Jay Garner (January 17, 1929 – January 21, 2011), born James H. Garner Jr., was an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

Biography

Born James H. Garner Jr. in 1929 in

Sewanee, Tennessee Sewanee () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,535 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Tullahoma, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area. Sewanee is best known as the home of ...

. He graduated from the University of Tennessee and moved to Atlanta, where he worked in radio and began acting. He changed his first name to Jay upon entering

Actors Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American trade union, labor union representing those who work in live theater, live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage ...

because there was already a

James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including '' The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's ''The Ameri ...

in the union. Garner was best known to theatre audiences for his diverse character roles, including the "side-stepping" Governor of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in the musical ''

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas ''The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'' is a musical with a book by Texas author Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and music and lyrics by Carol Hall. It is based on a story by King that was inspired by the real-life Chicken Ranch in La Grange ...

''. He debuted the role of the priggish anti-homosexual politician Eduord Dindon in '' La Cage Aux Folles'' and had the lead role of Georgia Governor

Lester Maddox Lester Garfield Maddox Sr. (September 30, 1915 – June 25, 2003) was an American politician who served as the 75th governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1967 to 1971. A populist Democrat, Maddox came to prominence as a staunch segregationis ...

in '' Red, White and Maddox''. He played

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

in the musical hit ''

1776 Events January–February * January 1 – American Revolutionary War – Burning of Norfolk: The town of Norfolk, Virginia is destroyed, by the combined actions of the British Royal Navy and occupying Patriot forces. * January 1 ...

'', a role he reprised on tour and in various stock productions. In 1986 he took over the role of Sir John Tremayne from Tony winner

George S. Irving George S. Irving (born Irving Shelasky; November 1, 1922 – December 26, 2016) was an American actor known primarily for his character roles on Broadway theatre, Broadway and as the voice of Heat Miser in the American Christmas television spe ...

in the original Broadway staging of '' Me and My Girl''. His last Broadway performance was Horace Vandergelder in the 1994 revival of '' Hello, Dolly!'' with

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer and comedian who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, ...

. Television audiences know him as Admiral Asimov in the second season of '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' and as lecherous food critic Jason Defarge in ''

Three's Company ''Three's Company'' is an American sitcom television series that aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984. It is based on the British sitcom ''Man About the House''. The story revolves around three single roomma ...

''. On the big screen Garner appeared as Doctor Robinson in ''Silent Night, Bloody Night'', and had a featured role in the

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominated ...

film '' Pennies From Heaven'', in which he played the banker who shares a dance and comic kiss with Martin

Death

Garner died on January 21, 2011, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

after suffering from a

respiratory illness Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, br ...

, aged 82. An only child, he never married and left no immediate survivors.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garner, Jay 1929 births 2011 deaths University of Tennessee alumni 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Tennessee American male stage actors