Ben Jones, who starred in the show “The Dukes of Hazzard” as mechanic “Cooter” and later served two terms as a Democratic congressman from Georgia, has died at age 84.
He succumbed after a heart attack at home in Virginia while resting in his favorite chair waiting to watch the Atlanta Braves play the New York Yankees on Sunday, his wife, Alma Viator, said on Facebook.
“He loved and was loved by so many,” she wrote. “He will be missed.”
Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
The TV series that cast him into the national spotlight ran for seven seasons, where he played Cooter Davenport, a mechanic and sidekick to the Duke boys. On the show, set in fictionalized Hazzard County, Georgia, he would repair their orange 1969 Dodge Charger that featured a Confederate flag on its roof.
Credit: Cox
Credit: Cox
Shortly after his stint on the show, which aired from 1979 to 1985, Jones ran for Georgia’s 4th Congressional District as a Democrat in 1986, losing to U.S. Rep. Pat Swindall, the Republican incumbent. Two years later, he won in a bitter rematch against Swindall, who was indicted on charges of lying to a grand jury shortly before the election. The Atlanta Journal called it the “dirtiest congressional campaign in the country.”
Jones served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 to 1993 in a district that included most of DeKalb County. After redistricting changed the makeup of his seat, he lost the 1994 election to Newt Gingrich. Jones launched another bid for Congress in 2002 after moving to Virginia, losing to Republican incumbent Eric Cantor.
Georgia Republican activist Ed Henderson recalled that Jones’ celebrity status lent him people skills that easily translated to his work in Congress.
“Although I rarely agreed with him, he brought his same style of humor and quotable remarks to the halls of Congress and actually was able to pass several pieces of bipartisan legislation during his tenure,” Henderson wrote in a social media post Sunday.
Credit: AP Photo/Leita Cowart
Credit: AP Photo/Leita Cowart
In recent decades, Jones embraced the fans who loved the character he played on TV, launching “Cooter’s” museums and country stores in Tennessee and Virginia. They sold merchandise and exhibited memorabilia from the series.
“Dukes of Hazzard” cast members and fans were planning to gather at his Cooter’s Place store in Luray, Virginia, at the end of August to celebrate Jones’ 85th birthday and the 91st birthday of Sonny Shroyer, who played Deputy Sheriff Enos Strate on the show.
“Ben Jones spent decades entertaining and meeting ‘Dukes’ fans from all over the world, putting on events big and small,” wrote Brian Coltrane, who operates a “Dukes of Hazzard” tribute page. “His Cooter’s Place locations gave fans a home away from home. But most of all, Ben gave his heart. He talked to fans like they were old friends. He was genuine.”
Jones also waded into controversies over the Confederate flag, staunchly defending those who continued to display it as a sign of Southern heritage.
In 2012, he criticized NASCAR’s decision to cancel an appearance featuring a General Lee car that was scheduled to motor several laps at Phoenix International Raceway.
“As a cast member of ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ and the owner of several General Lees, I can attest that the car and our show reflect the very best of American values, and that Hazzard County was a place where racism was not tolerated,” he said.
After the Charleston church massacre in 2015, when a white man gunned down nine Black church members, Jones defended the Confederate flag as a symbol of pride and heritage rather than hatred in a guest essay in The New York Times. He described the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups as “clowns” and “bigots” in an interview with the AJC that year.
Staff writer Greg Bluestein contributed to this report.
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