 Ephraim Zimbalist Jr. on his friend James Garner from a conversation that originally aired in January 2011 here on TV Confidential. Ephraim Zimbalist passed away in May 2014. James Garner passed away on July 19, 2014. And we are devoting our program tonight on his career in film and television. Brett Maverick was the role that put James Garner on the map in 1957. But one can argue that it was the character of Jim Rockford that really cemented his stardom. The success?