Ben Jones, best known for playing Cooter Davenport, the mechanic who helped Bo and Luke Duke on CBS’s The Dukes of Hazzard, died Aug. 9, 2026, at 84, according to The Hollywood Reporter. His wife, Alma Viator, said he died of a heart attack.
Jones studied theater at the University of North Carolina. While in college, he acted and became involved in civil rights. He later took small film and television roles in Atlanta.
From 1979 to 1985, Jones played Cooter Davenport for all seven seasons of CBS’s The Dukes of Hazzard. The series later reached audiences through reruns on other stations and cable, making Cooter his best-known role.
Jones won election as a Democrat to the U.S. House from Georgia in 1988 and took office Jan. 3, 1989. He won reelection in 1990 and served two terms, leaving office Jan. 3, 1993.
After leaving Congress, Jones filed an ethics complaint in 1994 alleging that Newt Gingrich had used tax-deductible donations to fund a partisan college course. The complaint led to a House reprimand for Gingrich, who then decided to leave Congress.
In 1999, Jones and Alma Viator opened Cooter’s Place in Sperryville, Virginia, a museum and gift shop devoted to The Dukes of Hazzard. The site featured a replica of the show’s car, the General Lee, and Jones appeared there as Cooter. Weekend crowds reached the thousands.
