Cletus Hogg
Encyclopedia
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
featured in the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series, The Dukes of Hazzard
The Dukes of Hazzard
The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard...
. He was played by Rick Hurst
Rick Hurst
Richard Douglas "Rick" Hurst an American actor who portrayed Deputy Cletus Hogg, Boss Hogg's cousin, in the 1980 to 1983 seasons of The Dukes of Hazzard....
.
Cletus was Boss Hogg
Boss Hogg
Jefferson Davis "J.D." Hogg, better known as "Boss" Hogg, is a fictional character featured in the American television series The Dukes of Hazzard. He was the greedy, unethical commissioner of Hazzard County. A stereotypical villainous glutton, Boss Hogg always wore an all-white suit with a white...
's dim-witted cousin and deputy sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of Hazzard County. Although generally friendly to the Dukes, he would usually gladly assist Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
On the American TV series The Dukes of Hazzard, Rosco Purvis Coltrane is the bumbling sheriff of Hazzard County and right-hand man of its corrupt county commissioner, Jefferson Davis "J.D." Hogg ....
in their unprovoked pursuit of the family, mainly Bo
Bo Duke
Beauregard "Bo" Duke is a fictional character in the American television series The Dukes of Hazzard, which ran from 1979 to 1985. He was played by John Schneider. The name of Beauregard may have been chosen after the famous Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard.Bo and his cousin Luke Duke live in...
and Luke Duke
Luke Duke
Lucas K. "Luke" Duke is a fictional character in the American television series The Dukes of Hazzard which ran from 1979 to 1985. Luke was played by Tom Wopat....
. Each of the Hazzard County Sheriff's Department officers drove various Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
"B-body" patrol cars (1976 or 1977 Dodge Monaco, 1977 or 1978 Plymouth Fury).
The character of Cletus joined the cast of The Dukes of Hazzard as a regular when the character Deputy Enos Strate
Enos Strate
Enos Strate is a character on the television series, The Dukes of Hazzard played by Sonny Shroyer.-Fictional biography:Enos was born in Hazzard County to a loving family, and grew up as friends with Bo and Luke Duke. At the age of sixteen, he enrolled at the Hazzard Police Academy, graduated at the...
(played by Sonny Shroyer
Sonny Shroyer
Otis Burt "Sonny" Shroyer, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in various television and movie roles. He is best known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Enos Strate in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard. He also starred in a spin-off called Enos based on his Dukes of Hazzard character...
) left the show in 1980
1980 in television
The year 1980 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1980.For the American TV schedule, see: 1980-81 American network television schedule.-Events:...
.
Like Enos, Cletus regularly pursued the Duke boys in high speed car chase
Car chase
A car chase is the vehicular pursuit of a suspect by law enforcement officers. Car chases are often captured on film and broadcast due to the availability of video footage recorded by police cars and police and media helicopters participating in the chase...
s, which usually ended with Cletus landing in water, thus allowing the Dukes to evade the inept deputy. True to his family nature, he is a glutton (although not as much as Boss Hogg) and is often shown eating while on duty. Cletus made his first appearance in the first season episode "Money To Burn", in which he was the driver of the bank truck that became involved in Boss's latest plot. He acted as temporary deputy in season two's "The Meeting" and "Road Pirates" while Enos was away, and became permanent deputy in the same episode that Enos left, in the third season's "Enos Strate To The Top". Although his pursuit of the Duke boys was played mainly for laughs, his character turned serious in one episode when he was shown taking a suspected drunk driver into custody.
When Enos returned at the start of the fifth season, both served as deputies and shared the same patrol car for a few episodes before Cletus disappeared, said to have gone on vacation and never to return (until 1997's Reunion movie
The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!
The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! is a made-for-television film from 1997 which aired on CBS and reunites the surviving cast members of the American TV series, The Dukes of Hazzard...
).