James Best 'Dukes of Hazzard' Sheriff Dead at 88

[Garion_55]

Source: TMZ.com

James Best -- who famously played bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on "The Dukes of Hazzard" -- died Monday night at age 88.
Best passed in a hospice facility following a brief illness and complications from pneumonia, a close friend told the Charlotte Observer.

In addition to his role on "Hazzard," Best appeared on several classic shows, including, "Gunsmoke," "Mod Squad," "I Spy," "Bonanza," "Perry Mason" and "Rawhide."

Best formed an acting school in the '70s where he taught the likes of Burt Reynolds, Clint Eastwood, Lindsay Wagner, Farrah Fawcett and Quentin Tarantino.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2015/04/07/james-best-dead-dies-dukes-of-hazzard-rosco-p-coltrane-sheriff/

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[SCVDem]

1. Thanks for adding a picture.

Appreciate it!

[secondvariety]

2. I always

think of him as Jim Lindsey on the Andy Griffith Show.

[Chasstev365]

5. Secondvariety: You beat me to it!

Great Clip! That's how I remember him too; just as Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) will always be Briscoe Darling of the Mountain Folk.

[Doctor_J]

18. same here

Fond memories

[diabeticman]

3. my wife loves his Twlight Zone work.

Jess Belle

and

Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank.


I will always remember him as Roscoe.

[displacedtexan]

8. Those are the roles I always think of when I hear his name.

Hope he had a peaceful passing.

[Orsino]

12. "I feel real hungry."

[Omaha Steve]

14. We met James at a TZ CON (I)

I slept in this morning and missed this. He has been working steady. He also started doing oil paintings. I don't know how fast these will sell out since he is gone: http://www.jamesbestart.com/onlinestore.htm


You wife might like our TZCon trip pages full of stories and autographs.


2002: http://www.steveandmarta.com/graveyards/tzcon2002.htm


2004: http://www.steveandmarta.com/tzcon2004.htm


A photo from his COMBAT! appearance signed at the 2002 TZCon (I)

Snip: http://www.steveandmarta.com/graveyards/tzcon2002.htm



James Best also remembered working on the Combat! episode when we showed him the screenshot, and said there were chickens in it somewhere. My husband said there were, and they talked a bit about the series.

[diabeticman]

15. Thanks will show her.

[yeoman6987]

4. Wow. 88 years old. Seems like he was the young gut on DOH

Yesterday.


RIP.

[TlalocW]

6. Along with Roscoe, he'll always be Thorne Sherman

From, "The Killer Shrews," but only if Joel, Crow, and Tom Servo are riffing on the movie.

I read where they did a sequel a year or two ago, and he reprised his role.

TlalocW

[Tom_Foolery]

7. He was born just down the road from me in Powderly, KY...

I've traveled James Best Blvd. many times. Powderly is in Muhlenberg County, where the Everly Brothers are from. RIP!

[2naSalit]

9. ...

[OnyxCollie]

10. RIP, James Best.

[Kingofalldems]

11. He was also Don and Phil Everly's first cousin.

[apnu]

13. RIP "Thorne Sherman" (Killer Shrews)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052969/

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

16. Roscoe P. Coltrane, American legend

.

[CreekDog]

17. Wasn't known for comedy but in Dukes of Hazzard he stole every scene

He was in.

I loved Dukes as a kid, unwatchable now...EXCEPT for Roscoe, he still cracks me up, with all his monologues and his lecturing and the bumbling...