The Dukes of Hazzard star Ben Jones has died at the age of 84. Known for his portrayal of mechanic Cooter Davenport and for serving two terms as a U.S. congressman, he died at his home in Washington, Virginia, from a heart attack, according to his wife Alma Viator. His road to stardom came after a challenging period that saw him battle alcoholism, arrests, and three divorces, the New York Times reports. As “Crazy Cooter,” he was tasked with repairing the 1969 Dodge Charger General Lee for the show’s main stars, Bo Duke (John Schneider) and Luke Duke (Tom Wopat). A star of the CBS hit from 1979 to 1985, he was urged to go into politics by the Democratic Party after its cancellation, and was elected to Georgia’s 4th Congressional District at the second time of asking in 1988. It saw him exact revenge on Republican Pat Swindall in a bruising election that Dan Rather of CBS News called “by far the meanest and nastiest race in America.” He would later go on to start Cooter’s Garage Band and open Cooter’s Place, a museum-cum-cafe themed on The Dukes of Hazzard in Virginia that he expanded to a second premises in the state and another in Tennessee.
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