James Best
Known for Acting · 152 credits
- Born
- 1926-07-26
- Died
- 2015-04-06
- Place of birth
- Powderly, Kentucky, USA
- Also known as
- Jewel Franklin Guy · James K. Best · Jimmy Best · Jim Best
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Best (born Jewel Franklin Guy; July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015) was an American television, film, character, voice, and stage actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician, whose career spanned seven decades of television. He appeared as a guest on various country music and talk shows.
One of the busiest actors in Hollywood, who began his contract career with Universal Studios in 1949, where he met unfamiliar actors Julie Adams, Piper Laurie, Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson. Best's long career began in films in 1950. He appeared primarily in Westerns, playing opposite Audie Murphy in Kansas Raiders (1950), The Cimarron Kid (1952) and The Quick Gun (1964), Raymond Massey in Seven Angry Men (1955), George Montgomery in Last of the Badman (1957), Frank Lovejoy in Cole Younger Gunfighter (1958), and Randolph Scott in Ride Lonesome (1959). He also starred in the science fiction cult movie, The Killer Shrews (1959) and its sequel, Return of the Killer Shrews (2012). He is most known for playing bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the action/comedy Dukes of Hazzard, a role that he revised in The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! (1997) as his character was now "boss" of Hazzard County as well as sheriff, and again in The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood (2000).
Known For
TV Shows (79)
Perry Mason
1957
as Allan Winford / Martin Potter
Bonanza
1959
as Sheriff Vern Schaler
The Andy Griffith Show
1960
as Jim Lindsey
The Fugitive
1963
as Dan Murray
The Rifleman
1958
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962
as Tom Carmody
The Twilight Zone
1959
as Jeff Myrtlebank / Billy-Ben Turner
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
Climax!
1954
as Shag
The Virginian
1962
as Curt Westley
Ben Casey
1961
Cheyenne
1955
Combat!
1962
as Trenton
Rawhide
1959
as Willie Cain / Brock Quade
Daniel Boone
1964
as Jethro Wyatt
Wanted: Dead or Alive
1958
as Stoner / Luke Perry
Burke's Law
1963
as Tucson, 'The Cowboy'
Hawaiian Eye
1959
77 Sunset Strip
1958
Gunsmoke
1955
as Beal / Charlie Noon
Bat Masterson
1958
as Joe Best / Danny Dakota
The Dukes of Hazzard
1979
as Rosco P. Coltrane
In the Heat of the Night
1988
Surfside 6
1960
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Norman Frayne / Hennessy / Bish Darby
The Rebel
1959
as Ted Evans / Abel Waares
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1957
as Jack Milhoan
The Texan
1958
The Millionaire
1955
as Fred Morgan
Felony Squad
1966
Laramie
1959
Trackdown
1957
Lancer
1968
The Mod Squad
1968
as Clay Lynch
Black Saddle
1959
as Ben Travers
Bronco
1958
Flipper
1964
Honey West
1965
as Vince Zale
Lock-Up
1959
Tombstone Territory
1957
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
1960
as Joe
Cavalcade of America
1952
as Harry / Slate Morley
Startime
1959
as Duke
The Gene Autry Show
1950
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Clem Wallace
The Guns of Will Sonnett
1967
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
as Jovan Wilanskov
Stagecoach West
1960
The Green Hornet
1966
as Yale Barton
The Adventures of Kit Carson
1951
Behind Closed Doors
1958
as Webb
The Gallant Men
1962
Centennial
1978
Frontier
1955
Hawkins
1973
as Sheriff John Early
Hopalong Cassidy
1952
The Manhunter
1974
Men Into Space
1959
General Electric True
1962
Stories of the Century
1954
Movies (73)
Forbidden Planet
1956
as Crewman (uncredited)
Shenandoah
1965
as Carter, Rebel Soldier
Hooper
1978
as Cully
Winchester '73
1950
as Crater
The Caine Mutiny
1954
as Lt. JG Jorgensen
The Rack
1956
as Millard Chilson Cassidy
Hot Tamale
2006
as Hank Larson
The End
1978
as Pacemaker Patient
Rolling Thunder
1977
as Texan
Sounder
1972
as Sheriff Charlie Young
Firecreek
1968
as Drew
Air Cadet
1951
as Jerry Connell
The Left Handed Gun
1958
as Tom Folliard
Ride Lonesome
1959
as Billy John
Hollywood in the Atomic Age: Monsters! Martians! Mad Scientists!
2021
as Self
The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood
2000
as Rosco P. Coltrane
Seminole
1953
as Corp. Gerad
Comanche Territory
1950
as Sam
Nickelodeon
1976
as Jim
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
2002
as Sgt. David Brent (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!
1997
as Boss / Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
Column South
1953
as Primrose
First to Fight
1967
as Sergeant Carnavan
Shock Corridor
1963
as Stuart
The Naked and the Dead
1958
as Rhidges
The Quick Gun
1964
as Scotty Wade
The Sweeter Side of Life
2013
as Paddy Kerrigan
Kansas Raiders
1950
as Cole Younger
Peggy
1950
as Frank Addison
The Raid
1954
as Lt. Robinson
Black Spurs
1965
as Ralph Elkins
The Battle at Apache Pass
1952
as Cpl. Hassett
Black Gold
1962
as Jericho Larkin
Last of the Badmen
1957
as Ted Hamilton
Target Unknown
1951
as Sgt. Ralph Phelps
City of Bad Men
1953
as Deputy Gig (uncredited)
One Way Street
1950
as Driver (uncredited)
Flat Top
1952
as Radio Operator
Francis Goes to West Point
1952
as Corporal Ransom
They Rode West
1954
as Lt. Finlay (uncredited)
The Cimarron Kid
1952
as Bitter Creek Dalton
Verboten!
1959
as Sgt. David Brent
Moondance Alexander
2007
as McClancy
Steel Town
1952
as Joe Rakich
Cast a Long Shadow
1959
as Sam Mullen
Apache Drums
1951
as Bert Keon
Gaby
1956
as Jim
The Savage Bees
1976
as Pellegrino
The Mountain Road
1960
as Niergaard
Savages
1974
as Sheriff Bert Hamilton
Three on a Couch
1966
as Dr. Ben Mizer
I Was a Shoplifter
1950
The Runaway Barge
1975
as Bingo Washington
Return from the Sea
1954
as Barr
The Killer Shrews
1959
as Thorne Sherman
Seven Angry Men
1955
as Jason Brown
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
2013
as Self (archive footage)
Return of the Killer Shrews
2012
as Thorne Sherman
Hot Summer Night
1957
as Kermit
Cole Younger, Gunfighter
1958
as Kit Caswell
The Yellow Tomahawk
1954
as Private Bliss
Riders to the Stars
1954
as Dr. Sidney K. Fuller
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
1952
as Marvin Johnson
Calling Homicide
1956
as Det. Arnie Arnhoff
Come Next Spring
1956
as Bill Jackson
Ode to Billy Joe
1976
as Dewey Barksdale
Top of the World
1955
as Col. French's Orderly (uncredited)
Run, Simon, Run
1970
as Henry Burroughs
Man on the Prowl
1957
as Doug Gerhardt
Death Mask
1998
as Wilbur Johnson
Aftermath
1960
as Hardy Coulter
The Brain Machine
1972
as Rev. Emory Neill
Skip Taylor
1953
About James Best
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia James Best (born Jewel Franklin Guy; July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015) was an American television, film, character, voice, and stage actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician, whose career spanned seven decades of television. He appeared as a guest on various country music and talk shows. One of the busiest actors in Hollywood, who began his contract career with Universal Studios in 1949, where he met unfamiliar actors Julie Adams, Piper Laurie, Tony Curtis an… With 152 credits spanning from 1950 to 2021, James Best has appeared in 73 films and 79 TV shows.
Fans searching for James Best movies, James Best filmography, or the latest projects starring James Best can stream many of these titles on CineFlixo, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular James Best Movies
- Forbidden Planet (1956) — as Crewman (uncredited)
- Shenandoah (1965) — as Carter, Rebel Soldier
- Hooper (1978) — as Cully
- Winchester '73 (1950) — as Crater
- The Caine Mutiny (1954) — as Lt. JG Jorgensen
Where to Watch James Best Films
Most James Best movies and series are available to stream on CineFlixo in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring James Best, check our movies catalogue and browse page.