Jay Garner

1929 - 2011
Jay Garner, Broadway Comic Actor, Dies at 82

Broadway veteran, Jay Garner, died on January 21, 2011 in New York City. The cause of death was respiratory failure resulting from pneumonia. He was 82.

Born James H. Garner, Jr. in Sewanee, Tennessee, Garner grew up in Chattanooga, and attended the University of Tennessee. After graduation, Garner moved to Atlanta where he worked in radio and also began acting. It was a local repertory company's production of "Red, White and Maddox," a musical satirizing Georgia governor Lester Maddox with Garner in the title role, that brought Garner to Broadway in January 1969. Since there was already one James Garner in the union, Garner changed his name to Jay.

In 1971, Jay replaced Howard Da Silva as Benjamin Franklin in the Tony Award-winning "1776." Ben Franklin became one of Garner's favorite roles, one he play throughout the U.S. until the late 1990s.

As the side-stepping Governor in Broadway's "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," Garner firmly established himself as one of Broadway's go-to guys for playing the comedic villain. It was the rare performer that could match Garner's slow burn or hilarious double take, talents that were among Garner's great contributions to the 1983 Tony Award-winning Best Musical "La Cage aux Folles." In "La Cage," Garner portrayed Deputy Dindon, the bigoted politician audiences loved to hate. When "La Cage" closed in 1987, Garner moved across the street from the Palace to the Marquis Theatre to take over the role of Sir John Tremayne in "Me and My Girl."

In the early 1990s, Garner portrayed Ben, the gardener in the first national tour of "The Secret Garden." His last Broadway appearance was as Horace Vandergelder opposite Carol Channing in the 1995 revival of "Hello, Dolly!"

His most memorable television and film roles include Admiral Asimov in the last season of "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," Jason Defarge, the drunken food critic in a 1982 episode of "Three's Company," and in 1981's "Pennies from Heaven" as Steve Martin's tap-dancing partner in the Busby Berkeley-style number "Yes, Yes (My Baby Said Yes)." As for the kiss he and Steve Martin share at the beginning of the number, Garner has said, "It wasn't planned. We were face to face, nose to nose and it was almost as if we both had the same idea at the same time. We just kissed. An innocent, odd, charming peck. It was left in the movie."

"La Cage" cast-mate, John Weiner, states, "Jay knew funny. Some people have it and some don't. Jay had it. All Jay had to do was make an entrance, and the audience knew right away that before them stood a clown in the tradition of Jackie Gleason or Oliver Hardy. First and foremost though, Jay was a gentle man with a kind and generous heart. We're all going to miss him."