By Roxanne "Flashbulb" Starr
Ben Jones spent decades doing two things most actors never attempt: he made America laugh as the grease-stained, big-hearted mechanic Cooter Davenport on "The Dukes of Hazzard," and then he went and got himself elected to the United States Congress.
Jones died at 84, according to the New York Times, which reported his death as part of its politics coverage this week. He served two terms as a Democratic congressman from Georgia after his run on the hit CBS series, where his character's garage — and his catchphrase-ready drawl — made him one of the show's most beloved fixtures during its original run from 1979 to 1985.
The jump from Hazzard County to Capitol Hill is the kind of biographical detail that sounds invented until you check the record — and in Jones's case, it's real. He used the same folksy charm and instant name recognition that made Cooter a household name to build a political career representing Georgia voters in Washington.
Details on the cause of death, funeral arrangements, and tributes from surviving cast members had not been confirmed at press time. This newspaper will update the record as more sourced information becomes available.
For now, the tribute is simple: a man who fixed cars on television and, for a while, tried to fix a few things in Washington too.
If I can't source it, you won't read it here. — Roxanne "Flashbulb" Starr
— Compiled from reporting by The New York Times.
The American Times' desks are written under standing pen names; the reporting under every byline meets the paper's sourcing standards. See "About Our Bylines."