James Best
Jul 26, 1926 — Apr 6, 2015 (88 years)
Powderly, Kentucky, USA
59 Movies
33 Series
James Best is a American actor best known for television. Across 147 episodes, He played Rosco P. Coltrane in 'The Dukes of Hazzard' — the part that defines his career. Beyond that show, credits include 'Winchester '73'.
88R.I.P.
59Movies
33Series
James Best
59 Movies
33 Series
James Best is a American actor best known for television. Across 147 episodes, He played Rosco P. Coltrane in 'The Dukes of Hazzard' — the part that defines his career. Beyond that show, credits include 'Winchester '73'.
88 R.I.P.
R.I.P.
59
Movies
33
Series
Movies
Hot Tamale
2006
Forbidden Planet
1956
The Caine Mutiny
1954
Hooper
1978
Winchester '73
1950
Rolling Thunder
1977
Sounder
1972
Verboten!
1959
Ride Lonesome
1959
Firecreek
1968
City of Bad Men
1953
Last of the Badmen
1957
Shenandoah
1965
The Left Handed Gun
1958
The Rack
1956
Comanche Territory
1950
The Naked and the Dead
1958
The Raid
1954
The Battle at Apache Pass
1952
The Quick Gun
1964
Moondance Alexander
2007
Hot Summer Night
1957
The Yellow Tomahawk
1954
Top of the World
1955
Shock Corridor
1963
Kansas Raiders
1950
The End
1978
The Mountain Road
1960
Seminole
1953
One Way Street
1950
They Rode West
1954
The Cimarron Kid
1952
Flat Top
1952
Three on a Couch
1966
The Killer Shrews
1959
Ode to Billy Joe
1976
Come Next Spring
1956
Black Spurs
1965
Return of the Killer Shrews
2012
Cole Younger, Gunfighter
1958
First to Fight
1967
Riders to the Stars
1954
Air Cadet
1951
The Brain Machine
1972
Seven Angry Men
1955
Francis Goes to West Point
1952
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
1952
Cast a Long Shadow
1959
Column South
1953
Gaby
1956
TV Shows
The Dukes of Hazzard
1979
The Dukes
1983
The Andy Griffith Show
1960
The Twilight Zone
1959
Burke's Law
1963
Hawkins
1973
Gunsmoke
1955
Perry Mason
1957
Combat!
1962
General Electric Theater
1953
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Daniel Boone
1964
The Fugitive
1963
The Millionaire
1955
The Virginian
1962
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1957
Climax!
1954
Black Saddle
1959
The Rebel
1959
Wanted: Dead or Alive
1958
Bat Masterson
1958
Honey West
1965
The David Niven Show
1959
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
Behind Closed Doors
1958
The Green Hornet
1966
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
1960
Cavalcade of America
1952
Bonanza
1959
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962
Latest Trailers
Watch Trailer
The Sweeter Side of Life
Full Filmography
Return of the Killer Shrews
Thorne Sherman
2012
Film
Moondance Alexander
McClancy
2007
Film
Hot Tamale
Hank Larson
2006
Film
Death Mask
Wilbur Johnson
1995
Film
The Dukes
Rosco Coltrane (voice)
1983–
TV
The Dukes of Hazzard
Rosco P. Coltrane
1979–
TV
Hooper
Cully
1978
Film
The End
Pacemaker Patient
1978
Film
Rolling Thunder
Texan
1977
Film
Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is James Best still alive?
James Best passed away on April 6, 2015 at age 88.
What are the most famous roles of James Best?
James Best is best known for roles in Forbidden Planet, Winchester '73, The Caine Mutiny.
How many movies has James Best been in?
Over a 65-year career (since 1950), James Best has appeared in 70 movies and 80 TV shows.
What was James Best's first movie?
The career of James Best began with One Way Street (1950).
What is James Best's most recent movie or series?
James Best's most recent release is The Sweeter Side of Life, which premiered on July 11, 2013.
What TV shows has James Best appeared in?
On television, James Best has appeared in The Twilight Zone, Bonanza, The Dukes of Hazzard, Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
James Best
1926-07-26 · Powderly, Kentucky, USA
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).