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 Cannell, who had written for Jack Webb productions such as "Adam-12" and "Chase" (1973–1974, NBC), to create "The Rockford Files". The show was credited as "A Public Arts/Roy Huggins Production" along with Cherokee Productions in association with Universal Television. Cherokee was owned by Garner, with partners Meta Rosenberg and Juanita Bartlett, who doubled as story editor during most of "The Rockford Files" run. In 2002, "The Rockford Files" was ranked No. 39 on "TV Guide"s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. Producers Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell devised the Rockford character as a rather significant departure from typical