{"id":35835,"date":"2026-08-10T04:56:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T23:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=35835"},"modified":"2026-08-10T04:56:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T23:56:52","slug":"dukes-of-hazzard-actor-was-84","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=35835","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Dukes of Hazzard&#8217; Actor Was 84"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tBen Jones, who portrayed the scruffy mechanic Cooter Davenport on all seven seasons of the CBS action series\u00a0<em>The Dukes of Hazzard<\/em>\u00a0before serving two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, died Sunday. He was 84.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tJones died\u00a0from a \u201cmassive heart attack\u201d at home while preparing to watch a baseball game on TV, his wife, Alma Viator, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo?fbid=10164904834969802&amp;set=a.10151583078464802\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a> on Facebook.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tJones had played a federal agent in\u00a0<em>Moonrunners<\/em>\u00a0(1975), a rollicking film from United Artists about bootleggers that was written and directed by Gy Waldron, starred <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/jim-mitchum-dead-thunder-road-robert-mitchum-1236392804\/\">James Mitchum<\/a> and featured narration from country singer Waylon Jennings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWhen Waldron reconceived the movie for\u00a0<em>The Dukes of Hazzard<\/em>, Jones (and Jennings) came along to join Tom Wopat, John Schneider, Catherine Bach, Sorrell Booke, Sonny Shroyer and a 1969 Dodge Charger nicknamed the General Lee on the Warner Bros. Television series.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe family-friendly comedy \u201cplopped down in the very county where I was living, about 40 or 50 miles outside of Atlanta,\u201d Jones <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ISHnX86795E\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">recalled<\/a> in a 2021 interview.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWith his character the owner of Cooter\u2019s Garage, located in Hazzard County Square right across from the sheriff\u2019s office, Jones appeared on 141 episodes of the Georgia-set\u00a0<em>Dukes of Hazzard<\/em>, which ran for seven seasons, from January 1979 to February 1985.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tDavenport\u2019s CB handle was \u201cCrazy Cooter,\u201d and he often started his conversations with \u201cBreaker one, breaker one, I might be crazy, but I ain\u2019t dumb.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tBolstered by the show\u2019s popularity \u2014 it was No. 2 in the Nielsen ratings in 1979-80, trailing only\u00a0<em>Dallas<\/em>, which followed it on Friday nights on CBS \u2014 Jones, a Democrat, ran for Congress in 1986 and lost a tight race to incumbent Pat Swindall for the seat in Georgia\u2019s 4th congressional district.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tTwo years later, however, he won in a landslide after Swindall had been accused of lying to a federal grand jury about his dealings with a federal undercover agent posing as a money launderer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tDuring the nasty campaign, Jones admitted he had \u201cmore skeletons in my closet than the Smithsonian,\u201d including a problem with alcohol, but noted he hadn\u2019t had a drink since September 1977. He was re-elected to another two-year term in 1990.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cPeople ask me in Washington if I\u2019m doing any acting any more. More than ever,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/ohms.libs.uga.edu\/viewer.php?cachefile=dlg\/phc\/jones19891211.xml\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> with a laugh in a 1989 interview. \u201cThe skills I learned on stage and in film are invaluable in politics, because we\u2019re talking about communication and being comfortable around a camera, being in front of an audience, finding that bond, that chemistry. And being energized by it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAfter redistricting took his seat, Jones was firmly defeated by Newt Gingrich in 1994, but an ethics complaint he filed against his opponent contributed to Gingrich\u2019s resignation as House Speaker in 1998.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWhile living in Virginia in 2002, Jones tried again for Congress but lost to Eric Cantor, future House majority leader. Twelve years later, pundits said a letter Jones wrote to voters blasting his former opponent fueled Cantor\u2019s shocking loss in the primaries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIn an example of art imitating life, it was revealed in the 1997 telefilm\u00a0<em>The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!<\/em>\u00a0that Cooter had become a congressman.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:1000px\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((950\/1000)*100%);\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Ben-Jones-Dukes-of-Hazzard-Cast-Everett-TSDDUOF_EC011-EMBED-2022.jpg?w=1000\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"950\" width=\"1000\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\">From left: Rick Hurst, John Schneider, Catherine Bach, Ben Jones and Tom Wopat from \u2018The Dukes of Hazzard.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"a-font-accent-uppercase-xs lrv-u-color-grey-dark\">Courtesy Everett Collection<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe third of four sons,\u00a0Ben Lewis Jones<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>was born on Aug. 30, 1941, in Tarboro, North Carolina, and raised in Portsmouth, Virginia, where his father, Buck, worked for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. His mother, Ila, the youngest of 13 kids, was a homemaker.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe family lived in a railroad section house near the docks that went without electricity or indoor plumbing for years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAt 16, Jones began \u201cdrinking and drifting,\u201d he told\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/archive\/lifestyle\/1988\/11\/03\/the-dirtiest-campaign-in-america\/56a7bdd9-de85-421b-a898-7f44466925bb\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">The Washington Post<\/a><\/em>. Still, he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth in 1959 before attending East Carolina College for a year and then the University of North Carolina, where he majored in radio, television and motion pictures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cI would volunteer for every student project, every off-the-wall experimental play and anything else around at which I could throw my inexperience and zeal,\u201d he wrote in his 2008 memoirs,\u00a0<em>Redneck Boy in the Promised Land<\/em>. \u201cI had found something I thought I was good at. Something besides drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tHe acted in theater, took a semester at UNC here and there and showed up in the North Carolina-set film\u00a0<em>Killers Three<\/em>\u00a0(1968), starring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/robert-walker-jr-dead-star-trek-actor-son-hollywood-superstars-was-79-1260215\/\">Robert Walker Jr.<\/a>, Diane Varsi and Dick Clark. He left Chapel Hill for Atlanta in 1969.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tJones also appeared in\u00a0<em>Together for Days<\/em>\u00a0(1972),\u00a0<em>The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars &amp; Motor Kings<\/em>\u00a0(1976),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/news\/general-news\/smokey-bandit-review-1977-movie-1110888\/\"><em>Smokey and the Bandit<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>(1977),\u00a0<em>The Lincoln Conspiracy<\/em>\u00a0(1977) and\u00a0<em>They Went That-a-Way &amp; That-a-Way<\/em> (1978) before landing on\u00a0<em>The Dukes of Hazzard.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tDuring the show\u2019s second season, Jones went missing for a few episodes amid a dispute over whether Cooter should be clean-shaven or have a full beard. The producers, who did not want the beard, eventually got their way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIn 1998, Jones meddled in politics again when he played media adviser Arlen Sporken for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/mike-nichols\/\" id=\"auto-tag_mike-nichols_1\" data-tag=\"mike-nichols\">Mike Nichols<\/a> in\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/primary-colors-review-1998-movie-1195415\/\">Primary Colors<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(1998), starring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/john-travolta\/\" id=\"auto-tag_john-travolta_1\" data-tag=\"john-travolta\">John Travolta<\/a> as an Arkansas governor who becomes U.S. president.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIn the 2005\u00a0<em>Dukes of Hazzard<\/em>\u00a0movie, Cooter was played by David Koechner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAs someone who did a lot of repair jobs on the General Lee, Jones got a lot of mileage from\u00a0<em>The Dukes of Hazzard<\/em>. He fronted Cooter\u2019s Garage Band, which played concerts, fairs and festivals; owned Cooter\u2019s theme stores\/<em>Hazzard<\/em>\u00a0museums in Tennessee and Virginia; and founded annual gatherings called Dukesfest and Hazzard Homecoming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIn addition to his fourth wife, whom he married in 1992, survivors include his children, Rachel and Walker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ben Jones, who portrayed the scruffy mechanic Cooter Davenport on all seven seasons of the CBS action series\u00a0The Dukes of Hazzard\u00a0before serving two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, died Sunday. He was 84.\u00a0 Jones died\u00a0from a \u201cmassive heart attack\u201d at home while preparing to watch a baseball game on TV, his wife, Alma&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Ben-Jones-Dukes-of-Hazzard-Still-Everett-TCDDUOF_EC017-H-2022.jpg?w=1296&h=730&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/35836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}