CBS via Getty Images(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — James Best, the actor best known to most for his role as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on TV’s The Dukes of Hazzard, died Monday night at his home in Hickory, North Carolina. He was 88, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Best was already a film and television veteran, having appeared in dozens of movies and hundreds of TV shows over three decades, when he was cast in The Dukes of Hazzard as the bumbling sheriff, under the thumb of local politico Boss Hogg and forever outwitted by Bo and Luke Duke, driving their signature souped-up Dodge Charger, the General Lee. He played the part for the series’ entire run from 1979 to 1985.
John Schneider, who played Bo Duke, said in a statement, “I learned more about acting in front of a camera from Jimmie Best in an afternoon than from anyone else in a year. …I’m forever thankful to have cut my teeth in the company of such a fine man.”
After The Dukes of Hazzard ended, Best went into semi-retirement, working only occasionally. He taught acting in Hollywood for 25 years, as well as for the University of Mississippi and University of Central Florida.
In 2013, he sued Warner Brothers for what he claimed were millions of dollars in Dukes of Hazzard merchandising royalties he was owed. The suit was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
Best is survived by his wife, three children and three grandchildren.
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