How ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ Star James Best Helped Jenilee Harrison Land ‘Three’s Company’

If you grew up watching television in the late ’70s or early ’80s, you probably spent at least a few of your evenings hanging out with Jack Tripper and his pretty roommates in their Santa Monica apartment or watching the thrilling adventures of Bo Duke and Luke Duke on the dusty dirt roads of Hazzard County. TV audiences loved both Three’s Company and The Dukes of Hazzard. Those truly were the golden days of television – a time when families actually gathered around a single screen to watch a TV show together.

And while Three’s Company and The Dukes of Hazzard could not be more different, there is an interesting behind-the-scenes connection that involves the silly and goofy Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane (James Best) helping out the clumsy but lovable Cindy Snow (Jenilee Harrison). To understand this unlikely Hollywood connection, we need to take a look at the talented actors who brought both characters to life.

Gene Trindl/TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection

James Best was loved by everyone as the funny and not really all-that-bad guy on The Dukes of Hazzard. Off camera, he was a highly respected and very serious acting coach who ran the James Best Acting Academy. His classroom was known throughout the industry as a place of hard work and deep focus. In other words, when Best was present and instructing at his academy, he was completely different from his TV character, and he wanted his students to truly understand how to act.

And the list of future celebrities taught by Best was actually quite impressive. According to Jim Harris, writing for Medium, “his students included Burt Reynolds, Lindsay Wagner, Quentin Tarantino, and Regis Philbin.”

So, along came cute and bubbly Jenilee Harrison. After graduating from college, the aspiring young actress was told that she needed to hone her skills, and Best’s school was recommended.

Jim Britt / TV Guide / ©ABC / courtesy Everett Collection

As Harrison noted in a July 1981 interview with journalist Bill Kelly, writing for The Valley Tribune newspaper, Best was “a strict teacher and nothing like the part he plays on Dukes of Hazzard. You go there to work – and no nonsense.”

Inspired by Best, Harrison threw everything she had into his demanding lessons. By all accounts, she had no idea that this very classroom would be the key to what would become her first big TV role.

Her life changed forever when casting director Bob Hoffman dropped by Best’s acting school. He was known for finding actors for hit TV shows like Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley. Hoffman had a deep respect for the way that Best taught and trusted the quality of his students. It wasn’t long before he spotted Harrison and immediately saw her special talent. And thanks to that lucky day at the acting school, Hoffman brought her in to audition for the part of Cindy Snow on Three’s Company.

Everett Collection

Talking to Fox News, here’s how Harrison remembered that day: “When I showed up for the audition… I tripped when I was walking in. I fell over things and grabbed something or whatever. They instantly thought, ‘Oh, here’s our klutzy cousin girl’… How lucky I was.”

And the rest, as they say, is classic TV history. Just think about it: without the help of Hazzard County’s favorite lawman, Harrison probably would not have gotten to be Jack Tripper’s klutziest roommate.

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