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James Garner : One night Lee Marvin in a limousine on our way to a function, he made moves on my wife

James Garner once claimed he “almost decked” fellow Hollywood actor Lee Marvin after he tried to make a move on his wife.

James was an American actor and producer whose career spanned more than seven decades, starring in famed roles such as Bret Maverick in the Fifties Western ABC series, ‘Maverick’. As well as his budding TV career, James appeared in more than 50 theatrical films, including The Great Escape (1963) with Steve McQueen, Blake Edwards’s Victor/Victoria (1982) with Julie Andrews, and Murphy’s Romance (1985) with Sally Field, for which he received an Academy Award nomination While many actors of his era failed to continue in their careers post-20th century, the style of the Golden Era of Hollywood no longer a sought-after commodity, James managed to break into contemporary cinema.

He starred in a number of early Noughties films, like like ‘Space Cowboys’ (2000) with Clint Eastwood, voiced an animated film titled ‘Atlantis: The Lost Empire’ (2001) with Michael J Fox and Cree Summer, as well as ‘The Notebook’ (2004) and his TV sitcom role as Jim Egan in ‘8 Simple Rules’ (2003–2005).

Tonight, the shameless tear-jerker ‘The Notebook’ airs on BBC One, where James starred as the older version of Ryan Gosling’s character alongside Gena Rowlands as his wife.
Known to take no prisoners in his youth, James recalled many of his wild and wacky experiences in his 2011 memoir, ‘The Garner Files’.
From the outset written in his charming and self-detracting style, he said: “People who don’t know me think I’m easy-going but I’m a pessimist by nature and an old curmudgeon.”
Recalling one incident that happened with fellow Hollywood actor Lee Marvin, he revealed that he “almost decked” him after Lee had made a move on his wife.
James wrote: “In Hollywood you have to ‘defend your quote’ — keep your fee as high as possible and never accept less.
“Lee Marvin raised his quote to a million dollars a picture after he won an Oscar for Cat Ballou and had trouble getting parts.
“I never worked with Lee, but I thought that as an actor he was very colourful.
“As a guy, he was a pain in the a**. He just didn’t care. He was a drinker.
“One night in a limousine on our way to a function, he made moves on my wife.
“That’s a little more than I can handle and almost decked him.”
He went on to argue that actors were overpaid, branding the producers who recruited them “idiots”, and wrote: “Anyway, Lee wanted to work but couldn’t take a salary cut.
“I didn’t want to fall into that trap, so I never let my quote get too high.
Actors are paid more than they’re worth anyway.
“Producers are idiots for paying the ridiculous prices we ask. We make so much money, the majority of pictures never make a profit.
“I think movies would be a lot better if more actors waived their big salaries in order to do worthwhile pictures.
“I don’t think actors today are well-served by their agents and managers, who aren’t as good as they used to be.
They just want their 10 percent and let their clients do things they shouldn’t.
“They have one hit and three flops and their careers are over.”
In the book, he details the characters of many of the people he came across in his lengthy career: while Charles Bronson was, in his opinion, bitter and belligerent, Hollywood mogul Jack Warner was the rudest and most vulgar man he ever met.
Charlton Heston’s acting technique was “stiff as a board”, while even his old friend, Steve McQueen, was “trouble”.
He wrote: “Steve was trouble if you invited him to breakfast.
“He didn’t like anything. Like Marlon Brando he could be a pain in the a** on set.
“Unlike Brando, he wasn’t an actor.
“He was a movie star, a poser who cultivated the image of a macho man.
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Ian Ziering was involved in an apparent road scuffle with multiple bikers in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve


In a video obtained by TMZ, the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star seemed to be surrounded by a group of people riding mini-bikes on Hollywood Blvd. Ziering, 59, then got out of his vehicle and appeared to get into a physical altercation with one of them.

Soon after the two started fighting, other bikers circled back and surrounded the actor as they all started attacking him. The Sharknado actor then appeared to run away from the group as he tried to cross to the other side of the roadway.

Per the TMZ clip, he was chased by the group and apparently grabbed by the shirt, pushed into another vehicle and struck more than once.The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to CW affiliate KTLA that officers responded to the area at Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave. around 3 p.m. on Sunday following “reports of a fight that broke out after the group of bikers were driving recklessly.”

The incident remains under investigation, per the outlet.
The LAPD and reps for Ziering did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment on Monday. The actor has yet to post about the incident on his Instagram account at the time of publication.
TMZ reported that the actor was listed as a victim in an official report, and that as of 6 p.m. PT Sunday, police had not made any arrests.
In another video released by the outlet, Ziering appeared to be comforting his daughter, Mia, 12, who looked like she was upset by the incident involving her father and the group of riders.According to TMZ, “Ian and Mia seem physically fine.”
In March 2023, at 90s Con in Connecticut, Ziering opened up about his career during a 90210 panel moderated by PEOPLE’s Andrea Lavinthal. As he shared at the time, the actor almost had a future in reality TV.“Shortly after [Beverly Hills, 90210] went off the air, Missy Halperin, who we all know [in casting], said, ‘Ian, would you ever consider hosting a reality show?’ And I’m like, ‘No. I’m an actor.’ That reality show was American Idol,” Ziering said.
“Not that it was an offer,” he added. “But would I consider my name being thrown in a hat.”
Still, he joked that he “would have been horrible” and instead has his eyes on The Price Is Right.
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Bruce Willis was fired off course by an explosion that almost ended his life at just 33-years-old


Bruce Willis narrowly dodged death in Die Hard stunt gone wrong – ‘laughed about it’Bruce Willis was fired off course by an explosion that almost ended his life at just 33-years-old.

Bruce Willis made a name for himself in the 1980s with the incredible Die Hard film series.

And while his character, the rogue cop John McClane, got away some some jaw-dropping death-defying stunts throughout the five films thus far, his first picture as the hero was almost his last.

Willis – who recently retired after being diagnosed with dementia – joined the John McTiernan-directed picture at just 33-years-old and was eager to make his mark on the film industry.
This meant doing all of his own stunts and putting as much physical effort into the performance as possible.
Willis’ excitement almost killed him just a few days into filming, though, when a stunt involving him jumping off a five-storey building sent him flying through the air on the wrong trajectory.
Willis’ unbelievable stunt was recalled in the new Nick de Semlyen book The Last Action Heroes. In it, the American actor recalled jumping off a five-storey parking garage while covered in flame-repellant gel.
As Willis leapt off the building, explosions were set off to complete the incredible stunt – but something went awry during the caper’s preparation.
When the explosions were set off Willis was caught in the crossfire, sending him way off course on his fall. As a result, he just barely managed to land on the giant airbag placed beneath him for safety. (Via Fox News)
Willis landed on the edge of the safety mat and – against all odds – was completely unharmed. But the cast and crew watching believed they had just witnessed the star’s death.
Willis recalled: “When I landed, everyone came running over to me and I thought they were going to say, ‘Great job! Attaboy!’ And what they were doing is seeing if I’m alive because I almost missed the bag.”
According to the book, Die Hard’s director and crew decided to film this stunt early in production so they had time to recast John McClane if Willis were to die.
At the time of filming, Willis was married to Demi Moore, who was extremely unhappy about how the stunt was handled.
She wrote in her memoir Inside Out that her visit to the set was “terrible”. “He nearly died jumping off a five-storey garage,” she explained.
“Just making it onto the airbag below when he was blown off course by a scripted explosion. He laughed about it. I didn’t.”PROC. BY MOVIES

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Wayne suffered numerous physical difficulties through the years, and while filming Rio Lobo, he couldn’t use one side of his body


John Wayne is a Western film icon and starred in many notable films during the Hollywood Golden Age. For over 30 years, fans saw his name attached to Westerns and war movies and couldn’t wait to see what he was filming next. But that doesn’t mean filming came easy for the superstar, especially in regard to injuries. Wayne suffered numerous physical difficulties through the years, and while filming Rio Lobo, he couldn’t use one side of his body. Here’s why.

Rio Lobo, a remake of Rio Bravo and El Dorado, came out in 1970 and featured John Wayne as the lead. Wayne played Cord McNally, a Civil War veteran searching for two traitors who caused McNally’s unit to go down. McNally travels to the town of Rio Lobo to unearth a shocking discovery.

Rio Lobo was director Howard Hawks’ last film, and it was far from the first time he worked with Wayne. “The last picture we made, I called him up and said, ‘Duke, I’ve got a story,’” Hawks said in 1971, according to Express.co.uk. “He said, ‘I can’t make it for a year, I’m all tied up.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s all right, it’ll take me a year to get it finished.’ He said, ‘Good, I’ll be all ready.’ And he came down on location and he said, ‘What’s this about?’ And I told him the story. He never even read it, he didn’t know anything about it.”

Ultimately, Rio Lobo bombed, and Hawks blamed it on Waynes being too old and out of shape for the movie to succeed. But Waynes had other difficulties on set. Before filming, he fractured three ribs while filming The Undefeated and gained weight for True Grit. He also tore a ligament in his shoulder. Filmmakers had to film only one side of Wayne’s body because he couldn’t move one arm.
Wayne’s torn shoulder was particularly difficult when it came to navigating the fight scenes in the film. Hawks had to utilize stand-in actors, and Wayne could only be seen from certain angles. Mounting and getting off of the horse smoothly also proved near impossible.
John Wayne had just previously gained weight for ‘True Grit’
As stated before, John Wayne was asked to gain weight for True Grit before filming Rio Lobo. Producer Hal Wallis hired Henry Hathaway to direct True Grit, and Hathaway requested that Wayne gain weight for the role of Marshal Reuben J. Cogburn. Wayne was reportedly overjoyed with the request.
The role came with another request that Wayne didn’t want to give into, though — and that was the eye patch. Wayne worried that an eye patch would have his fans turn against him, as it wasn’t the image they were used to seeing. But Wallis requested the eye patch remain.
However, Wallis and Wayne did compromise on one other aspect of Wayne’s appearance as Cogburn, though. They both agreed that Wayne didn’t have to have a mustache to play the character.
He didn’t understand why filmgoers wanted to watch ‘tough and bleak’ WesternsWhile John Wayne is known for filming classic, gritty Westerns, he reportedly didn’t understand their appeal.
“I was getting anxious because there was this young guy called Clint Eastwood making Westerns in Italy and having tremendous success with them,” Wayne said at the end of the 1960s. “All of a sudden, the studios all wanted Eastwood to come and make Westerns for them, but they were not the kind of Westerns I’d been making. They were tough and bleak. I don’t get it. What do people see in these films?”
With that said, True Grit won Wayne Best Actor at the Academy Awards in 1970. Unfortunately, Rio Lobo didn’t win him the same accolades.
Elements of this story were first reported by Mank’s Movie Musings.
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