| Sorrell Booke | |
|---|---|
 Sorrell Booke as J.D. "Boss" Hogg on the CBS-TV series "The Dukes of Hazzard". | |
| Personal Information | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Born: | January 4, 1930 |
| Birthplace | Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation/ Career: |
Actor and Voice artist |
| Years active: | 1952-1993 |
| Character information | |
| Appeared on/in: | M*A*S*H |
| Episodes appeared in: | "Chief Surgeon Who?" (Season ) "Requiem for a Lightweight" (Season 1) |
| Character(s) played: | General Wilson Spaulding Barker |
Sorrell Booke (January 4, 1930 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor who performed on stage, screen, and television. He is best known for his role as the corpulent, corrupt politician Jefferson Davis "J.D." aka "Boss" Hogg in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard.
Career[]
Sorrell came to Hollywood via a theatre degree from Yale University and a decade on the New York Stage. One prominent early role was that of Senator Billboard T. Rawkins in the 1960 revival of Finian's Rainbow, a role foreshadowing his most famous character, that of Boss Hogg in The Dukes of Hazzard. During his early Hollywood acting career, Booke gained acclaim for notable supporting parts in noteworthy 1960s films such as Black Like Me, A Fine Madness, and Fail-Safe. In 1962, he was in Fiorello! and starred as the namesake's character.
Booke earned an Emmy nomination for his appearance in the NBC series, Dr. Kildare in the episode "What's God to Julius?". He appeared in an episode of Mission: Impossible from the first season in 1966. Booke appeared in two early episodes of M*A*S*H, as General Barker in "Requiem For a Lightweight" and "Chief Surgeon Who?", the latter marked the debut of the character Corporal Klinger, with whom Booke's character had previously dealt.
Additionally, Booke had a recurring role in Norman Lear's groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family as Mr. Sanders, personnel manager at Archie Bunker's workplace, Prendergast Tool and Die Company. (He had previously appeared on All in the Family as Lyle Bennett, the manager of a local television station.) Booke was also featured on an episode of the sitcom Good Times, and had a recurring role as the Jewish mob boss Lefkowitz on the ABC-TV sitcom series Soap.
Booke's most notable role was in The Dukes of Hazzard as the humorously wicked antagonist to Bo and Luke Duke. The series ran on CBS for seven seasons, from 1979–1985 and spawned an animated series, The Dukes (1983), two reunion TV specials (by which time Booke had died, and the character of Boss Hogg was also said to be deceased), a feature film (2005) and The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning (a 2007 TV movie).
Final years and death[]
Booke continued to work until he died of colorectal cancer in Sherman Oaks, California on February 11, 1994, a month after his 64th birthday. He is interred at the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. His tombstone reads, "Beloved Pa, Grandpa, Brother and Boss."
External links[]
- Sorrell Booke at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
- Sorrell Booke article at Wikipedia
