Tuesday, 7 April 2015

James (Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane) Best Dies at 88

Well, as usual, the BBC is lagging behind in news so it's over to digitalspy.


The Dukes of Hazzard star James Best has died at the age of 88.

The actor - best known for playing Sheriff Rosco P Coltrane in the CBS series - passed away in Hickory, North Carolina on Monday (April 6).

James Best
© Getty Images / Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Best's friend and colleague Steve Latshaw told the Charlotte Observer that he died following a brief illness caused by complications from pneumonia.

As well as starring in The Dukes of Hazzard, Best appeared in 83 movies and 600 TV shows, including Ode to Billy Joe, Hooper and The Sweeter Side of Life.

Last year, he starred in On Golden Pond at the Hickory Community Theater opposite Norma Frank.

Rick Hurst, Best's co-star on Hazzard, said: "Jimmie's love of creativity and the arts was surpassed only by his love of family - and maybe fishing.

James Best as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in The Dukes of Hazzard
© CBS
James Best as Sheriff Rosco P Coltrane in The Dukes of Hazzard

"He was fiercely loyal to those around him, sometimes using a firebrand element of his nature for the common good.

"I will always love Jimmie for his kindness to me, remembering him for his sparkling, piercing wit, and envying him for his full head of hair. Here's to a life well and fully lived."

John Schneider, who played Bo Duke, added: "Jimmie Best - of course, I laughed. But I learned more about acting in front of a camera from Jimmie Best in an afternoon than from anyone else in a year.

"When asked to cry on camera, he would say, 'Sure thing…which eye?' I'm forever thankful to have cut my teeth in the company of such a fine man."

Best is survived by his wife Dorothy Collier, his two children and three grandchildren.


I will, of course, also remember him for Attack Of The Killer Shrews.  Fond memories.

Tempus fugit

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