Georgia native elected to two House terms in 1988 and 1990
Ben Jones, a native of Georgia, died at home from “a massive heart attack” while resting in his favorite chair, Alma Viator wrote in a Facebook post. She wrote that he was “waiting for the Braves to come on and whoop the Yankees.” He was 84.
Jones landed the role of Cooter Davenport in 1979, four years after he worked with show creator Gy Waldron on the movie “Moonrunners,” a comedy about bootleggers in the U.S. South.
On “The Dukes of Hazzard,” Jones played the owner of Cooter’s Garage, a key locale in the fictitious Hazzard County, Georgia, where his character often worked on the General Lee, a restored 1969 Dodge Charger driven by the show’s heroes, Bo Duke and Luke Duke, as they went up against local bad guys.
The series ran for seven seasons, from January 1979 to February 1985.
Jones was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1988, representing Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District, and was re-elected to another two-year term in 1990.
During his political campaigns, it was revealed that Jones had overcome a drinking problem before launching his long stint on “Dukes.”
“Ben had the most amazing rich full life,” Viator wrote. “He loved and was loved by so many. He will be missed. I loved him so so much.”