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James Best
Highest Rated: 100% Shenandoah (1965)
Lowest Rated: 7% Nickelodeon (1976)
Birthday: Jul 26, 1926
Birthplace: Powderly, Kentucky, USA
Despite having played some of the orneriest bad guys in films and on television for over four decades, actor James Best was forever ingrained in the minds of audiences as the bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on "The Dukes of Hazzard" (CBS, 1979-1985). A World War II veteran, he fell in love with acting while serving in Europe, and became a Universal contract player in the early 1950s. Scores of small film roles led to steady work in television and films, frequently as villainous cowpokes in "Ride Lonesome" (1959) and "Shenandoah" (1965). The bumbling Rosco P. Coltrane showcased Best's rarely-seen comic side to its fullest, and if it typecast him for the remainder of his career, he did not seem to mind. A respected acting teacher and occasional producer-director, he settled into independent film production and enjoyed the minor immortality afforded by nostalgia and television reruns. James Best died of complications from pneumonia on April 6, 2015. He was 88.
Photos
Filmography
Movies
| Credit | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet | 35% | The Sweeter Side of Life | Paddy Kerrigan (Character) | - | 2013 |
| No Score Yet | 7% | Return of the Killer Shrews |
Thorne Sherman (Character), Screenwriter |
- | 2012 |
| No Score Yet | 66% | Moondance Alexander | Mr. McClancy (Character) | $37.7K | 2007 |
| No Score Yet | 36% | Hot Tamale | Hank Larson (Character) | - | 2006 |
| No Score Yet | 86% | The Dukes of Hazzard -- Hazzard in Hollywood | Rosco P. Coltrane (Character) | - | 2000 |
| No Score Yet | 17% | Death Mask |
Wilbur Johnson (Character), Writer |
- | 1998 |
| No Score Yet | 88% | The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! |
Boss/ |
- | 1997 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | B.L. Stryker: Night Train | Mr. Parkinson (Character) | - | 1990 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Carnival of Thrills | Sheriff Rosco Coltrane (Character) | - | 1980 |
| 57% | 60% | Hooper | Cully (Character) | - | 1978 |
| 80% | 78% | Rolling Thunder | Texan (Character) | - | 1977 |
| 44% | 79% | Ode to Billy Joe | Dewey Barksdale (Character) | - | 1976 |
| 7% | 48% | Nickelodeon | Jim (Character) | - | 1976 |
| No Score Yet | 31% | The Savage Bees | Pelligrino (Character) | - | 1976 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Runaway Barge | Bingo Washington (Character) | - | 1975 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Savages | Sheriff Bert Hamilton (Character) | - | 1974 |
| No Score Yet | 5% | The Brain Machine | Rev. Emory Neill (Character) | - | 1972 |
| 91% | 77% | Sounder | Sheriff Young (Character) | - | 1972 |
| No Score Yet | 57% | Firecreek | Drew (Character) | - | 1968 |
| No Score Yet | 0% | First to Fight | Sgt. Carnavan (Character) | - | 1967 |
| No Score Yet | 62% | Three on a Couch | Dr. Ben Mizer (Character) | - | 1966 |
| 100% | 79% | Shenandoah | Carter (Character) | - | 1965 |
| No Score Yet | 43% | The Quick Gun | Sheriff Scotty Wade (Character) | - | 1964 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Black Gold | Jericho Larkin (Character) | - | 1963 |
| 94% | 82% | Shock Corridor | Stuart (Character) | - | 1963 |
| No Score Yet | 56% | The Mountain Road | Niergaard (Character) | - | 1960 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cast a Long Shadow | Sam Mullen (Character) | - | 1959 |
| 90% | 71% | Ride Lonesome | Billy John (Character) | - | 1959 |
| 40% | 24% | The Killer Shrews | Thorne Sherman (Character) | - | 1959 |
| No Score Yet | 55% | Verboten! | Sgt. David Brent (Character) | - | 1959 |
| No Score Yet | 40% | Cole Younger, Gunfighter | Kit Caswell (Character) | - | 1958 |
| 85% | 54% | The Left Handed Gun | Tom Folliard (Character) | - | 1958 |
| 83% | 46% | The Naked and the Dead | Rhidges (Character) | - | 1958 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Man on the Prowl | Doug Gerhardt (Character) | - | 1957 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Last of the Badmen | Ted Hamilton (Character) | - | 1957 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hot Summer Night | Kermit (Character) | - | 1957 |
| No Score Yet | 50% | The Rack | Millard Chilson Cassidy (Character) | - | 1956 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gaby | Jim (Character) | - | 1956 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Seven Angry Men | Jason Brown (Character) | - | 1955 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Column South | Primrose (Character) | - | 1953 |
| No Score Yet | 40% | Seminole | Corp. Gerad (Character) | - | 1953 |
| No Score Yet | 11% | Francis Goes to West Point | Cpl. Ransom (Character) | - | 1952 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Steel Town | Joe Rakich (Character) | - | 1952 |
| No Score Yet | 73% | Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair | Marvin Johnson (Character) | - | 1952 |
| No Score Yet | 33% | The Battle at Apache Pass | Cpl. Hassett (Character) | - | 1952 |
| No Score Yet | 30% | Apache Drums | Bert Keon (Character) | - | 1951 |
| 60% | 56% | The Cimarron Kid | Bitter Creek Dalton (Character) | - | 1951 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Air Cadet | Jerry Connell (Character) | - | 1951 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Target Unknown | Sgt. Ralph Phelps (Character) | - | 1951 |
| 100% | 86% | Winchester '73 | Crater (Character) | - | 1950 |
| No Score Yet | 38% | Kansas Raiders | Cole Younger (Character) | - | 1950 |
| No Score Yet | 83% | Comanche Territory | Sam (Character) | - | 1950 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Peggy | Frank Addison (Character) | - | 1950 |
TV
| Credit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Dukes of Hazzard |
Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (Character), Director |
1979-1985 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | How the West Was Won | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1979 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dan August | Wiley (Guest Star) | 1970 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gunsmoke | Beal (Guest Star) | 1963-1964 1969 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Guns of Will Sonnett | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1967 1969 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Felony Squad | Arnold Wyatt (Guest Star) | 1966 1968 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mod Squad | Clay Lynch (Guest Star) | 1968 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | I Spy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 1968 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Bonanza | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1961 1963 1968 |
| No Score Yet | 100% | The Green Hornet | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Iron Horse | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Perry Mason | Allan Winford (Guest Star) | 1963 1966 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Virginian | Curt Westley (Guest Star) | 1965 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Flipper | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1965 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ben Casey | Simon Waller (Guest Star) | 1963 1965 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Rawhide | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1963-1964 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Unknown (Character) | 1964 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Combat! | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1964 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Fugitive | Dan Murray (Guest Star) | 1963 |
| 92% | 96% | The Twilight Zone | Johnny Rob (Character) | 1961-1963 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cheyenne | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1962 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Bronco | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1962 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Rifleman | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1962 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | 77 Sunset Strip | Babe Mackie (Guest Star) | 1962 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Laramie | Johnny Best (Guest Star) | 1959-1960 1962 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Surfside 6 | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1961 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Whispering Smith | Hemp Reeger (Guest Star) | 1961 |
| No Score Yet | 85% | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Hennessy (Character) | 1958 1960-1961 |
| No Score Yet | 100% | The Andy Griffith Show | Jim Lindsey (Guest Star) | 1960-1961 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Stagecoach West | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1961 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Have Gun -- Will Travel | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1957 1961 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Bat Masterson | Joe Best (Guest Star) | 1958 1960 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Rebel | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1960 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Lock Up | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1960 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Men Into Space | Lt. John Leonard (Guest Star) | 1960 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Wagon Train | Garth English (Guest Star) | 1959-1960 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Startime | Unknown (Character) | 1959 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Behind Closed Doors | Unknown (Character) | 1958 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Trackdown | Bud Ehlers (Guest Star) | 1957-1958 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Restless Gun | Jim Kenyon (Guest Star) | 1958 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Climax! | Unknown (Character) | 1958 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Zane Grey Theater | Unknown (Character) | 1957 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Adventures of Champion | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1955 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cavalcade of America | Unknown (Character) | 1955 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Lone Ranger | Jim Blake (Guest Star) | 1955 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Gene Autry Show | Ray Saunders (Guest Star) | 1954 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hopalong Cassidy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1954 |