James Best
Known for Acting · 153 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 (80)
Perry Mason
1957
as Allan Winford / Martin Potter
The Fugitive
1963
as Dan Murray
The Rifleman
1958
The Andy Griffith Show
1960
as Jim Lindsey
Bonanza
1959
as Sheriff Vern Schaler
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962
as Tom Carmody
The Twilight Zone
1959
as Jeff Myrtlebank / Billy-Ben Turner
Climax!
1954
as Shag
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
Burke's Law
1963
as Tucson, 'The Cowboy'
Daniel Boone
1964
as Jethro Wyatt
Cheyenne
1955
The Virginian
1962
as Curt Westley
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1957
as Jack Milhoan
Gunsmoke
1955
as Beal / Charlie Noon
Rawhide
1959
as Willie Cain / Brock Quade
Bat Masterson
1958
as Joe Best / Danny Dakota
In the Heat of the Night
1988
Wanted: Dead or Alive
1958
as Stoner / Luke Perry
Combat!
1962
as Trenton
The Millionaire
1955
as Fred Morgan
The Rebel
1959
as Ted Evans / Abel Waares
Ben Casey
1961
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Norman Frayne / Hennessy / Bish Darby
77 Sunset Strip
1958
The Dukes of Hazzard
1979
as Rosco P. Coltrane
Hawaiian Eye
1959
Surfside 6
1960
Laramie
1959
Tombstone Territory
1957
Lock-Up
1959
Felony Squad
1966
The Gene Autry Show
1950
The Mod Squad
1968
as Clay Lynch
The Adventures of Kit Carson
1951
The Texan
1958
Startime
1959
as Duke
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Clem Wallace
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
as Jovan Wilanskov
Flipper
1964
The Green Hornet
1966
as Yale Barton
Black Saddle
1959
as Ben Travers
Lancer
1968
Honey West
1965
as Vince Zale
Trackdown
1957
Cavalcade of America
1952
as Harry / Slate Morley
The Manhunter
1974
Bronco
1958
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
1960
as Joe
Stagecoach West
1960
Behind Closed Doors
1958
as Webb
Hopalong Cassidy
1952
Men Into Space
1959
Centennial
1978
The Guns of Will Sonnett
1967
General Electric True
1962
West Point
1956
The Gallant Men
1962
Buffalo Bill Jr.
1955
Frontier
1955
Movies (73)
Hot Tamale
2006
as Hank Larson
Forbidden Planet
1956
as Crewman (uncredited)
The Caine Mutiny
1954
as Lt. JG Jorgensen
Verboten!
1959
as Sgt. David Brent
Winchester '73
1950
as Crater
Rolling Thunder
1977
as Texan
Ride Lonesome
1959
as Billy John
Nickelodeon
1976
as Jim
Hooper
1978
as Cully
Sounder
1972
as Sheriff Charlie Young
Hot Summer Night
1957
as Kermit
Kansas Raiders
1950
as Cole Younger
Firecreek
1968
as Drew
Shenandoah
1965
as Carter, Rebel Soldier
The Yellow Tomahawk
1954
as Private Bliss
City of Bad Men
1953
as Deputy Gig (uncredited)
The Naked and the Dead
1958
as Rhidges
Shock Corridor
1963
as Stuart
The Mountain Road
1960
as Niergaard
The Cimarron Kid
1952
as Bitter Creek Dalton
The End
1978
as Pacemaker Patient
The Left Handed Gun
1958
as Tom Folliard
The Quick Gun
1964
as Scotty Wade
The Rack
1956
as Millard Chilson Cassidy
The Runaway Barge
1975
as Bingo Washington
The Raid
1954
as Lt. Robinson
Top of the World
1955
as Col. French's Orderly (uncredited)
The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood
2000
as Rosco P. Coltrane
Moondance Alexander
2007
as McClancy
Riders to the Stars
1954
as Dr. Sidney K. Fuller
Three on a Couch
1966
as Dr. Ben Mizer
The Killer Shrews
1959
as Thorne Sherman
One Way Street
1950
as Driver (uncredited)
Return of the Killer Shrews
2012
as Thorne Sherman
The Savage Bees
1976
as Pellegrino
They Rode West
1954
as Lt. Finlay (uncredited)
The Sweeter Side of Life
2013
as Paddy Kerrigan
I Was a Shoplifter
1950
First to Fight
1967
as Sergeant Carnavan
Seven Angry Men
1955
as Jason Brown
Black Spurs
1965
as Ralph Elkins
Apache Drums
1951
as Bert Keon
The Brain Machine
1972
as Rev. Emory Neill
Cole Younger, Gunfighter
1958
as Kit Caswell
The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!
1997
as Boss / Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
2013
as Self (archive footage)
Run, Simon, Run
1970
as Henry Burroughs
Flat Top
1952
as Radio Operator
Comanche Territory
1950
as Sam
Gaby
1956
as Jim
Air Cadet
1951
as Jerry Connell
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
2002
as Sgt. David Brent (archive footage) (uncredited)
Francis Goes to West Point
1952
as Corporal Ransom
The Battle at Apache Pass
1952
as Cpl. Hassett
Calling Homicide
1956
as Det. Arnie Arnhoff
Cast a Long Shadow
1959
as Sam Mullen
Death Mask
1995
as Wilbur Johnson
Ode to Billy Joe
1976
as Dewey Barksdale
Seminole
1953
as Corp. Gerad
Column South
1953
as Primrose
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
1952
as Marvin Johnson
Target Unknown
1951
as Sgt. Ralph Phelps
Savages
1974
as Sheriff Bert Hamilton
Peggy
1950
as Frank Addison
Last of the Badmen
1957
as Ted Hamilton
Come Next Spring
1956
as Bill Jackson
Hollywood in the Atomic Age: Monsters! Martians! Mad Scientists!
2021
as Self
Return from the Sea
1954
as Barr
Skip Taylor
1953
Man on the Prowl
1957
as Doug Gerhardt
Black Gold
1962
as Jericho Larkin
Aftermath
1960
as Hardy Coulter
Steel Town
1952
as Joe Rakich
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 153 credits spanning from 1950 to 2021, James Best has appeared in 73 films and 80 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 Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular James Best Movies
- Hot Tamale (2006) — as Hank Larson
- Forbidden Planet (1956) — as Crewman (uncredited)
- The Caine Mutiny (1954) — as Lt. JG Jorgensen
- Verboten! (1959) — as Sgt. David Brent
- Winchester '73 (1950) — as Crater
Where to Watch James Best Films
Most James Best movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV 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.