Even from the room over, a voice on the TV saying clearly “Maverick! Starring Jack Kelly and Robert Colbert!” could draw in audiences to the Silver Screen.
“Maverick” was a classic Western series with a dash of comedic gold that was created by Roy Huggins. The show originally starred James Garner, but had a swap in cast over the course of the five seasons it ran from 1957 to 1962.
The show introduced audiences to the hilarious adventures of Bret Maverick and Bart Maverick, two brothers that were poker players from Texas and were in constant life-threatening situations. It was a unique show, seeing as it transferred off that leading man role on a week-by-week basis.
The Announcer of ‘Maverick’
While there were some pretty iconic stars in front of the camera, someone else quite popular was also on the set of “Maverick.”
The announcer of the series was Ed Reimers. According to MeTV, if that name, in particular, doesn’t ring a bell, then maybe a classic TV slogan will. Reimers was the infamous deep voice telling customers that they were “in good hands with Allstate.” He assured people they were in good hands for 22 years.
It’s perhaps one of the most recognizable voices of commercial history. Ed Reimers was an actor that was most active during the ’50s and the ’60s. Outside of his career in TV, he also served during WWII with the U.S. Marines.
He had also narrated episodes of “Crusader” and “Do You Trust Your Wife?” earlier on in his career. As for acting, he appeared as Admiral Fitzpatrick in 1967 in the “Star Trek: The Original Series” episode “The Trouble with Tribbles.”
James Garner’s Exit from ‘Maverick’
“Maverick” was incredibly popular with audiences while it was on. However, in 1960, one of the stars of the show permanently left the series. James Garner left the show in 1960.
What was his reasoning for leaving behind his character Bret Maverick?
He detailed his exit on the show during an interview with the Archives of American Television back in 1999. It all had to do with some behind-the-scenes drama.
“What happened was there was a writers’ strike. I had a 52-week contract with Warner Brothers. And, not very much money – $1,250 a week as a matter of fact. And, of course, we didn’t get residuals in those days. The writers’ strike came along in about January, I don’t know. And, uh, Warner Brothers laid me off because they said they couldn’t get scripts,” Garner said during the interview.
James Garner, despite leading the show, ended up getting laid off. Garner ended up suing Warner Brothers for a breach of contract after they tried to lay him off.
“And, make a long story short, I won that lawsuit. And, I got out of my contract with Warner Brothers. I remember my lawyer asked me what I wanted. He said, ‘Do you want a new contract, do you want a raise, or do you want out?’ I said, ‘I want out,'” Garner also said at the time.
It was an overall really big move for the “Maverick” star. He wanted to make his own decisions regarding his career from that point on. He no longer wanted to feel like these studios owned him and his decisions.
