"This is Jim Rockford. At the tone, leave your name and message. I'll get back to you."

RIP James Garner: "The lights have been turned off and the answering machine has been disconnected. Jim Rockford has left the building for the last time. At the age of 86, actor James Garner has departed. Garner’s career spanned over half a century, with his biggest early success coming as the Western legend Bret Maverick. He seamlessly transitioned to the small screen as the lead character in the wildly successful “Rockford Files.” Each episode would start with somebody leaving an amusing answering machine message, such as one about a child’s birthday party where the person asks, “Did you order the pink lady?” After the message came one of the greatest television theme songs of all time."

James Garner dies; actor changed what a hero could be like - LA Times: "When he brought this persona to life in "Maverick" and then again in "The Rockford Files," he all but rebuilt an archetype. Before Garner, heroes were heroes, which meant, nine times out of 10, they were boring. After Garner, they could be funny, irritating, lazy, fearful and complicated. Without James Garner there would be no Indiana Jones, no Starsky and Hutch, no Gregory House, no Patrick Jane, certainly no Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes. Without James Garner, adventure heroes would be no fun at all.

Unlike virtually any other TV hero before them, Bret Maverick and James Rockford (who was, after all, also written by Roy Huggins as a revamp of Bret) eschewed guns and violence, preferring to talk their way into and out of trouble. In another actor's hands, both would have been supporting roles, the weaselly if likable friend of the more macho lead. But Garner, with his great hair, handsome face and "relax, fellas" demeanor, managed to make even an aversion to physicality manly — his breakout movie role was a soldier who adhered to deeply held convictions of wartime cowardice in "The Americanization of Emily," but still got the girl. Tall and broad, Garner was clearly capable of taking down any bad guy, he would just rather not."