Gretchen Corbett

Gretchen Corbett has been a successful film and theater actress, but is best known for her role as James Garner's lawyer and occasional love interest on "The Rockford Files." After attending Pittsburgh's Carnegie Tech, where she studied drama, Corbett had a stage career in New York, taking part in productions of "Forty Carats" and "Henry VI," among others. Her early TV roles came courtesy of the adaptation "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing"--a series based on the film--and the crime drama "N.Y.P.D.." Film roles came in the obscure dramatic comedy "Out of It," which featured a young Jon Voight, and the grade-B horror film "Let's Scare Jessica to Death." In 1973 she signed a studio contract, which by then had become something of an anachronism, and appeared in Universal's stable of shows, which included the mysteries "Kojak," "Banacek," and "Columbo." Beginning in 1974, she began her regular role as Beth Davenport, Jim Rockford's exasperated but good-hearted legal representation on "The Rockford Files," leaving after the fourth season. After her departure, she acted in several low-profile TV movies like the sci-fi film "Time Warp" in 1981. She briefly starred in the family sci-fi show "Otherworld" in 1985 and returned to her Beth Davenport role in three TV reunion films.