{"id":2847,"date":"2026-08-11T00:19:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T00:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/?p=2847"},"modified":"2026-08-11T00:19:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T00:19:44","slug":"dukes-of-hazzard-actor-and-former-congressman-ben-jones-dead-at-84","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/?p=2847","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Dukes of Hazzard\u2019 actor and former Congressman Ben Jones dead at 84"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Credit: Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Ben Jones, best known for playing Cooter Davenport in the hit TV show\u00a0<\/strong>The Dukes of Hazzard<\/em><\/strong>, has died at the age of 84.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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According to his wife, Alma Viator, the actor and former U.S. Congressman died on Sunday after suffering a heart attack. She\u00a0shared\u00a0the sad news on social media, stating that Ben lived a full and happy life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost the love of my life today. Ben passed away from a massive heart attack. He was home resting in his favorite chair, waiting for the Braves to come on and whoop the Yankees. Ben had the most amazing, rich, full life. He loved and was loved by so many. He will be missed. I loved him so so much,\u201d Alma Viator wrote alongside a photo.<\/p>\n

Born on August 30, 1941, in Tarboro, North Carolina, and raised in Portsmouth, Virginia, Ben Jones took steps towards a career in the entertainment business in college.<\/p>\n

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\u2018Dukes of Hazzard\u2019 actor and former Congressman Ben Jones dead at 84<\/h2>\n

He majored in radio, television, and motion pictures at the University of North Carolina and acted in theatre.<\/p>\n

Jones appeared in several productions, including\u00a0Together for Days<\/em>\u00a0in 1972,\u00a0The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings<\/em>\u00a0in 1976,\u00a0Smokey and the Bandit\u00a0<\/em>in 1977, and The Lincoln Conspiracy<\/em>\u00a0in 1977.<\/em><\/p>\n

However, for many fans, Ben Jones will always be remembered as Cooter, the friendly mechanic from\u00a0The Dukes of Hazzard<\/em>. He appeared in 141 episodes of the popular show between 1979 and 1985, and Jones became one of its most familiar faces.<\/p>\n

Still, there was more to life than acting for Ben Jones. After leaving Hollywood, he entered politics. Jones, a Democrat, first ran for Congress in 1986. He lost a close race at that time, but later, in 1989, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served two terms as a Congressman.<\/p>\n

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Later in life, he remained closely connected to\u00a0The Dukes of Hazzard<\/em>\u00a0and the character that made him famous. And now, after his death, his legacy will be forever remembered in Hollywood.<\/p>\n

Rest in peace, Ben Jones. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Credit: Getty Images Ben Jones, best known for playing Cooter Davenport in the hit TV show\u00a0The Dukes of Hazzard, has died at the age of 84. According to his wife, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2],"class_list":["post-2847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trending","tag-breaking-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2847"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2848,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2847\/revisions\/2848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}