RIP: Stan Freberg, James Best

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The Hollywood urban legend says death comes in threes. Sadly, two icons passed away a day apart.

Actor James Best was best known for the corrupt but likable sherrif of Hazard county, Roscoe P. Coltrane, in the tv series "The Dukes of Hazzard." But, Best was an actor with a long list of acting credits in movies (including "The Caine Mutiny) and television. He appeared in a number of tv westerns of the time, as well as episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" and three episodes of the "Twilight Zone" ("The Grave," "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" and the hour long episode "Jess-Belle"). He was a cousin of Phil and Don Everly and had taught acting to a number of later Hollywood stars. He had been inactive as an actor and had moved to the state of North Carolina, where he died from complications of pneumonia at the age of 88.

www.aol.com/article/2015/04/07/actor-who-played-dukes-of-hazzard-sheriff-dies-at-age-88/21162242/

Also dying at the age 88 was satirist, humorist, recording artist, writer, actor, voice actor and just about any label you could name that would apply was Stan Freberg. His list of credits are numerous, ranging from his parody of "Dragnet" and spoofing Elvis to voicing one of Bugs Bunny's many adversaries, the dimwitted Pete Puma. Typically, Bugs would ask the gullible Puma, "How many lumps do you want?" To which Pete Puma would reply, "Oh three or four" or "Better give me a whole lot of lumps!," to which Bugs would pound on Pete Puma's head, producing numerous lumps. His most famous album may have been "Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America, Vol. 1: The Early Years," in which as Benjamin Franklin, he took some pot shots at McCarthyism. As one of the most creative people ever, Stan Freberg cannot be encapsulated in a few words here. (I'm not that good at either.) But, as with all giants, he can't be replaced and he, along with Best, will be missed.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/stan-freberg-dies-popular-satirist-and-voice-actor-was-88/ar-AAaz2oc?ocid=ansHollywoodReporter11

One further irony between actor James Best and comedian Stan Freberg: the two are incredibly close in age. Both were born in 1926, James Best being born July 26,1926 and Stan Freberg being born August 7, 1926. That was just twelve days difference. I've seen other instances where people born close in time to each other also died close in time to each other. That's very eerie.

RIP Stan Freberg and James Best. Both of you brought joy and laughter to many with your talents.

[erik]

I do remember seeing and hearing a lot of Stan Freberg on both radio and TV during the 70s and 80s, and his United States of America is regularly played on one of our public radio stations here in Los Angeles every July 4th. He was a great talent.

As for James Best--well, while everybody might know him for The Dukes Of Hazzard, I do remember him also for those three episodes of The Twilight Zone, especially the Western-themed "The Grave", where he appeared with (GULP!!) Lee Marvin, Lee van Cleef, and Strother Martin (all three of them had been together in THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE). He probably didn't get as much credit as he ought to (IMHO).

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Apr 9, 2015 9:00:13 GMT -5 erik said:

As for James Best--well, while everybody might know him for The Dukes Of Hazzard, I do remember him also for those three episodes of The Twilight Zone, especially the Western-themed "The Grave", where he appeared with (GULP!!) Lee Marvin, Lee van Cleef, and Strother Martin (all three of them had been together in THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE). He probably didn't get as much credit as he ought to (IMHO).

James Best was vastly underrated as an actor and didn't get as much credit as he should have. And, I guess the reason for that was that he was considered a character actor rather than an A-list star. He should've been an A-list star because anything he was in, you remembered it. He had presence and he was so good with what he was given, he could almost upstage the star and sometimes he did!

Besides holding his own with Marvin, van Cleef and Martin in the "Twilight Zone" episode "The Grave," he more than held his own with actress Anne Francis in the "Jess-Belle" episode. His part in "The Caine Mutiny" was minor but his co-stars in that movie included Humphrey Bogart, Fred MacMurray, Van Johnson and E.G. Marshall among others. Lee Marvin was in "The Caine Mutiny" as well. The irony about Marvin, van Cleef and Strother is they also started out as character actors, and they managed to find that lucky film role that made them into heavyweights. Why it didn't happen for James Best, I don't know. Maybe he had no champions at the movie studios who could see the potential he had to be a heavyweight.

So "The Dukes of Hazzard," while not a great show, is the show for which he'll be remembered primarily by most. He deserved better yet at the same time, he seemed to be comfortable with the series and got along with his co-stars. That's more than one can say about overrated actors who appeared on other tv shows, who were ungrateful for the show's success yet who thought they were responsible for the show's success, even though they may not have been the star.

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Stan Freberg was one of the greatest satirists ever. National Brotherhood Week for example is not only funny, but still packs a big wallop..