James Garner has died, aged 86.

The legendary actor passed away at his home last night (19.07.14) from natural causes after an ambulance was reportedly dispatched to his house.

According to gossip website TMZ, the star - who made is name in the likes of 'The Rockford Files' and 'The Great Escape - has died by the time the emergency services arrived.

The West LA Division of the Los Angeles Police Department has confirmed the cause of death was natural, and many stars have begun to pay tribute to the late icon.

Mark Gatiss, showrunner for 'Doctor Who' and 'Sherlock' has described him as a ''wonderful'' man.

He wrote on Twitter: ''Goodbye, Jim Rockford. The wonderful, amiable James Garner has gone. Had the honour of meeting him at the AFI twenty years ago. RIP''

Chat show host and journalist Piers Morgan echoed the sentiment and also offered his thoughts for a man who had a legendary career on both the big and small screen.

He tweeted: ''RIP James Garner - a wonderful actor. #GreatEscape #RockfordFiles #Maverick''

Making his film debut in 1956, James would go on to appear in a varied range of movies and TV shows, including more recent projects like 2004's 'The Notebook' and US sitcom '8 Simple Rules', which he starred in for three years until 2005.