James Best, the prolific US character actor best known for his role as Sheriff Rosco P Coltrane in The Dukes Of Hazzard, has died at the age of 88.

His wife, Dorothy Best, said that Best died on Monday night (April 6) in hospice care in Hickory from complications of pneumonia.

James Best
James Best with his Dukes Of Hazzard castmates John Schneider and Ben Jones (Earl Neikirk/AP)

Best starred on the television series that ran from 1979 to 1985. He was the lawman futilely chasing the Duke boys, often in the company of his droopy-faced basset hound Flash.

During a wide-ranging career of several decades, he also acted in movies including The Caine Mutiny and Rolling Thunder, and he appeared on television shows including Gunsmoke and The Andy Griffith Show.

Best was an acting teacher who helped several future Hollywood stars learn how to appear more natural on camera.