The Rockford Files the series. Frequent directors included William Wiard (23 episodes), Lawrence Doheny (10 episodes), and Ivan Dixon (previously a regular on "Hogan's Heroes") (9 episodes). Veteran actor James Coburn directed an episode. Coburn had co-starred with Garner in the classic movies "The Great Escape" (1963) and "The Americanization of Emily" (1964). Other actors who directed episodes include Jackie Cooper (3 episodes) Richard Crenna and Dana Elcar (1 episode each). Co-creator Stephen J. Cannell directed several episodes; series regular Stuart Margolin and executive producer Meta Rosenberg each helmed 2; and James Garner directed one episode in the second season, "The Girl in
The Rockford Files The Bay City Boys' Club". It was Garner's only directing credit in his entire 50+ year film career; in his autobiography, "The Garner Files", Garner states he only took on the assignment because the scheduled director was unexpectedly unavailable at the last minute. Familiar to viewers was Jim Rockford's gold Pontiac Firebird Esprit car. One oft-recurring element of the show was the famous "Jim Rockford turn-around" (also known as a J-turn or a "moonshiner's turn" - commonly employed as an evasive driving technique taught to Secret Service). Garner explained the move in his 2011 autobiography "The Garner Files": "When you