Who Is Still Alive From ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’?
“Just the good ol’ boys, never meanin’ no harm,” sang narrator Waylon Jennings in the opener of this popular action show. If you watched television in the ’70s and ’80s, chances are you tuned in to The Dukes of Hazzard. The show premiered on Jan. 26, 1979, and aired on CBS for seven seasons. It followed cousins Bo (John Schneider), Luke (Tom Wopat) and Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach) in a classic Robin Hood-type tale, where they aimed to outsmart the corrupt county commissioner Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and law officer Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane (James Best).
In addition, their 1969 Dodge Charger became the icon of the show, with 300 cars built for the series. These days, a 2025 Dodge Charger that looks eerily similar to the 1969 version on the show is being teased. Artist Timothy Adry Emmanuel rendered the images of a modernized General Lee and it looks pretty stunning!
The recent death of Ben Jones (who played Cooter) from a heart attack may have you wondering where the stars are now. Sadly, many of the actors have passed away, including Denver Pyle (Jesse Duke), who died in 1997 from lung cancer; James Best, who died in 2015 from pneumonia; Sorrell Booke, who died in 1994 from colorectal cancer; Rick Hurst (Deputy Cletus Hogg), who died in 2025; and country legend Waylon Jennings (The Balladeer), who died in 2002 from complications of diabetes. Let’s find out what is going on with the show’s other stars.
Tom Wopat (74)
Luke Duke
Warner Bros. Television/Everett Collection
Wopat got his big break playing hero Luke Duke and became so synonymous with the country lifestyle that he released several country music albums and singles.
After The Dukes of Hazzard, he continued to work on television and Broadway. He appeared in the sitcom Cybill, guest-starred on shows such as Home Improvement and Blue Bloods, and had a recurring role on Longmire. On Broadway, he appeared in Annie Get Your Gun and Glengarry Glen Ross. He returned to the Dukes of Hazzard franchise several times, in The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! (1997) and The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood (2000). One of his more notable roles post-Dukes was in Quentin Tarantino‘s 2013 film Django Unchained. More recently, he appeared in the 2022 film County Line: All In and doesn’t seem to be retiring from acting anytime soon.
Bobby Bank/Getty Images
Wopat has had his run-ins with the law over the years. He was arrested in 2017 on indecent assault and battery (felony) and drug (misdemeanor) charges. They also found cocaine on him at the time.
Today, Wopat is concentrating on his music career. His most recent album, Simple Man, was released in 2022, and he is currently on tour.
John Schneider (66)
Bo Duke
CBS/courtesy Everett Collection
Schneider played Luke’s younger cousin, Bo, on The Dukes of Hazzard and was just 19 years old when the show premiered. Much like Wopat, he continued to act after the show wrapped, and pursued a singing career. Schneider appeared in Dukes of Hazzard spinoffs and reunions, and continued to act in series such as Smallville; Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; 90210; and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. He has also worked as a writer, producer and director, and appeared on reality television shows including Dancing With the Stars and The Masked Singer.
Just days after he was unmasked on The Masked Singer and opened up about his music and his wife’s death, he was investigated by the Secret Service for remarks he made on social media about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. Previously, he was arrested for failing to pay alimony to his ex-wife Elvira Castle.
While he’s had some trouble with the law, he’s also done some good in the world by cofounding the Children’s Miracle Network with Marie Osmond and her brothers. He is currently filming the Great American Road Rally reality show with Erin Murphy, Butch Patrick and others. The show is set to air this fall on The CW.
In 2024, he married Dee Dee Sorvino, widow of actor Paul Sorvino, and the two host a successful podcast called Drinks With Dee Dee and John.
Bonus fun fact: He lived with Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash for a while and became a born-again Christian after talking to Johnny about his experiences.
Catherine Bach (72)
Daisy Duke
Everett Collection
Ah, the woman behind the ever-popular Daisy Duke shorts. Bach played the female cousin to Bo and Luke, but that wasn’t her only major TV role; prior to The Dukes of Hazzard, she was a star on the soap opera The Young and the Restless. She remained close to the Dukes cast over the years and has consistently teased a reboot (even after the 2005 reboot film that critics trashed). After The Dukes of Hazzard ended, she appeared on a few shows, including Monk and Hawaii Five-O. She even rejoined The Young and the Restless in 2012.
Bach lost her husband, Peter Lopez, with whom she had two daughters, in 2010.
She was recently hospitalized in 2026 after suffering complications following surgery, but appears to be doing better, as she has been making public appearances.
Ben Jones (d. 2026)
Cooter
Everett Collection; Getty Images
Ben Jones played the beloved mechanic Cooter. He appeared in the reunions like the rest of the stars on this list and acted a bit, but he mainly focused on politics when the show ended. He served as a congressional representative for Georgia from 1989 to 1993. In 2007, he published the memoir Redneck Boy in the Promised Land.
He kept the Dukes of Hazzard fan community happy by opening up Cooter’s Place. Initially a small museum and store, it is now a chain of three locations in Virginia and Tennessee, where fans can check out classic memorabilia, props, photos and even a replica of the General Lee that you can get your photo taken in.
If you can’t make it to a location yourself, you can pick up some Dukes merch from their website.
Jones’ most recent role was in the 2021 film Unbreakable. He passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack on Aug. 9, 2026.
Sonny Shroyer (89)
Last but not least, Sonny played the bumbling sheriff’s deputy, Enos Strat, and was born in a small town on the Georgia-Florida border — Valdosta, Georgia, where he still lives. Not initially an actor, he played football in high school and college, but his football career was cut short due to injury. He got his start in acting in the 1972 movie Payday, with his next notable role as a football player in The Longest Yard alongside Burt Reynolds. His career skyrocketed from there until he eventually landed the role in Dukes. His character proved so popular that he got a spinoff series simply called Enos, which lasted for only 18 episodes but earned him a People’s Choice Award nomination. Shroyer also had a bit of a singing career. He released a cover of Roger Miller’s song “You Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd” on a children’s album titled Back in Hazzard.
He is currently retired but has done a handful of reunion shows with the cast, and even played a football coach in Forrest Gump. He occasionally does conventions or special benefit appearances.
Tell us, who is your favorite Dukes of Hazzard character?
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