Ben Jones, a former congressman and star of CBS’s The Dukes of Hazzard, has died. He was 84.
The actor died at his home in Washington, Va., on Sunday, Aug. 9, after suffering a heart attack, according to his wife, Alma Viator.
“I lost the love of my life today. Ben passed from a massive heart attack,” Viator wrote on Facebook, alongside a photo of Jones. “He was home resting in his favorite chair waiting for the Braves to come on and whoop the Yankees.”
“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.”
According to the New York Times, Jones suffered from alcoholism and was arrested numerous times before being cast as beloved mechanic Cooter Davenport on the CBS action show The Dukes of Hazzard. He was also divorced three times, per the outlet.
“He had the only garage and the only tow truck in a place where all they did was wreck cars, so every time you saw him, he was working, and people can relate to that,” Jones said of the character in a 2008 interview with Georgia Public Broadcasting.
He embodied the role in the show’s original seven seasons from 1979 to 1985 as well as in a 1997 reunion movie and in Hazzard in Hollywood in 2000, per IMDb and Deadline. Jones starred in the series alongside Tom Wopat, John Schneider, Catherine Bach, Denver Pyle, Sorrell Booke and Waylon Jennings.
Wopat shared a photo of himself alongside Jones in a tribute posted on Instagram on Sunday.
“The Dukes of Hazzard lost another integral part of their cast today. Ben Jones was a fine friend and a fierce advocate of all the best things we can offer in the entertainment business,” Wopat captioned the photo. “He will be sorely missed… Denver Pyle frequently said to Ben, “I’m not your Uncle Jesse!” But I feel like we lost a Duke cousin today. - Tom Wopat.”
After The Dukes of Hazzard was canceled, Jones ran for Congress in Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District. He served in 1988 and was reelected in 1990, per the New York Times and Variety.
While on Capitol Hill, he was the Democratic whip, a member of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, according to the outlets. In 1994, he ran against Newt Gingrich in a neighboring district and lost.
After his brief tenure in Congress, Jones opened a museum dedicated to The Dukes of Hazzard in Virginia, per the New York Times. He opened two more locations with support from his wife and launched DukesFest, an annual weekend gathering of music, car races and food for fans of the action show.
Jones also appeared on cable television talk shows and wrote opinion pieces for newspapers.
“The only secret of life that I have discovered for me is if you turn your life over, get out of yourself and just turn it completely over to a higher power, to the extent I’ve been able to do that, good things have happened,” Jones told Georgia Public Broadcasting while reflecting on his accomplishments, per the New York Times.
Jones is survived by his wife, Alma, and his two children, Rachel and Walker, according to Far Out Magazine.
THEO DÕI CHÚNG TÔI TRÊN FACEBOOK
