Rick Hurst

Rick Hurst is an American character actor best known to TV audiences as dim-witted deputy sheriff Cletus Hogg on the 1980s action-comedy series "The Dukes of Hazzard." Hurst, a native of Houston, Texas, discovered his love for acting while attending Tulane University, and went on to earn his master's in drama from Philadelphia's Temple University. A talented physical comedian, Hurst often played buffoon-like authority figures, including police officers and deputies. After earning some recognition for a recurring role as a mechanic on the 1960s situation comedy "The Doris Day Show," Hurst went on to minor TV parts and extras work on feature films. But Hurst would play his most enduring character, Cletus Hogg, for three seasons between 1979 and 1982 on the hit series "The Dukes of Hazzard." Hurst continued to appear in bit character roles in coming decades, and reprise his Cletus role on two Dukes-related TV reunion films, "The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!" (1997) and "The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood" (2000). Rick Hurst died on June 26, 2025 at the age of 79.