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 heavyset, corrupt politician "Boss" Jefferson Davis Hogg in the television show The Dukes of Hazzard.
Born in Buffalo, New York, and fluent in five languages including Japanese, Sorrell Booke attended Columbia and Yale Universities and served in the Korean War as a counterintelligence officer. Booke had parts in noteworthy 1960s films such as Black Like Me, A Fine Madness and Fail-Safe before focusing primarily on television parts in the 1970s and voice acting in the 1980s and 1990s.
Booke earned himself an Emmy nomination for his appearance in the TV series, Dr. Kildare in the episode entitled, "What's God to Julius?" He can also be seen in an episode of Mission: Impossible from the first season in 1966. Booke also appeared in two early episodes of M*A*S*H, one of which, "Chief Surgeon Who?", marked the debut of the character Corporal Klinger, whom Booke's character had previously dealt with. Additionally, he had a recurring role in Norman Lear's groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family as Mr. Sanders, personnel manager at Archie Bunker's workplace, Pendergast Tool and Die.
His most notable role was in The Dukes of Hazzard as the humorously wicked antagonist to Bo and Luke Duke, J.D. 'Boss' Hogg. The series ran from 1979-1985, and spawned an animated series, The Dukes (1983), two reunion TV specials, and a feature film. Booke was actually only slightly overweight and wore a fat suit during the entire run of the series.
He also once conducted the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Booke continued to work professionally until he succumbed to colorectal cancer in Sherman Oaks, California at age 64. He is interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.
His tombstone reads "Beloved Pa, Grandpa, Brother and Boss".
Booke had two children, Alexandra and Nicholas, and a brother named Fred.
Sorrell Booke was born in Buffalo New York in in 1930, the son of a local physician. He found his calling early in life, like most actors, when his family encouraged him to entertain relatives by doing impressions and telling jokes. He went on to study at Yale and Columbia University, and mastered five languages. During the Korean War, Booke worked in counter-intelligence where his lingual talents served him well. His intelligence and subtlety are often overlooked when considering his signature role as Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg during his run on "Dukes of Hazzard, The" (1979). He died of cancer in 1994 just after his 64th birthday.
