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James Best

Actor / Screenwriter / Film Producer | * 07/26/1926 († 88, 04/06/2015) | Powderly, Kentucky (United States of America (USA))
5,689
Jewel Franklin Guy (July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015), known professionally as James Best, was an American television, film, stage, and voice actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician. During a career that spanned more than 60 years, he performed not only in feature films but also in scores of television series, as well as appearing on various country music programs and talk shows. Television audiences, however, perhaps most closely associate Best with his role as the bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the action-comedy series The Dukes of Hazzard, which originally aired on CBS between 1979 and 1985. He reprised the role in 1997 and 2000 for the made-for-television movies The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! and The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood (2000). ()
Photo of James Best
Most frequent genres for this person: Drama | Western | Crime

Known for these Movies & Shows

Outraged by Redleg atrocities, the James and Younger Brothers along with Kit Dalton join Quantrill's Raiders and find themselves participating in even worse war crimes. ...

Kansas Raiders

NR

1950 | 3.1/5 | 1h 20min
Western
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Wilbur works in an old carnival and shows some gruesome things to the public. He covers his face because he had a sadistic father who burned his face as a child. Everybody makes jokes about his scars ...

Death Mask

Certification unknown

1998 | 3.7/5 | 1h 27min
Horror
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Trapped on a remote island by a hurricane, a group discover a doctor has been experimenting on creating half sized humans. Unfortunately, his experiments have also created giant shrews, who when they ...

The Killer Shrews

NR

1959 | 2.2/5 | 1h 9min
Horror, Science Fiction
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Cousins Bo and Luke Duke and their car "General Lee", assisted by Cousin Daisy and Uncle Jesse, have a running battle with the authorities of Hazzard County (Boss Hogg and Sheriff Coltrane), plus a st ...

The Dukes of Hazzard

TV-PG

1979 | 3.7/5 | 1h per episode
Action & Adventure, Drama, Comedy, Crime
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Movies with James Best as Actor(65)

as Paddy Kerrigan2013 The Sweeter Side of Life
as Thorne Sherman2012 Return of the Killer Shrews
as McClancy2007 Moondance Alexander
as Hank Larson2006 Hot Tamale
as Sgt. David Brent (archive footage) (uncredited)2002 The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
as Rosco P. Coltrane2000 The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood
as Wilbur Johnson1998 Death Mask
as Boss / Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane1997 The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!
as Cully1978 Hooper
as Pacemaker Patient1978 The End
as Texan1977 Rolling Thunder
as Jim1976 Nickelodeon
as Dewey Barksdale1976 Ode to Billy Joe
as Pellegrino1976 The Savage Bees
as Bingo Washington1975 The Runaway Barge
as Sheriff Bert Hamilton1974 Savages
as Rev. Emory Neill1972 The Brain Machine
as Sheriff Charlie Young1972 Sounder
as Henry Burroughs1970 Run, Simon, Run
as Drew1968 Firecreek
as Sergeant Carnavan1967 First to Fight
as Dr. Ben Mizer1966 Three on a Couch
as Ralph Elkins1965 Black Spurs
as Carter, Rebel Soldier1965 Shenandoah
as Scotty Wade1964 The Quick Gun
as Stuart1963 Shock Corridor
as Jericho Larkin1962 Black Gold
as Niergaard1960 The Mountain Road
as Sgt. David Brent1959 Verboten!
as Sam Mullen1959 Cast a Long Shadow
as Thorne Sherman1959 The Killer Shrews
as Billy John1959 Ride Lonesome
as Rhidges1958 The Naked and the Dead
as Kit Caswell1958 Cole Younger, Gunfighter
as Tom Folliard1958 The Left Handed Gun
as Ted Hamilton1957 Last of the Badmen
as Kermit1957 Hot Summer Night
as Doug Gerhardt1957 Man on the Prowl
as Crewman (uncredited)1956 Forbidden Planet
as Jim1956 Gaby
as Bill Jackson1956 Come Next Spring
as Det. Arnie Arnhoff1956 Calling Homicide
as Millard Chilson Cassidy1956 The Rack
as Col. French's Orderly (uncredited)1955 Top Of The World
as Jason Brown1955 Seven Angry Men
as Dr. Sidney K. Fuller1954 Riders to the Stars
as Lt. JG Jorgensen1954 The Caine Mutiny
as Private Bliss1954 The Yellow Tomahawk
as Barr1954 Return from the Sea
as Lt. Robinson1954 The Raid
as Corp. Gerad1953 Seminole
as Primrose1953 Column South
as Deputy Gig1953 City of Bad Men
as Joe Rakich1952 Steel Town
as Cpl. Ransom1952 Francis Goes to West Point
as Cpl. Hassett1952 The Battle at Apache Pass
as Bitter Creek Dalton1952 The Cimarron Kid
as Marvin Johnson1952 Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
as Bert Keon1951 Apache Drums
as Jerry Connell1951 Air Cadet
as Sgt. Ralph Phelps1951 Target Unknown
as Frank Addison1950 Peggy
as Crater1950 Winchester '73
as Sam1950 Comanche Territory
as Cole Younger1950 Kansas Raiders

TV Shows/Series with James Best as Actor(85)

1996 E! True Hollywood Story
1989 B.L. Stryker
1988 In the Heat of the Night
as Sheriff Rosco Coltrane1983 The Dukes
1980 Enos
as Rosco P. Coltrane1979 The Dukes of Hazzard
1978 Centennial
1974 The Manhunter
as Sheriff John Early1973 Hawkins
1968 Lancer
1968 The Mod Squad
1967 The Guns of Will Sonnett
1966 Felony Squad
1966 Hawk
as Vince Zale1965 Honey West
as Jethro Wyatt1964 Daniel Boone
1964 Flipper
as Tucson, 'The Cowboy'1963 Burke's Law
1963 Redigo
as Dan Murray1963 The Fugitive
as Trenton1962 Combat!
as Tom Carmody1962 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
as Curt Westley1962 The Virginian
1962 The Gallant Men
1961 Whispering Smith
1961 Ben Casey
as Jim Lindsey1960 The Andy Griffith Show
1960 Surfside 6
as Joe1960 The Barbara Stanwyck Show
1960 Stagecoach West
1960 Overland Trail
as Bart Gentry1960 Pony Express
1960 Michael Shayne
as Ted Evans1959 The Rebel
as Abel Waares1959 The Rebel
as Jovan Wilanskov1959 The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959 The Man and the Challenge
as Boland1959 The David Niven Show
1959 Laramie
1959 Men into Space
1959 Startime
as Willie Cain1959 Rawhide
as Brock Quade1959 Rawhide
1959 Lock Up
1959 Hawaiian Eye
as Billy-Ben Turner1959 The Twilight Zone
as Jeff Myrtlebank1959 The Twilight Zone
as Ben Travers1959 Black Saddle
1958 The Texan
1958 77 Sunset Strip
as Stoner1958 Wanted: Dead or Alive
as Luke Perry1958 Wanted: Dead or Alive
as Joe Best1958 Bat Masterson
as Danny Dakota1958 Bat Masterson
1958 Behind Closed Doors
1958 The Rifleman
1958 Bronco
as Jack Milhoan1957 Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1957 Have Gun, Will Travel
as Allan Winford1957 Perry Mason
as Martin Potter1957 Perry Mason
1957 Trackdown
1957 Tombstone Territory
1956 West Point
as Norman Frayne1955 Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Hennessy1955 Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Bish Darby1955 Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Fred Morgan1955 The Millionaire
as Beal1955 Gunsmoke
as Charlie Noon1955 Gunsmoke
1955 Cheyenne
1955 Frontier
1955 Buffalo Bill Jr.
1954 The Lineup
as Shag1954 Climax!
as Hardy Coulter1953 GE Theater
1952 Hopalong Cassidy
1952 Cavalcade of America
as Harry1952 Cavalcade of America
as Slate Morley1952 Cavalcade of America
1951 The Adventures of Kit Carson
1951 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951 Hallmark Hall of Fame
1950 The Gene Autry Show
as Clem Wallace1950 Lux Video Theatre

Movies with James Best as Crew(5)

Writing/Writer2012 Return of the Killer Shrews
Writing/Writer1998 Death Mask
Writing/Co-Writer1978 Hooper
Production/Associate Producer1978 The End
Production/Production Assistant1976 Gator

TV Shows/Series with James Best as Crew(1)

Directing/Director1979 The Dukes of Hazzard

Full Name: Jules Guy
Born: Monday, 07/26 1926 (July) in Powderly, Kentucky (United States of America (USA))
Died: Monday, 04/06 2015 (April) in Hickory (aged: 88)
Zodiac sign: Leo (Chinese zodiac sign: Tiger)
Languages: English (EN, native language)
Employer: University of Mississippi
Spouses (current/former): Dorothy Best
Other names for James Best (nicknames, foreign languages etc.):
"Jewel Franklin Guy"
"James K. Best"
"Jimmy Best"
"Jim Best"
James Best frequently works together with these people:
John Dehner (50x, Actor)
Harry Townes (50x, Actor)
Virginia Gregg (49x, Actress)
John Anderson (48x, Actor)
Claude Akins (47x, Actor)
Denver Pyle (46x, Actor)
J. Pat O'Malley (46x, Actor)
William Schallert (44x, Actor)
Harry Lauter (44x, Actor)
Harry Harvey (43x, Actor)
Vaughn Taylor (43x, Actor)
Bud Westmore (10x, Crew)
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WatchPlayStream ID: PEOPLE:75652, Added: 05/24/2018, Last updated: 03/22/2024