THE GARNER FILES

THE GARNER FILES
Co-stars and memories
James Garner has worked with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry throughout his illustrious career. Here are Garner's snapshot impressions of some of them.
MARLON BRANDO ("Sayonara," 1957): I loved Marlon! We got along great ... he was so nice to me and really made me feel at ease. We were shooting a scene together, and I couldn't get the sweat off my hands. He asked why I was so nervous, and I said, "I've never been in a good movie before."
DORIS DAY ("The Thrill of It All"; "Move Over Darling"; both 1963): Doris is just the greatest lady -- I don't remember ever hearing a bad word come out of her mouth about anybody. I still talk to her every now and then. Something will come along that reminds me of Doris, and I have to give her a call. You know, I accidentally broke two of her ribs once while we were doing a scene together, and I still feel guilty about it to this day.
JACK LEMMON ("My Fellow Americans," 1998): That was one of Jack's last pictures, and we had a lot of fun together. The director (Peter Segal) didn't know what he wanted, so we'd do all these takes, which really wore Jack down. One time after something like 25 takes he said, "Let's do one more," and I said, "Nope, that's all you're going to get."
SALLY FIELD ("Murphy's Romance," 1985): Sally's a little bit standoffish until she gets to know you ... but she warmed up to me just fine.
JULIE ANDREWS ("The Americanization of Emily," 1964; "Victor/Victoria," 1982): She did her first movie ("Emily") with me, y'know. Julie is just the kindest, most gracious lady you're ever gonna meet, and the very definition of "professional." In this business that means a lot.
SIDNEY POITIER ("Duel at Diablo," 1966): We had a ball! What a good guy ... and a wonderful actor. Sidney had never done a Western before, so I was always pulling little pranks on him. One time I put some blanks into my gun and said, "Draw!" Well, when I fired and those blanks went off, it scared the hell out of him. He must have jumped two feet in the air.
ROBERT ALTMAN ("Health," 1980): Robert's a real kick. You don't know where he is half the time because he gets so engrossed in "the process."
SALLY FIELD ("Murphy's Romance," 1985): Sally's a little bit standoffish until she gets to know you ... but she warmed up to me just fine.
BRUCE WILLIS ("Sunset," 1988): I hope he's changed his ways. There was no animosity on the set, but we didn't really ... click. My attitude is: "They're paying us all this money, so the least you can do is be professional on the job." He wasn't.
AUDREY HEPBURN ("The Children's Hour," 1962): The princess. She was truly someone special, and so was Shirley (MacLaine); I just loved them both. I'd never worked with a director who had Willy Wyler's type of credibility before.
STEVE MCQUEEN ("The Great Escape," 1963): Crazy Steve. We were next door neighbors and got along just fine. He was always a little jealous of me because I was tall and dark, and he was blonde and kind of ... short.
CLINT EASTWOOD ("Space Cowboys," 2000): You can tell just by watching that movie that we had a ball making it. Clint's a real easy director to work for, and those other two nuts (Donald Sutherland and Tommy Lee Jones)! I just fell in love with Don making that show. It takes a while to get to know Tommy, but we ended up getting along great.
GENA ROWLANDS ("Notebook," 2004): She's a real sweetheart. So smooth and so knowledgeable about her craft. She's another one of those people who comes to work and really knows what they're doing.