L.A." In one of the first scenes, Jim is seen with his ex-wife Kit, played by Joanna Cassidy. It is unknown when they were married, for how long, or the reason for their divorce. They had no children. He maintains a close relationship with his father Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, and his closest friend is LAPD Sgt. (later Lt.) Dennis Becker (who also serves as his LAPD contact); in addition, he has a large group of colorful friends-one who particularly is the comic relief Angel Martin (Stuart Margolin); a running gag is that Angel's hare-brained con jobs usually result in Jim getting beaten up, put in jail or some kind of trouble. He enjoys fishing, and would rather spend time doing that than working. Jim is frequently seen eating tacos and he sometimes has them for breakfast. He often describes himself as "chicken," though often his actions speak otherwise. He lives in an exterior battered (but very well appointed and homey on the interior) mobile home on the beach at Malibu.

Reception

In 1999, TV Guide ranked him # 25 on its 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time list.^[7] AOL TV named him one of TV's Smartest Detectives.^[8]

References in other media

The detective story writer Stuart M. Kaminsky has written two books with Jim Rockford as the main character, entitled The Green Bottle and The Devil on My Doorstep.

In "Ruskie Business", an episode of the television series Veronica Mars, Logan Echolls calls the titular character "Rockford", referencing Jim Rockford.^[9]

External links

• Thrilling Detective

References