Vale: James Best

US actor James Best, best known for The Dukes of Hazzard, has died, aged 88.

He passed in a hospice facility following a brief illness and complications from pneumonia.

Best played the bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on the US drama from 1979 – 1985.

His other credits included Gunsmoke, Mod Squad, I Spy, Bonanza, Perry Mason and Rawhide.

TMZ reports Best formed an acting school in the ’70s where he taught the likes of Burt Reynolds, Clint Eastwood, Lindsay Wagner, Farrah Fawcett and Quentin Tarantino.