Rick Hurst dead: ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ actor was 79

Actor Rick Hurst, best known as dim-witted Deputy Cletus Hogg on the TV show “The Dukes of Hazzard,” has died unexpectedly in Los Angeles. He was 79.

“It doesn’t seem right that Rick Hurst passed away this afternoon. When something so unexpected happens, it is ‘harder to process,’ as the current expression goes,” actor and politician Ben Jones, who played Cooter Davenport on “Hazzard,” wrote Thursday evening on the Facebook page for Cooter’s Place, a business themed to the show.

“I just this moment heard about the passing of dear Rick Hurst, a.k.a. Cletus Hogg,” co-star John Schneider, who played Bo Duke on “Hazzard,” wrote Thursday night on Facebook. “You were [a] remarkable force for humanity, sanity and comedy my friend. Heaven is a safer and more organized place with you in it. We’ll keep the race going and people laughing until we meet again! Love you.”

Hurst had been scheduled for fan meet-and-greet appearances July 3-7 at the Cooter’s in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., according to the website for the store and restaurant, which has three locations. Cooter’s called off the visit in a Facebook post early Thursday, saying the visit would be rescheduled due to “unforeseen circumstances.”

Born Jan. 1, 1946, in Houston and raised there, Hurst got started in acting quite early. “When I was 5 or 6, acting kind of tapped me on the shoulder — literally,” he said on a COVID-era podcast a few years back with pop culture enthusiast Scott Romine. Hurst said he was at a Houston Public Library location with his mom when a man tapped him on the shoulder and asked if he wanted to be in a commercial for the library system. He did the spot, he said, “and my pay was a chocolate soda.”

After high school in Houston, Hurst studied theater at Tulane University in New Orleans, then got a master’s in fine arts from Temple University in Philadelphia. All of his experience was on stage until he moved to Los Angeles. His first TV credit was for “Sanford and Son” in 1972 and his final credit was for “B My Guest,” a 2016 TV short.

In addition to working on the first five seasons of “The Dukes of Hazzard,” which ran from 1979 to 1985, Hurst appeared on myriad shows including “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “Little House on the Prairie,” “MASH,” “Baretta” and “227” and the miniseries “From Here to Eternity.”

Hurst said on that podcast that he “thanked God all the time” for the success of “The Dukes of Hazzard” and its fandom.

“The stunt guys were the heroes of the show,” he said, “and all of us in the cast knew that the first star on the show was the General Lee,” the orange 1969 Dodge Charger with a Confederate battle flag emblazoned on top, driven by characters Bo and Luke Duke, the latter played by Tom Wopat.

Hurst was married twice, first to acting coach Candace Kaniecki, mother of actor Ryan Hurst, and then to Shelly Weir, mother of Collin Hurst. Ryan Hurst is best known for his roles as Opie on “Sons of Anarchy” and Beta on “The Walking Dead.”