Ben Jones, the actor beloved by generations of TV fans as Cooter Davenport on The Dukes of Hazzard, has died at 84.
Jones passed away Sunday after suffering a “massive heart attack” at home, according to his wife, Alma Viator, who shared the heartbreaking news on Facebook.
“I lost the love of my life today,” Viator wrote.
She revealed that Jones was relaxing in his favorite chair and getting ready to watch one of his favorite teams when tragedy struck.
“Ben passed from a massive heart attack. He was home resting in his favorite chair waiting for the Braves to come on and whoop the Yankees,” she wrote.
Viator remembered her husband as a man who packed an extraordinary amount into his 84 years.
“Ben had the most amazing rich full life,” she continued. “He loved and was loved by so many. He will be missed. I loved him so so much.”
For millions of television viewers, Jones will forever be remembered as the lovable mechanic Cooter Davenport on the hit CBS series The Dukes of Hazzard.
Jones appeared as the owner of Cooter’s Garage throughout all seven seasons of the Southern action-comedy series, appearing in all 141 episodes during its run from January 1979 through February 1985, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Georgia-set show became a pop-culture phenomenon, following the adventures of cousins Bo and Luke Duke as they raced around Hazzard County while constantly tangling with corrupt county commissioner Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane.
Jones starred alongside Tom Wopat, John Schneider, Catherine Bach, Sorrell Booke and Sonny Shroyer.
And, of course, there was another unforgettable star of the show — the bright orange 1969 Dodge Charger known as the General Lee.
Jones once recalled just how close the fictional world of Hazzard County was to the place he actually called home.
The family-friendly comedy “plopped down in the very county where I was living, about 40 or 50 miles outside of Atlanta,” he said in a 2021 interview.
But Jones’ life extended far beyond Hollywood.
After becoming a television star, he made the unusual leap from show business into national politics.
A Democrat, Jones first ran for Congress in 1986, challenging Republican incumbent Pat Swindall for Georgia’s 4th Congressional District.
Jones narrowly lost that race.
Two years later, he tried again — and this time won in a landslide.
He went on to serve two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, giving the Dukes of Hazzard favorite one of the most unusual post-TV careers of any actor from the era.
Still, for longtime fans, Jones remained inseparable from Cooter — the friendly mechanic who became one of Hazzard County’s most recognizable faces.
His wife’s final tribute made clear that, away from the cameras and politics, Jones was surrounded by love until the end.
“He loved and was loved by so many,” she wrote.
RIP Cooter. I see where he was a Democrat politician. I wonder if he would still be running for office as a Democrat and be for all the garbage they’re pushing nowadays like wide open borders and no police protection.