Ben Jones

Benjamin Lewis Jones (August 30, 1941 – August 9, 2026) was an American actor, writer, politician, and businessman best known for his role as Cooter Davenport in The Dukes of Hazzard. Jones also served for four years in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1989, to January 3, 1993. Jones also served as the International Chief of Heritage Operations for the Sons of Confederate Veterans from July 2014 to late 2018, having been a member for over 15 years.

Early life and career

Jones was born in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, near McNair's Railroad Crossing, on August 30, 1941. His father was Hubert C. "Buck" Jones, a railroad section foreman and his mother was Ila Virginia Stephens, the daughter of a railroad section foreman. Within two weeks of his birth, his family moved to Portsmouth, Virginia. The Joneses lived in a "section house", a railroad company shack without indoor plumbing and electricity. That house was next to the Pinners Point Railyard that led to the shipping piers there. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1959 and worked at a number of odd jobs to save money for college. In 1960, he entered East Carolina College (now East Carolina University) and in 1961, he was accepted into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, based upon his promise as a writer.

At Chapel Hill, Jones spent summers with the railroad on a work train that contracted to various railroads throughout the South. In 1962, while at UNC, he began acting with the Carolina Playmakers and was soon earning money at it in summer stock productions and at the outdoor drama "Unto These Hills" in Cherokee, North Carolina.

During the 1960s, Jones was deeply involved in the civil rights movement. He sought a rematch in 1988, after Swindall had been indicted for perjury. Jones won by a 20-point margin and was re-elected in 1990.

In the 101st and 102nd Congresses, he was a member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and a member of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation. After redistricting took his seat, he ran against Newt Gingrich in 1994. He was defeated, but in the course of that race he filed ethics charges against Gingrich alleging that Gingrich had used tax-exempt groups for political purposes. Gingrich was ultimately reprimanded by the House of Representatives and ordered to reimburse the House an amount of $300,000 for the cost of the investigation. As one of the last yellow dog Democrats, Jones later became a political independent.

After moving to Virginia, Jones was the Democratic nominee to challenge Republican incumbent Eric Cantor for Virginia's 7th Congressional District seat in 2002. Jones lost to Cantor.

Post-congressional life

After serving in Congress, Jones returned to show business and was cast in the role of Arlen Sporkin in director Mike Nichols' "Primary Colors" with John Travolta and Emma Thompson. He also appeared in Meet Joe Black and Joe Gould's Secret, in addition to reprising his role of "Cooter" in two "Dukes of Hazzard" reunion specials.

In 1998, Jones and his wife Alma Viator bought a colonial log cabin and farm in Rappahannock County, Virginia, adjoining the Shenandoah National Park. In 1999, they created a "Dukes of Hazzard" museum and theme store in Sperryville, Virginia, called "Cooter's". It was an immediate success. They now have three such franchises in Pigeon Forge and Nashville, Tennessee, and in Luray, Virginia. Jones and Viator also produced "Dukes" reunion festivals over the years, including one in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006 which drew over 100,000 fans from all over the world, which The Tennessean called the largest gathering ever for a "fan" event there. They continued to keep "Hazzard Nation" growing through their stores, personal appearances, and concerts. Jones also toured with Cooter's Garage Band, performing southern and country rock and they recorded 11 CD projects, including 2020's "Play Me an Old Song."

In 2007, Random House published Jones's memoir, Redneck Boy in the Promised Land, a humorous but unsparing account of his adventurous life and his battle with alcoholism. In it he wrote, "I got sober the day before I died."

As a writer, Jones published fiction and poetry, in addition to political commentary in outlets including The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today, and many others. He expressed his "maverick" political views on numerous network and cable outlets over the past 40 years.

Support of the Confederate battle flag In 2015, Jones announced his support of the Confederate battle flag, which can be seen on the exterior top of The Dukes of Hazzard signature car, the General Lee. His defense of the flag served as his response to Warner Bros.' decision to no longer manufacture any merchandise that features the flag, such as the General Lee, and the discontinuation of reruns of the show due to Dylann Roof's infamous association with the flag. Though Jones often referred to his civil rights activism in the 1960s, quoted Martin Luther King, cited a lifelong membership in the NAACP (an organization that has been fighting against symbols that glorify the Confederacy ), and called for dialogue between both sides of the Confederate battle flag issue, he dismissed any association between the Confederate battle flag and slavery. He also attributed any association between the Confederate battle flag and slavery to a "wave of political correctness" and called it a "cultural cleansing".

Death Jones died from a massive heart attack at his home in Washington, Virginia, on August 9, 2026, aged 84 according to his wife Alma Viator.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

Video games

Book Redneck Boy in the Promised Land: The Confessions of "Crazy Cooter" (2008) –