I remember James Garner (part 1)

It was 1978. I was only one year out of college, but when you're 22, one year seems like 10. I'd graduated from Northwestern University as a high-hoped, big-dreamed theater major, who questionably headed to Los Angeles rather than New York, when, one fine evening, there I was on location of a TV show at the invitation of a decidedly non-show-business friend. She knew some folks working on The Rockford Files and thought it might be fun to visit the set, which that day, was the location at Paradise Cove in Malibu, Calif., where they regularly parked Jim Rockford's well-worn house trailer in the beachfront parking lot of The Sand Castle Restaurant.

Later, several of us were relaxing back in the Cherokee Productions bungalow at the studio. It was James Garner's "office", situated right next door to Alfred Hitchcock's bungalow on a small backstreet at Universal Studios. The bungalows were identical little cottages provided for the big stars and directors to use as a dressing-room retreat or as an office. Through the folks I met, I started doing some bit- and day-player work here and there, and spent the better part of the next three or four years getting to know Jim Garner and his many friends.

From the beginning, Jim struck me as a totally nice guy. Self-effacing. Quick to laugh and to make you laugh. He had a very dry, quick sense of humor. He could flatten you with a one-liner. As many have noted since his passing, he was a guy who was a whole lot like Jim Rockford in real life — although Garner's going rate was a lot more than Rockford's "$200 a day plus expenses." Jim was approachable, funny and friendly to strangers. His yes meant yes, and his no meant no. You never wondered where you stood.

During Rockford, as in the short-lived revival of Maverick that followed in 1981-82, Jim did most of his stunts. The big difference was that in Rockford, Jim got to drive cars — his favorite thing to do. He was coached in race-driving skills for John Frankenheimer's Grand Prix, and although he didn't compete in auto racing with the frequency of his good friends Paul Newman or Steve McQueen, Jim was known to take a few turns around a track now and then. One of the three times he drove the pace car for the Indianapolis 500, he was looking forward to it like a little kid in a toy store. He was a regular at the Indy 500. Never a snob about anything, including car racing, Jim and his longtime assistant, Luis Delgado, would often visit the Saturday night stock-car races at the dirt track in Saugus, Calif., (now part of the city of Santa Clarita), 50 miles north of L.A.

For the benefit of Rockford fans and car buffs, the cars used on the show were really loaded Pontiac Trans Ams, modified to look like the less-powerful stock Firebird once they removed the rear spoilers, air intakes and repainted them a subtle, solid metallic gold. (Jim's main personal car in the early '80s was a blue Trans Am.) There were three cars in all, one for camera, one for the chase scenes — which by the way, were never driven at much more than 40 mph — and one to crash … and repair. I could have bought one of them for less than $3000 in 1980 when shooting ended, and I'm still kicking myself for letting that one slide by. (I bought a piano instead!)

Jim surrounded himself with very talented folks. His stunt double, Roy Clark (not the singing Roy Clark), would sometimes take me and the three Rockford stand-ins out for "driving lessons" on an abandoned stretch of highway that ran alongside Interstate 5 just north of the San Fernando Valley suburbs. The "lessons" were learning how to very precisely slide and spin cars into a designated camera mark. It's a very important skill to hone so a stunt driver doesn't endanger (read: "kill") the camera crew. I never had so much fun driving a car.

Jim was no ego-driven, superstar type; he was a loyal friend and fair employer. He surrounded himself with a crew and staff who had been with him a very long time. Some had been around since the original Maverick days in 1957. Jim's brother, Jack Garner, known to everyone on the set simply as "Brother Jack", often appeared in small roles. Luis Delgado had been Jim's stand-in back in the late '50s and later played the small part of Officer Billings on Rockford as well as being a longtime member of Jim's personal staff. Jim used the same cinematographers, assistant directors, writers, transportation and camera crews whenever possible. By the time Maverick rolled around, being on a Garner set was like being surrounded by Jim's big, extended family. People knew and cared about each other. His longtime assistant and friend, MaryAnn Rea, worked with Jim for nearly 40 years and was eventually telecommuting for Jim from her home in Northern California, retiring only fairly recently. Everyone who worked for Jim loved him, and he treated his crew very well indeed. Every Christmas, Jim gave amazingly generous gifts to everyone on the set.

Because I was in a relationship with one of Jim's closest friends and associates, I spent time with Jim off set and on other film locations. It was during these times Jim taught me to play backgammon. He was passionate about the game taught to him by the famous Greek actress, Melina Mercouri, or so he once told me when he was positively murdering me in a best-of-five match. He was such a nice guy, he'd even let you beat him now and then and convince you that you had done it fair and square. He had a couple of huge, double-backgammon tables, custom made with matching upholstered armchairs so four people could very comfortably play at once and still visit with one another. Impromptu tournaments were a common event, often with a football game on TV in the background.

I also was fortunate to work once or twice on those now-legendary Polaroid commercials with Jim and Mariette Hartley. No, they were NOT married. What a great, smart, ad campaign that was. The script always gave Mariette the last zinger on Jim, who in response pulled one of his signature hangdog takes to camera, as if he simply could not believe she got the last word again. The chemistry and timing between Jim and Mariette compared with the best of George Burns and Gracie Allen.

Read part 2 of "I remember James Garner." Listen to Lynne Warfel play music from James Garner's films and television shows on Saturday Cinema, on Saturday, Aug. 16, at 10 a.m. Central/11 a.m. Eastern.

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