Actor James Best (Rosco P. Coltrane) Dies

The Dukes of Hazzard was my favorite TV show when I was a very young boy.  Mostly it was the car – The General Lee, but I think there was some level of infatuation with Bo Duke (played by John Schneider).  I was at that age where girls were still icky, so my interest was much more intensely directed at the Duke boys than it was at their cousin, Daisy (Catherine Bach).  The Duke boys were always evading Boss Hogg (the late Sorrell Booke) and his inept county sheriff.  I just heard the news that the man who played the bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, James Best died Monday, April 6^th at 88 years old.

I had the lunch box, I had the race car set, I had the pajamas.  I loved The Dukes of Hazzard.  And I really, really liked Bo Duke.  Country legend Waylon Jennings sang the opening theme song, “Good Ol’ Boys” and also narrated the show.  It was really silly entertainment that appealed to me when I was 7.  The show aired on CBS from January 1979 through February 1985.

Best was an actor, artist, college professor and musician.  He was born in Kentucky on July 26, 1926.  He also served in the United States Army Air Force during World War II.

• Did you know?: The “P” in Rosco P. Coltrane was for “Purvis”