Rick Hurst, ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ star, dead at 79

Rick Hurst played Deputy Cletus Hogg in "Dukes of Hazzard." (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

Actor Rick Hurst, best known for playing Deputy Cletus Hogg in the hit sitcom “The Dukes of Hazzard,” has died at age 79.

His death was confirmed by Ben Jones, his co-star on the show, who posted a message on the Facebook page of the Cooter’s Place museum, which is dedicated to the show, on Thursday.

“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,” wrote Jones.

“I have known Rick for over 45 years and there wasn’t a minute of that time that he didn’t leave me smiling or laughing. Sure he was a professional comedian, but mostly he just had a heart as big as Texas,” he added.

“He was a fine actor, a splendid comic, and a wonderfully supportive colleague,” said Jones, who recalled how “everything clicked” when Hurst joined the “Dukes of Hazzard” cast.

“He fit right in and never stopped making people smile until this afternoon. And since the Dukes is still playing all over the planet, he will continue to make us laugh!” he wrote.

“I don’t know about y’all but I believe in an afterlife, and I can see Rick up there in Heaven with Jimmy Best and Sorrell Booke and Denver Pyle, putting on the funniest show inside those Pearly Gates,” he said, referring to other “Dukes of Hazzard” cast members who have died.

“Rest in Peace, old friend!” added Jones.

Hurst had some success early in his acting career, including appearing in 24 episodes of TV series “On the Rocks” from 1975 to 1976, but it was “The Dukes of Hazzard,” which follows the fast-driving Duke brothers as they attempt to outrun the authorities in the fictional Hazzard County, that made him a household name.

Hurst appeared in 55 episodes of the CBS series from 1979 to 1982, before leaving to appear in “Amanda’s,” a US remake of the popular British TV series “Fawlty Towers.”

In the decades that followed, he appeared in various TV shows and movies, making his last appearance in a TV short called “B My Guest” in 2016.

By Jack Guy, CNN