James Best

James 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. Best was born as Jules Guy in Powderly in Muhlenberg County in western 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... more

James 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. Best was born as Jules Guy in Powderly in Muhlenberg County in western 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. 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... less