Ben Jones, the longtime actor best known as Cooter Davenport on The Dukes of Hazzard and later a member of Congress, died Sunday at age 84 after a massive heart attack at his home in Virginia.
His wife, Alma Viator, said on Facebook that she lost “the love of my life” and wrote that Jones died from a massive heart attack. She said he had been resting in his favorite chair and waiting to watch the Atlanta Braves play the New York Yankees when he died. Viator also described his life as rich and full, adding that he was loved by many and would be missed deeply. Tom Wopat, Jones’s co-star on The Dukes of Hazzard, said the show had lost another integral part of its cast and called Jones a fine friend who would be deeply missed.
For millions of Americans, Jones was a familiar face through The Dukes of Hazzard, the CBS action-comedy that ran from 1979 to 1985. The show followed cousins Bo and Luke Duke in fictional Hazzard County, Georgia, while Jones played the local mechanic whose garage became a regular stop for the Duke family. He stayed with the series through its seven-season run and later returned for reunion productions, keeping his tie to the role that made him famous long after the original run ended.
Jones later took an unusual path from television fame to elected office. After the series ended, he ran for the US House of Representatives as a Democrat in Georgia. He first challenged Republican Rep. Pat Swindall in 1986 and lost narrowly. Two years later, he ran again and won after Swindall had been indicted on perjury charges. Jones began representing Georgia’s 4th Congressional District in 1989 and won reelection in 1990, serving two terms in Congress before leaving the seat.
His political career did not end there. After redistricting, Jones later faced Newt Gingrich in 1994 and lost. He eventually returned to entertainment, appearing in reunion projects tied to The Dukes of Hazzard and taking parts in the 1998 film Primary Colors and the 2000 film Joe Gould’s Secret. He and Viator also opened Cooter’s, a museum and store devoted to memorabilia from the series.
