'The Dukes Of Hazzard' Sheriff James Best Dies At 88 Due To Pneumonia Complications

By Maria Slither - 08 Apr '15 10:39AM

James Best who played as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on CBS "The Dukes of Hazzard" series in the late 70s and the 80s died at the age of 88 on Monday night.

According to NBC News, Best's death was confirmed by his wife, Dorothy Best Collier who said that the actor died in a Hickory, North Carolina medical facility because of complications related to pneumonia.

Best's role as Sheriff Rosco Coltrane started in 1979 as an offer from CBS who wants to have a new mid-season replacement series. The concept is to have a pair of daredevil cousins who will never get tired of making funny plots against a corrupt county commissioner, Boss Hogg, and his Keystone Cop-like police force.

In most episodes of the series, Sheriff Coltrane is often accompanied by a lethargic basset hound named Flash

The series continued its success until 1985 with Best's Sheriff Coltrane reprised in reunion movies. It has also been made as a character in a video game.

Aside from his successful career as an actor and moviemaker, James Best had also written the book "Best in Hollywood: The Good, The Bad and the Beautiful," The Charlotte Observer said.

Best also participated in a 2014 theater production Hickory Community Theater as one of the main characters of "On Golden Pond." He works together with Norma Frank, one of the seasoned celebrities in Hollywood.

James Best also supported the theater's renovations as he donated $25,000 and selling some of his paintings to give money to the production.

"He was very funny. Actors loved working with him. He was a real kick in the head, Pam Livingstone, the director of the theater group for 15 years said.

James Best is said to have started his acting career in the 1950s but had its fame in the 70s and 80s for his role as Sheriff Coltrane. According to New York Times, he has also been involved in more than 600 television show episodes and 85 films.

Series like Wagon Train" and "Gunsmoke" and "The Andy Griffith Show" hired Best for his so-called 'Southern twang' and rugged looks.

He has also been part of the cast of in films like "The Caine Mutiny" (1954), with Humphrey Bogart; "The Left-Handed Gun" (1958), with Paul Newman; "Shenandoah" (1965), with James Stewart; and "Three on a Couch" (1966), with Jerry Lewis.