Saluting Hazzard's best cop

Let me consult my cliché handbook. "A riot of color." "Every color on the palette." "A color explosion."

Nina and I found all those fall colors over the weekend in the hills of West Virginia and western Pennsylvania. They were spectacular. Here in Augusta, the colors have been more subdued, so it is good to see the full spectrum. It gave me the chance to dust off those clichés.

The trip took us to Indiana, Pa., a community we visit with some regularity to attend events surrounding the Jimmy Stewart Museum. The town does a wonderful job remembering the great film actor who is its favorite son. A four-lane road leading into town is named for him. There is a bigger-than-life statue of him at the courthouse. And the museum itself is really worth a visit.

Each year, they have a dinner honoring a friend or co-worker of Jimmy's. They present him or her with the "Harvey" award, named for one of Jimmy's signature roles. Nina and I have been hosts for the ceremony and events surrounding the dinner for the last eight years, and we always look forward to it.

This year, the recipient was James Best, an actor who appeared in at least 80 films, but is undoubtedly best known as Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane on the long-running "Dukes of Hazzard" television program.

Mr. Best, who is now 80 years old, is not just an actor. He is also a producer, writer, director and, as we learned Saturday, is quite an accomplished painter.

Born in Kentucky, raised in Indiana, Jim Best started an acting career after his stint in the Army following World War II. He had a compelling style long before he found success in the broad comedy of "Dukes."

Many of his roles have stuck with me. Two in particular were westerns and, in both, he was a villain. In "Firecreek" with Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda, he was a cold-blooded killer. The audience cheered when he was shot down.

"I was always getting killed," Jim said. "I must have died in 70 of those 80 movies I did."

In "Left-Handed Gun" with Paul Newman, Jim was one of the Newman's compadres when - as Billy the Kid - Paul goes on a revenge killing spree.

"Look at the people I got to work with. Mr. Stewart and Mr. Fonda. It doesn't get any better than that. Then with Mr. Newman, the best of the next generation of actors."

How many Jimmy Stewart films did he make?

"Five. There was 'Mountain Road,' and 'Shenandoah' and 'Winchester '73'..."

Wait a minute. "Winchester '73" is one of my favorite movies, and "I don't remember you in it."

"I don't know how you could have missed me, Nick. I made history in that film. I had a small part as one of the men in a wagon train attacked by Indians. I was killed in one scene. In the next scene, I was back again, firing my rifle. Then I was killed a second time. Go top that!"

I couldn't. Nina and I will watch that film with renewed interest next time.

Not all Jim Best's movies were westerns. He was in "The Caine Mutiny" with Humphrey Bogart and Norman Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead," three films with Burt Reynolds and the comedy "Three on a Couch" with Jerry Lewis.

Now, he has his own production company, and he and his wife Dorothy keep a busy schedule of personal appearances. The dinner and the other events were great fun, with Jim doing a brief parody of his Sheriff Coltrane character that brought down the house.

But I was remembering one of Jim's 600 TV appearances. He was on "The Andy Griffith Show" as a guitar player who came home a failure. It was a poignant performance. Mr. Best is very good at his work.

On the drive home, we passed Uniontown, Pa., on George C. Marshall Boulevard. The author of the Marshall Plan was born there of two parents who were natives of Augusta, Ky., where Nina and I live.

Then in Morgantown, W. Va., we found ourselves on Don Knotts Boulevard in the great comedic actor's birthplace. It was good to see these accomplished people were not forgotten by their hometowns.

It was also good to see the fall colors were even prettier on the return trip - a riotously explosive palette.

Nick Clooney writes for The Post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mails sent to Nick at nickclooney@... will be forwarded to him via regular mail.