Name
James Best
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1926-07-26
Deathday
2015-04-06 (89 years old)
Place of Birth
Powderly, Kentucky, USA
Biography
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).
Known For
7.245
Starship C57D travels to planet Altair 4 in search of the crew of spaceship "Bellerophon,"...
6.21
In the silent film era, attorney Leo Harrigan and gunslinger Buck Greenway are hired to st...
5.7
An out-of-work reporter (Leslie Nielsen) seeks out a bank robber, and his bride (Colleen M...
6
Outraged by Redleg atrocities, the James and Younger Brothers along with Kit Dalton join Q...
7.23
When a US Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardize his ship, the fi...
- 2006 Hot Tamale as Hank Larson
- 1968 Firecreek as Drew
- 1965 Shenandoah as Carter, Rebel Soldier
- 1970 Run, Simon, Run as Henry Burroughs
- 1977 Rolling Thunder as Texan
- 1963 Shock Corridor as Stuart
- 1995 Death Mask as Wilbur Johnson
- 1959 Ride Lonesome as Billy John
- 2007 Moondance Alexander as McClancy
- 1950 Winchester '73 as Crater
- 1958 The Left Handed Gun as Tom Folliard
- 1952 The Cimarron Kid as Bitter Creek Dalton
- 1959 The Killer Shrews as Thorne Sherman
- 1958 The Naked and the Dead as Rhidges
- 1978 Hooper as Cully
- 1953 Seminole as Corp. Gerad
- 1956 Calling Homicide as Det. Arnie Arnhoff
- 1956 The Rack as Millard Chilson Cassidy
- 1951 Apache Drums as Bert Keon
- 2002 The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller as Sgt. David Brent (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1959 Verboten! as Sgt. David Brent
- 1972 The Brain Machine as Rev. Emory Neill
- 1950 Comanche Territory as Sam
- 1957 Hot Summer Night as Kermit
- 1950 Kansas Raiders as Cole Younger
- 1960 The Mountain Road as Niergaard
- 1964 The Quick Gun as Scotty Wade
- 1956 Gaby as Jim
- 1997 The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! as Boss / Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
- 2000 The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood as Rosco P. Coltrane
- 1957 Man on the Prowl as Doug Gerhardt
- 1958 Cole Younger, Gunfighter as Kit Caswell
- 1950 I Was a Shoplifter
- 2012 Return of the Killer Shrews as Thorne Sherman
- 1950 One Way Street as Driver (uncredited)
- 1976 Nickelodeon as Jim
- 1974 Savages as Sheriff Bert Hamilton
- 1959 Cast a Long Shadow as Sam Mullen
- 1955 Top of the World as Col. French's Orderly (uncredited)
- 2013 The Sweeter Side of Life as Paddy Kerrigan
- 1978 The End as Pacemaker Patient
- 1962 Black Gold as Jericho Larkin
- 1951 Target Unknown as Sgt. Ralph Phelps
- 1953 City of Bad Men as Deputy Gig (uncredited)
- 1976 Ode to Billy Joe as Dewey Barksdale
- 1956 Come Next Spring as Bill Jackson
- 1957 Last of the Badmen as Ted Hamilton
- 1966 Three on a Couch as Dr. Ben Mizer
- 1951 Air Cadet as Jerry Connell
- 1972 Sounder as Sheriff Charlie Young
- 1952 The Battle at Apache Pass as Cpl. Hassett
- 1960 Aftermath as Hardy Coulter
- 1956 Forbidden Planet as Crewman (uncredited)
- 1954 The Raid as Lt. Robinson
- 1967 First to Fight as Sergeant Carnavan
- 1975 The Runaway Barge as Bingo Washington
- 1965 Black Spurs as Ralph Elkins
- 1954 The Yellow Tomahawk as Private Bliss
- 2021 Hollywood in the Atomic Age: Monsters! Martians! Mad Scientists! as Self
- 1954 The Caine Mutiny as Lt. JG Jorgensen
- 1954 Return from the Sea as Barr
- 1952 Francis Goes to West Point as Corporal Ransom
- 1950 Peggy as Frank Addison
- 1955 Seven Angry Men as Jason Brown
- 1953 Column South as Primrose
- 1952 Steel Town as Joe Rakich
- 1954 Riders to the Stars as Dr. Sidney K. Fuller
- 1952 Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair as Marvin Johnson
- 1976 The Savage Bees as Pellegrino
- 1953 Skip Taylor
- 1954 They Rode West as Lt. Finlay (uncredited)
- 2013 Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia as Self (archive footage)
- 1952 Flat Top as Radio Operator
- 1960 The Andy Griffith Show ( 2 episodes ) as Jim Lindsey
- 1988 In the Heat of the Night ( 1 episode )
- 1962 The Gallant Men ( 1 episode )
- 1958 77 Sunset Strip ( 1 episode )
- 1963 Burke's Law ( 1 episode ) as Tucson, 'The Cowboy'
- 1955 Cheyenne ( 1 episode )
- 1957 Trackdown ( 3 episodes )
- 1996 E! True Hollywood Story ( 1 episode )
- 1959 The Twilight Zone ( 1 episode ) as Jeff Myrtlebank
- 1973 Hawkins ( 1 episode ) as Sheriff John Early
- 1964 Flipper ( 1 episode )
- 1960 Surfside 6 ( 1 episode )
- 1955 Gunsmoke ( 1 episode ) as Beal
- 1957 Perry Mason ( 1 episode ) as Allan Winford
- 1962 Combat! ( 1 episode ) as Trenton
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Hardy Coulter
- 1959 Hawaiian Eye ( 1 episode )
- 1978 Centennial ( 1 episode )
- 1951 Hallmark Hall of Fame ( 1 episode )
- 1959 The Twilight Zone ( 2 episodes ) as Billy-Ben Turner
- 1955 Alfred Hitchcock Presents ( 1 episode ) as Norman Frayne
- 1963 Redigo ( 1 episode )
- 1959 The Man and the Challenge ( 1 episode )
- 1966 Felony Squad ( 2 episodes )
- 1959 Rawhide ( 1 episode ) as Willie Cain
- 1957 Have Gun, Will Travel ( 3 episodes )
- 1964 Daniel Boone ( 1 episode ) as Jethro Wyatt
- 1983 The Dukes ( 20 episodes ) as Rosco Coltrane (voice)
- 1963 The Fugitive ( 1 episode ) as Dan Murray
- 1955 The Millionaire ( 1 episode ) as Fred Morgan
- 1962 The Virginian ( 1 episode ) as Curt Westley
- 1968 Lancer ( 1 episode )
- 1950 Lux Video Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Clem Wallace
- 1956 West Point ( 1 episode )
- 1951 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars ( 1 episode )
- 1950 The Gene Autry Show ( 2 episodes )
- 1957 Richard Diamond, Private Detective ( 1 episode ) as Jack Milhoan
- 1954 Climax! ( 1 episode ) as Shag
- 1959 Men Into Space ( 1 episode )
- 1980 Enos ( 1 episode )
- 1958 Bronco ( 1 episode )
- 1954 The Lineup ( 1 episode )
- 1959 Black Saddle ( 1 episode ) as Ben Travers
- 1959 Lock-Up ( 1 episode )
- 1958 Wanted: Dead or Alive ( 1 episode ) as Stoner
- 1959 The Rebel ( 1 episode ) as Ted Evans
- 1958 The Rifleman ( 1 episode )
- 1958 Bat Masterson ( 1 episode ) as Joe Best
- 1961 Ben Casey ( 2 episodes )
- 1959 Laramie ( 3 episodes )
- 1967 The Guns of Will Sonnett ( 2 episodes )
- 1958 The Texan ( 1 episode )
- 1960 Stagecoach West ( 3 episodes )
- 1955 Buffalo Bill Jr. ( 1 episode )
- 1974 The Manhunter ( 1 episode )
- 1952 Cavalcade of America ( 1 episode )
- 1965 Honey West ( 1 episode ) as Vince Zale
- 1957 Tombstone Territory ( 1 episode )
- 1962 General Electric True ( 1 episode )
- 1959 The David Niven Show ( 1 episode ) as Boland
- 1960 Overland Trail ( 1 episode )
- 1954 Stories of the Century ( 1 episode )
- 2005 CMT: Inside Fame ( 1 episode )
- 1955 Frontier ( 2 episodes )
- 1951 The Adventures of Kit Carson ( 2 episodes )
- 1960 Pony Express ( 1 episode ) as Bart Gentry
- 1961 Whispering Smith ( 1 episode )
- 1959 The DuPont Show with June Allyson ( 1 episode ) as Jovan Wilanskov
- 1952 Hopalong Cassidy ( 1 episode )
- 1960 Michael Shayne ( 1 episode )
- 1966 Hawk ( 1 episode )
- 1958 Behind Closed Doors ( 1 episode ) as Webb
- 1966 The Green Hornet ( 1 episode ) as Yale Barton
- 1989 B.L. Stryker ( 1 episode )
- 1960 The Barbara Stanwyck Show ( 1 episode ) as Joe
- 1979 The Dukes of Hazzard ( 147 episodes ) as Rosco P. Coltrane
- 1959 Rawhide ( 1 episode ) as Brock Quade
- 1955 Gunsmoke ( 1 episode ) as Charlie Noon
- 1952 Cavalcade of America ( 1 episode ) as Harry
- 1952 Cavalcade of America ( 1 episode ) as Slate Morley
- 1958 Wanted: Dead or Alive ( 1 episode ) as Luke Perry
- 1959 The Rebel ( 1 episode ) as Abel Waares
- 1957 Perry Mason ( 1 episode ) as Martin Potter
- 1958 Bat Masterson ( 1 episode ) as Danny Dakota
- 1955 Alfred Hitchcock Presents ( 1 episode ) as Hennessy
- 1955 Alfred Hitchcock Presents ( 1 episode ) as Bish Darby
- 1959 Bonanza ( 1 episode ) as Sheriff Vern Schaler
- 1962 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ( 1 episode ) as Tom Carmody
- 1968 The Mod Squad ( 1 episode ) as Clay Lynch
- 1959 Startime ( 1 episode ) as Duke
- 1963 Temple Houston ( 1 episode ) as Gotch
