<P> In 1960, Best appeared in the episode "Love on Credit" of CBS's anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson . The same year, he guest - starred on The Andy Griffith Show as "The Guitar Player" (Season 1, Episode 3 and 31). He starred in three episodes of The Twilight Zone including "The Grave" (Season 3, Episode 7), "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank," (Season 3, Episode 23) and "Jess - Belle" (Season 4, Episode 7). In 1963, he was cast as the courageous Wisconsin game warden, Ernie Swift, in the episode "Open Season" of another CBS anthology series, GE True, hosted by Jack Webb . In the storyline, Swift faces the reprisal of organized crime after he tickets gangster Frank MacErlane (David McLean) for illegal fishing . </P> <P> In 1962, he played the part of Art Fuller in the episode "Incident of El Toro" on CBS's Rawhide; and in 1963, he returned to play Willie Cain in the episode "Incident at Spider Rock ." Best made two guest appearances on Perry Mason . In 1963 he played title character Martin Potter in "The Case of the Surplus Suitor," and in 1966 he played defendant and oilman Allan Winford in "The Case of the Unwelcome Well ." He appeared on a long list of other television series in the 1950s and 1960s, including Wagon Train (three times), Laramie (three times), The Adventures of Kit Carson (twice as Henry Jordan), the western anthology series Frontier (twice), The Rebel, Bonanza, Sheriff of Cochise, Pony Express, Rescue 8, Behind Closed Doors, The Texan, Gunsmoke, Have Gun--Will Travel, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Tombstone Territory, Whispering Smith, Trackdown, The Rifleman, Cheyenne, Stagecoach West, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Overland Trail, Bat Masterson, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Man and the Challenge, Combat!, The Green Hornet ("Deadline For Death"), The Mod Squad, I Spy, and The Fugitive </P> <P> Best played Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on CBS's The Dukes of Hazzard from the debut of the program in 1979 until the end of the series in 1985 . That role was Best's most visible success . He later revealed that the caricature - like persona of Sheriff Coltrane was developed from a voice he used when playing with his young children . On set, Best was particularly close to Sorrell Booke, who played the character of Boss Hogg, who was both the boss and the brother - in - law of Rosco . The two actors became close friends; and according to interviews by the series' creators, the two would often improvise their scenes together, making up their own dialogue as they went along . Until his death, he also remained close to Catherine Bach, who played the character of Daisy Duke; and long after the show's cancellation, she was a regular visitor to the website dedicated to Best's painting . </P> <P> In 1991, in contrast to the comical Rosco Coltrane of The Dukes of Hazzard, Best appeared in an episode of the NBC crime drama In the Heat of the Night . He won the Crystal Reel Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Nathan Bedford in the episode "Sweet, Sweet Blues," directed by Vincent McEveety and written by William James Royce . Best plays a retired sheriff and repentant killer who has to come to terms with being involved in the death of now Sparta police officer Sweet's grandfather . </P>

Who played rosco p coltrane on the dukes of hazzard