James Best
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia James Best (born Jewel Franklin Guy; July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015) was an American television, film, character, voice, and stage actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician, whose career spanned seven decades of television. He appeared as a guest on various country music and talk shows. One of the busiest actors in Hollywood, who began his contract career with Universal Studios in 1949, where he met unfamiliar actors Julie Adams, Piper Laurie, Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson. Best's long career began in films in 1950. He appeared primarily in Westerns, playing opposite Audie Murphy in Kansas Raiders (1950), The Cimarron Kid (1952) and The Quick Gun (1964), Raymond Massey in Seven Angry Men (1955), George Montgomery in Last of the Badman (1957), Frank Lovejoy in Cole Younger Gunfighter (1958), and Randolph Scott in Ride Lonesome (1959). He also starred in the science fiction cult movie, The Killer Shrews (1959) and its sequel, Return of the Killer Shrews (2012). He is most known for playing bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the action/comedy Dukes of Hazzard, a role that he revised in The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! (1997) as his character was now "boss" of Hazzard County as well as sheriff, and again in The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood (2000).
Filmography
Hollywood in the Atomic Age: Monsters! Martians! Mad Scientists!
as Self
Hollywood in the Atomic Age: Monsters! Martians! Mad Scientists!
as Self
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
as Self (archive footage)
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
as Self (archive footage)
The Sweeter Side of Life
as Paddy Kerrigan
The Sweeter Side of Life
as Paddy Kerrigan
Return of the Killer Shrews
as Thorne Sherman
Return of the Killer Shrews
as Thorne Sherman
Moondance Alexander
as McClancy
Moondance Alexander
as McClancy
Hot Tamale
as Hank Larson
Hot Tamale
as Hank Larson
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
as Sgt. David Brent (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
as Sgt. David Brent (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood
as Rosco P. Coltrane
The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood
as Rosco P. Coltrane
The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!
as Boss / Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!
as Boss / Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
Hooper
as Cully
Hooper
as Cully
Rolling Thunder
as Texan
Rolling Thunder
as Texan
The Savage Bees
as Pellegrino
The Savage Bees
as Pellegrino
Nickelodeon
as Jim
Nickelodeon
as Jim
Ode to Billy Joe
as Dewey Barksdale
Ode to Billy Joe
as Dewey Barksdale
The Runaway Barge
as Bingo Washington
The Runaway Barge
as Bingo Washington
Savages
as Sheriff Bert Hamilton
Savages
as Sheriff Bert Hamilton
Sounder
as Sheriff Charlie Young
Sounder
as Sheriff Charlie Young
The Brain Machine
as Rev. Emory Neill
The Brain Machine
as Rev. Emory Neill
Run, Simon, Run
as Henry Burroughs
Run, Simon, Run
as Henry Burroughs
Firecreek
as Drew
Firecreek
as Drew
First to Fight
as Sergeant Carnavan
First to Fight
as Sergeant Carnavan
Three on a Couch
as Dr. Ben Mizer
Three on a Couch
as Dr. Ben Mizer
Shenandoah
as Carter, Rebel Soldier
Shenandoah
as Carter, Rebel Soldier
Black Spurs
as Ralph Elkins
Black Spurs
as Ralph Elkins
The Mountain Road
as Niergaard
The Mountain Road
as Niergaard
Ride Lonesome
as Billy John
Ride Lonesome
as Billy John
The Naked and the Dead
as Rhidges
The Naked and the Dead
as Rhidges
Man on the Prowl
as Doug Gerhardt
Man on the Prowl
as Doug Gerhardt
Last of the Badmen
as Ted Hamilton
Last of the Badmen
as Ted Hamilton
Hot Summer Night
as Kermit
Hot Summer Night
as Kermit
Top of the World
as Col. French's Orderly (uncredited)
Top of the World
as Col. French's Orderly (uncredited)
Flat Top
as Radio Operator
Flat Top
as Radio Operator
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
as Marvin Johnson
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
as Marvin Johnson
Winchester '73
as Crater
Winchester '73
as Crater
Peggy
as Frank Addison
Peggy
as Frank Addison