James Garner had a troubled life before he became a famous actor and was able to overcome many obstacles on his path to fame. His parents, Weldon Bumgarner and Mildred Scott, both passed away when he was only five years old. He was born to them.
James had two elder brothers named Jack Garner, who was an actor, and Charles Bumgarner, who was a school administrator. They shared a residence in the space that was formerly occupied by Weldon’s hardware store and post office, which lacked indoor plumbing. When he was a mature adult, he came to the conclusion that his mother’s death was most likely the result of an unsuccessful abortion surgery.
After the passing of their mother, the three boys spent time with various members of their extended family until their father wed their stepmother, Wilma. After the fire that destroyed his business, their father made a career change and began working as a carpet layer. This led to the development of his alcoholism.
There was not a single positive thing that the Garner boys could say about their stepmother. Jack’s words from the past describe her as “a [expletive] no-good woman.”
According to the reports, James was the one who was constantly treated the worst. When he was in the middle school, he had to sleep on a cot in the basement next to their washtub, which was constantly full of wet clothes. This was his only option.
James was also burdened with the responsibility of removing cow poo from their yard and cleaning it up on a daily basis. It didn’t take him long to come to the conclusion that he had no choice but to fend for himself financially while he was in school since he couldn’t depend on anybody else.
After making up his mind, he began getting up at 3:30 in the morning to clean the administrative building at the school he attended. After that, he would get together with the other students in his class and go on with the remainder of his day.
Unfortunately, James’ official education came to a stop while he was in the ninth grade, thus he was never able to continue his schooling. After beginning his career as a salesperson for Curlee Clothes when he was only fourteen years old, he went on to hold a variety of other positions, including those of a driver, secretary, and babysitter.
His childhood anxieties ended up following him into adulthood, and his wife reportedly referred to him as a “complicated man” who had a childhood that was “abused, lonely, and deprived.” In spite of everything, his wife remained by his side and never abandoned him.
James’s life included another women before he met the woman who would become his wife. Grace was the name of the lady who his father wed, and he affectionately referred to her as “Mama Grace.” He loved her much and had been heard saying in the past that she was the one who most resembled a mother to him.
When James reached eighteen, he discovered that he was unemployed in Texas and subsisted only on crackers that he stole from restaurant tables. After three days, he contacted his father and requested for a straightforward birthday present: he wanted his father to lend him fifty bucks for his birthday.
His father said that he did not have the money, yet he still refused to give it to his son. His Mama Grace immediately picked up the phone and informed him that he would get the money in the morning, which is exactly what happened.
James was able to get back on his feet thanks to the fifty cash he received. He had a lifelong sense of obligation to her and supported her throughout her whole life.
The connection between James and his father improved once James began his career as an actor. James made it a point to spend time with both his father and Grace in the later years of their life, and it was during this time that he was able to forgive his father for things that had happened in the past.
“He may have had a drinking problem and married the wrong women, but he wasn’t evil,” he remarked of his father, referring to the fact that his father had said such words. His mother, Mama Grace, passed away in 2002, and his
His family did not approve of his decision to get married.
during the age of 28, James was introduced to a lady by the name of Lois Clarke during a rally. It was at that moment that he fell in love “for the first time and for the last time,” characterizing her as the ideal combination of Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn.
“From the first time we spoke, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Still am,” he said in awe. When they first met, Lois shared with James the news that she had a daughter called Kimberly from a previous marriage, and that Kimberly suffered from polio.
From that point on, James and Lois continued to interact with one another on a daily basis, sometimes even twice a day. After two weeks had passed, they went to the Beverly Hills courthouse to be married. James once acknowledged that their relationship was a whirlwind, but they were able to make it work.
When it came to the matter of his family’s acceptance of his marriage, James did not anticipate any difficulties. On the other hand, they were against it and said that he and Lois had very little in common with one other.
The actor didn’t think the absence of resemblance between them was a problem at all. He thought that they were a good balance to one another, and he recognized strengths in areas that his family perceived as weaknesses.
Lois often fantasized of having a career in the theater. On the other hand, as she became older, she came to the conclusion that a famous lifestyle was not for her. She was not a fan of the public life that her husband led. The fact that they lived in an iron-gated house in Brentwood, California, which, although having some of the most breathtaking vistas, effectively sealed off the rest of the world from them, did not help matters.