Ben Jones (American actor and politician)

Benjamin Lewis Jones (born August 30, 1941) is an American actor, politician, playwright, and essayist, best known for his role as Cooter Davenport in The Dukes of Hazzard.

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.

During the 1960s Jones was deeply involved in the Civil rights movement.

He was arrested during sit-ins, and was attacked on two occasions by the KKK.

Jones has appeared in over 100 theatrical productions, including stints at the Kennedy Center, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, and numerous regional theaters.

In 1962, while at UNC, he began acting with the Carolina Playmakers and was soon earning money at it in "summer stock" and at the outdoor drama "Unto These Hills" in Cherokee, North Carolina.

He relocated to Atlanta in 1969 and acted there with the Alliance Theatre, the Atlanta Children's Theatre, The Theatre of the Stars, and The Winter Playhouse.

He also toured for two years with Eva Marie Saint in national productions of Summer and Smoke and Desire Under the Elms.

In Atlanta he appeared in numerous television and radio commercials and began landing supporting roles in films, including Smokey and The Bandit (with Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed), The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (with James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor) and with Tim Conway in They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way.

In the mid-1970s, he had a supporting part in an independent film called The Moonrunners, written and directed by Atlantan Gy Waldron and featuring country star Waylon Jennings doing the music and narration.

That film was the basis for "The Dukes of Hazzard," which began filming in 1978 about two miles from Jones's then residence in Covington, Georgia.

Jones was cast in the role of "Cooter" Davenport, the sidekick mechanic of cousins Bo and Luke Duke.

The show immediately rose to the top of the Nielsen ratings.

In the days before cable, satellite dishes and the internet, "The Dukes" commonly attracted 40 million viewers weekly on CBS-TV.

Jones continued to live in Georgia and commuted to Los Angeles for the continued filming of "The Dukes."

He served as president of the Georgia Branch of the Screen Actors Guild and was appointed chairman of the Georgia Film Commission.

In 1986, he ran for Congress in Georgia's Fourth Congressional District against incumbent Pat Swindall.

Although considered a long shot at best, Jones received over 47% of the vote in defeat.

He sought a rematch in 1988, after Swindall had been indicted for perjury.

Jones also served for four years in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1989, to January 3, 1993.

Jones won by a 20-point margin and was re-elected in 1990.

After re-districting 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.

One of the last Yellow dog Democrats, Jones is now a political independent.

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.

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

Jones lost to Cantor.

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 the 101st and 102nd Congresses, he served as a Democratic whip, was a member of the Committee on Veteran's Affairs and a member of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation.