Actor Rick Hurst, best known for his role as the bumbling but lovable Deputy Cletus Hogg on The Dukes of Hazzard, passed away on June 26 at the age of 79. A longtime resident of West Hollywood’s Horn Avenue in WeHo Heights, Hurst was remembered by neighbors as kind, down-to-earth, and exactly as charming off-screen as he was on it.
“My lovely neighbor of over 35 years… just died,” wrote Elyse Eisenberg in a public tribute shared the day after his passing. “The sweetest man in the world who was exactly like his Dukes character. He loved my cookies and meringues!”
Hurst was born in Houston on January 1, 1946, and studied acting at both Tulane and Temple University before launching a prolific television and film career. In addition to his breakout role on Dukes, he appeared in Sanford and Son, MASH*, Happy Days, The Karate Kid Part III, and Steel Magnolias.
He joined The Dukes of Hazzard in 1979 and played Cletus Hogg for five seasons. He reprised the role in two reunion films and made regular appearances at fan events, including Cooter’s Place in Tennessee.
Co-star Ben Jones (Cooter) called him “a professional comedian and a kind gentleman… with a heart as big as Texas.” John Schneider (Bo Duke) said Hurst was “a remarkable force for humanity, sanity and comedy.”
Though best known nationally for his TV work, Hurst was a familiar face in the neighborhood. “My deepest sympathy on this sudden loss goes to his two sons and all his fans,” Eisenberg wrote.
Hurst is survived by two sons, including actor Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy, The Walking Dead). His passing came just days before he was scheduled to appear at a fan convention.
I remember watching the Dukes of Hazzard when I was a kid and, they really nailed it on the head when it came to their portrayal of conservative small town USA where white rednecks drive around recklessly endangering the public and doing so completely uninhibited. The representation of the sheriff’s deputies was the absolute epitome of you would expect to find in conservative middle America small town law enforcement to the point of making LASD actually look professional❗😲
A simple RIP would have sufficed, CHAD.
Perhaps but, I wanted to do my very best to send a genuine, heart 💝 felt memoriam.
Do you have no appreciation for any culture other than your own Marxist one?
Marxist culture is NOT mine or anyone else’s to exclusively possess but, was intended to belong to us all.