James Best
James Best
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, searchJames Best (born July. 26, 1926) is an American actor best known for his role as bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the CBS television series The Dukes of Hazzard . He has also worked as an acting coach, artist, and musician.
Early years
Best was born as Jules Guy in Powderly in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. His mother was the sister of Ike Everly, the father of the pop group the Everly Brothers.
After his mother died in 1929, the three-year-old was sent to live in an orphanage. He was later adopted by Armen and Essa Best and went to live with them in Corydon, Indiana.
Career
He began his acting career with an uncredited role in the 1950 western One Way Street .
Best would portray a wide variety of characters in a wide spectrum of film genres. Some of his more notable roles include Jason Brown in the 1955 historical drama Seven Angry Men , Kit Caswell in the 1958 western Cole Younger, Gunfighter , Private Rhidges in the 1958 film adaptation of Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead , the vicious outlaw Billy John in 1959's Ride Lonesome, Dr. Ben Mizer in the 1966 comedy Three on a Couch , the cross dressing Dewey Barksdale in the 1976 drama Ode to Billy Joe, and the gunman Drew in 1968's Firecreek , with James Stewart and Henry Fonda.
Best has guest starred more than 280 times in numerous televisions shows including the 1960 episode "Love on Credit" of CBS's anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson ; co-stars were Carolyn Jones and Jack Mullaney. His other appearances include: The Adventures of Kit Carson (twice as Henry Jordan), Frontier , Sheriff of Cochise , Pony Express ("The Story of Julesburg"), Stories of the Century ("Little Britches"), Behind Closed Doors , Bonanza, Gunsmoke , Have Gun – Will Travel , Trackdown , The Barbara Stanwyck Show , Tombstone Territory (episode "Guilt of a Town"), Whispering Smith , The Twilight Zone , Overland Trail , Alfred Hitchcock Presents , The Man and the Challenge , Combat , The Mod Squad , The Andy Griffith Show , I Spy , Perry Mason , The Incredible Hulk , The Fugitive ("Terror At High Point"), Stagecoach West , and In the Heat of the Night .
In 1958, Best appeared as a guilty young man about to be lynched for murder in Gene Barry's NBC series Bat Masterson in the episode "Stampede at Tent City", set in Nevada. As the story unravels, the Best cha
