James Best, a prolific actor best known for playing Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard, has died. He was 88.
Best’s death was confirmed on his website. He died just before 9:30 Monday night following a brief illness and complications of pneumonia in Hickory, North Carolina.
Best was born Jewel Franklin Guy in Powderly, Kentucky on July 26, 1926. He did enlist in the Army in 1944 and served in the military police in Germany at the end of the war. During this time, he began entertaining the troops and appeared in a stage production of My Sister Eileen in Germany. That got him on the road to stardom.
While working in New York, he got the attention of a Hollywood casting director and was signed to Universal. He was cast in countless Westerns, including the iconic James Stewart film Winchester ‘73 and became good friends with Stewart. He also began working in television in the 1960s and first worked with Burt Reynolds in a 1963 episode of Gunsmoke.
However, in 1979, he landed his most famous role as the sheriff on The Dukes of Hazzard, which ran for seven seasons.
Best had over 140 credits on his resume, with his final appearance coming in the 2013 TV movie The Sweeter Side of Life. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Collier; son Gary Allen Best; daughter JoJami Best Tyler; daughter Janeen Damian and three grandchildren.
“The work he did with Sorrell Booke (Boss Hogg) probably defined our show as much as the car chases,” Dukes co-star Tom Wopat said in a statement. “He was a fine actor, director and mentor, and an even better friend. He will be greatly missed.”