A veteran character actor of stage and screen, James H. Garner, Jr. arrived on Broadway in 1969 only to find another James Garner already working. He changed his name to Jay Garner and in 1971 replaced Howard Da Silva in the Broadway production of "1776." He played in regional theaters around the country until the late 1990s. Garner worked in television and film in Los Angeles throughout the 1970s, leaving to return to Broadway in 1982. Garner, who was born in Sewanee, Tennessee, grew up in Chattanooga, graduating from the University of Tennessee. He later worked in radio and theater in Atlanta, and performed in a one-man show satirizing Georgia governor Lester Maddox, which led to his Broadway debut.