James Garner works his last case, dead at 86

[bbgun]

"Two hundred dollars a day, plus expenses..."

 

[SixisBetter]

I remember Garner from the Maverick TV series and two comedy westerns "Support Your Local Sheriff" and "Support Your Local Gunfighter"
Of course Maverick had several incarnations and Garner at least guest starred in most of them.
I later found out the episodes of Maverick I watched as a 1st grader were actually reruns,as Garner had actually left the show a couple years earlier.
RIP

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Apparently James Garner was a hell of a stunt driver too. That move you see in movies where cars put it in gear while in reverse and then doing a 180 without changing speeds was perfected by him. They ended up naming it the Rockford in his honor.

 

[Doomsday]

Apparently James Garner was a hell of a stunt driver too. That move you see in movies where cars put it in gear while in reverse and then doing a 180 without changing speeds was perfected by him. They ended up naming it the Rockford in his honor.

He did most all of his own stunt driving for the show. He also raced cars professionally as a hobby.

The 180 flip is actually called the "bootlegger switch" everywhere but in Hollywood stunt circles. Was perfected while Garner was still a little kid getting regularly beat up by his stepmother. (He won the final fight though, and his dad divorced her.)