My Firebird...covered in the London Free Press!
Sun, June 12, 2005
Rockford fan opens Bristow files
By James Reaney
I always knew there had to be at least one other Jim Rockford fan somewhere in London.
But I never would have expected that fan to be as coolly cultish about his Rockford fixation as Darin Bristow.
A man of many accomplishments, Bristow was first taken with the 1970s TV show starring the great James Garner as the laidback private detective when he was a kid growing up in Nelson Park. It led him to a Rockford life in which he has the same car, a 1979 Firebird, as the detective -- and the same licence plate. He has met Garner and provided the striking cover for a new book on the show and its star.
"Of all the things I've done, I have to say I'm proudest of the book. It a very personal thing," Bristow says of his depiction of Garner as Rockford and that Firebird with the 853 OKG plate on the cover of Thirty Years of The Rockford Files by Ed Robertson. The book includes details such as the revelation that David Chase, creator of The Sopranos, wrote scripts for The Rockford Files starting in 1976 -- often featuring mobsters as quirky and maniacal as the celebrated Sopranos.
"Rockford? Me . . . but more so Garner," Bristow free-associates just after he's identified his own father with Rocky, the private eye's fictional father played by Noah Beery on the TV series.
Bristow has a few other things going on in his life. Now of Burlington, he has worked for Toronto animation firm Nelvana for about 11 years. He has just worked on the Emmy-winning series Rolie Polie Olie for Disney. He is engaged to Tammie, a firefighter, a world champ in TSN's firefighting combat challenge and a Canadian female enduro dirt bike racing champ.
Bristow attended H. B. Beal secondary school for art and went to Oakville's Sheridan College twice. He studied classical (or hand-drawn) animation at Sheridan, graduating in 1995. He returned to Sheridan in 1998-1999 to study computer animation. Nelvana's 3-D department --
"a perfect mix of drawing and digital" -- beckoned. He's so busy that last week's scheduled visit to display his animation and drawings on his old turf, Lord Nelson public school, had to be postponed until the fall.
But all we could talk about was Rockford. Bristow has actually met Garner, the U.S. TV and film actor whose brilliantly relaxed style has only recently begun to win him long overdue honours. Like Garner, Rockford relied on subtlety and smarts to solve most of his cases.
Bristow's parents contributed to his first taste of Rockford. As a kid, he was told not to watch The Dukes of Hazzard because his folks were shocked at the shamelessly bad driving displayed on the show. So, the young Darin and his pals tuned into The Rockford Files -- where the reckless driving seemed to have escaped his parents' notice.
Much later on, Bristow found the theme music on The Rockford Files pulling him to a TV set. He was soon hooked on reruns. He also came to admire Garner for his skill, loyalty, humility -- and tenacity. "He's the only actor to sue two Hollywood studios and win," Bristow says. (Garner engaged in bitter courtroom battles when studios tried to short-change him on both the Maverick and Rockford TV series).
Fan met hero in 2001 when Bristow had just started a job in California. He was living around the corner from a hotel where the star was arriving to give an award to another icon, Clint Eastwood. The two have stayed in touch and Garner has signed a number of Bristow's book cover illustrations and sent him a Rockford Files crew jacket.
Only once did fandom lead to friction. After seeking a Firebird like the man's for years, Bristow spied one on a Hamilton Road lot. It was a steal at $900.
Not so fast, said his folks. They hated that money pit of a Firebird. Relations cooled for a time.
Bristow stayed true to his gas-guzzling beauty -- even if it was made for Rockford's California and not Canadian winters. He found a matching interior off an old Camaro at Corey auto wreckers. Still missing were the seats. His hunt continued.
Meanwhile, Bristow's dad started a job teaching auto mechanics at the Wheable adult education centre. He called his son over to Wheable one day to make the perfect peace offering. There, apparently hidden under a tarp for years, were two red '79 Firebird seats. "He goes, 'I guess you were supposed to get that car,' " Bristow smiles.
Rocky and Rockford couldn't have played it any better.
ROCKFORD FILES BOOK
What: Thirty Years of The Rockford Files: An Inside Look at America's Greatest Detective Series by U.S. TV expert Ed Robertson. Darin Bristow, a former Londoner and huge Rockford fan, provided the cover illustration and other drawings for the book.
Price: $32 US plus handling, shipping
Sales: Available through orders at bookstores or by calling 1-800-288-4677 or via www.edrobertson.com
posted by BLOGGED ARTERY at 6:56 PM
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