14:38Classic TV · 1977The Dukes of Hazzard Cast Then and Now
Episode: The Dukes of Hazzard (1979): Cast Then & Now 2026 — Who’s Still Alive After 47 Years?
From Hollywood Legends Era · 17 min ·
About The Dukes of Hazzard Cast Then and Now
The Dukes of Hazzard cast then and now is the story of a small-town TV family that kept millions of viewers glued to their sets on Friday nights. The CBS series premiered on January 26, 1979, and ran for seven seasons and 147 episodes, ending on February 8, 1985.
It began as a stopgap. When production started in October 1978, only nine episodes were planned as mid-season filler, and the first five were shot in Georgia, around Covington and Conyers. The idea grew out of the 1975 film Moonrunners, which drew on the life of a real former moonshiner, Jerry Rushing.
One of the biggest stars never said a word: the General Lee, a customized orange 1969 Dodge Charger. At its peak, the show ranked second only to Dallas. Forty-seven years after the first episode, here is what became of the people who brought Hazzard County to life.
Who Is Still With Us From The Dukes of Hazzard?
Catherine Bach as Daisy Duke
Catherine Bach heard about the Daisy Duke audition through her husband, and by her own account the producers were really looking for a Dolly Parton type. She got the part anyway.
The costume nearly went another way. The producers suggested a white turtleneck, go-go boots and a poodle skirt. Bach brought her own outfit instead: a homemade T-shirt, high heels and cut-off denim shorts. Those shorts are still called "Daisy Dukes" today, and a poster of her as Daisy sold millions of copies.
She later had a recurring role as Anita Lawson on The Young and the Restless from 2012 to 2019. In October 2025, she canceled a fan appearance after a hospital stay following surgery, and she was back home within days. Catherine Bach is 71.
Tom Wopat as Luke Duke
Tom Wopat grew up on a dairy farm near Lodi, Wisconsin. As Luke, the steadier of the two Duke boys, he became one of the most recognizable faces on television.
After Hazzard, he built a respected stage career. On Broadway he played Billy Flynn in Chicago and earned Tony nominations for Annie Get Your Gun and A Catered Affair. On TV, he played Jeff Robbins on Cybill from 1995 to 1998. Tom Wopat is 75.
John Schneider as Bo Duke
John Schneider was born in Mount Kisco, New York, and moved to Georgia as a teenager. He was only 18 when he won the role of Bo, the younger, more reckless Duke cousin.
He went on to a successful country music career, with his first No. 1 country hits in 1984. A new generation came to know him as Jonathan Kent, Clark Kent's adoptive father, on Smallville. John Schneider is 66.
Sonny Shroyer as Enos Strate
Sonny Shroyer was born in Valdosta, Georgia, and was a high school football star. He went to Florida State on a football scholarship, but an injury ended his playing days, and he finished his degree at the University of Georgia.
As Enos, the kind-hearted deputy, he was so popular that he got his own spinoff, Enos, which ran for 18 episodes before he returned to Hazzard. He also recorded a children's album, Back in Hazzard, in 1982, and played Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant in Forrest Gump (1994).
He retired in 2023 but still makes rare fan appearances. Sonny Shroyer turned 91 on August 28, 2026.
Byron Cherry as Coy Duke
In spring 1982, Tom Wopat and John Schneider stayed away from the set in a dispute over unpaid salary and merchandising royalties. Byron Cherry and Christopher Mayer were brought in as cousins Coy and Vance Duke.
Born in Atlanta, Cherry appeared in 19 episodes. Viewers largely saw the new cousins as copies of Bo and Luke, and the ratings fell. Cherry kept working afterward, including a guest role on Murder, She Wrote in 1984. Byron Cherry is 71.
Remembering the Hazzard County Stars Who Have Passed
Waylon Jennings as The Balladeer
Every episode opened with the voice of Waylon Jennings. He sang the theme song, "Good Ol' Boys," and narrated the show as "The Balladeer."
Two decades earlier, in the winter of 1959, he was playing bass on tour with Buddy Holly. Jennings gave up his seat on a chartered plane to J.P. Richardson, the Big Bopper, who was ill. In the early hours of February 3, 1959, the plane crashed in Iowa, killing Holly, Ritchie Valens and Richardson. Jennings later recounted that night in his autobiography.
Waylon Jennings died on February 13, 2002, at his home in Chandler, Arizona, of complications from diabetes. He was 64.
Ben Jones as Cooter Davenport
Ben Jones played Cooter, the wisecracking mechanic, in all seven seasons. He was open about his past struggle with alcohol and said he had not had a drink since September 1977, about a year before he joined the show.
His second act was in politics. He won a seat in Congress from Georgia in 1988 and served two terms, from 1989 to 1993, before losing in 1992 after redistricting. He told his story in the 2008 memoir Redneck Boy in the Promised Land, and later ran Cooter's Place, a museum and store for Dukes fans.
Ben Jones died at home on August 9, 2026, at age 84, just weeks before his 85th birthday. His wife said the cause was a heart attack.
Sorrell Booke as Boss Hogg
Boss Hogg may have been the town's greediest man, but the actor behind him was one of the best educated in the cast. Sorrell Booke entered Columbia University at 16 and later earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama.
He served about two years in the Army as a counterintelligence officer during the Korean War, made his Broadway debut in 1956, and played a congressman in the 1964 film Fail Safe. For Boss Hogg's drawl, he borrowed from Senators Sam Ervin and Strom Thurmond. He died on February 11, 1994, at 64.
James Best as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
James Best was born in Powderly, Kentucky, and raised by adoptive parents in Corydon, Indiana. He was a cousin of the Everly Brothers, and before Hazzard he guest-starred on The Andy Griffith Show and The Twilight Zone.
His Rosco grew out of a playful voice he used with his own young children, and it turned a villain into a lovable one. Off camera he taught acting for many years and painted landscapes and scenes from the show. He died on April 6, 2015, in Hickory, North Carolina, at 88.
Denver Pyle as Uncle Jesse Duke
Denver Pyle was born in Bethune, Colorado. He worked in oil fields, took a page job at NBC, and riveted aircraft at Lockheed during World War II before acting took hold. He played Briscoe Darling on The Andy Griffith Show and Texas Ranger Frank Hamer in Bonnie and Clyde (1967).
Away from the cameras, he sponsored a children's fishing tournament in Texas, and the Texas Senate honored him in 1991 for work with the Special Olympics. His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was dedicated on December 12, 1997. He died of lung cancer on December 25, 1997, in Burbank, at 77.
Christopher Mayer as Vance Duke
Christopher Mayer was born in New York City. After his 19 episodes as Vance, he played T.J. Daniels on the soap Santa Barbara and appeared in the Jim Carrey film Liar Liar (1997). He died of natural causes at his home in Sherman Oaks, California, on July 23, 2011, at 57.
Wopat and Schneider returned in early 1983, four episodes before season five ended, and the show ran until 1985.
Why The Dukes of Hazzard Still Feels Like Family
A few more familiar faces deserve a mention. Peggy Rea, who played Boss Hogg's wife Lulu, died in 2011 at 89. Don Pedro Colley, Sheriff Little of Chickasaw County, died in 2017 at 79. Rick Hurst, Deputy Cletus, died on June 26, 2025, at 79.
The show was never about polish. It was about car chases, family loyalty and an uncle who always had good advice on the porch. That simple formula is why so many families still remember watching it together.
Which Duke boy was your favorite growing up, Bo or Luke, and who did you watch it with on Friday nights?
Sources and Further Reading
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