Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 15, 1994 TAG: 9402150218
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Short
His daughter, Alexandra, and son, Nicholas, were at his bedside when he died Friday of cancer at his Sherman Oaks home, according to Lauralee Fitzgerald, his longtime friend and former road manager.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., Booke began looking at a show business career by entertaining patients in the waiting room of the office of his doctor-father, Fitzgerald said Monday.
He went to Columbia and Yale universities then began an entertainment career on radio, stage, motion pictures and television.
Booke had roles on "Dr. Kildare" and "All in the Family," but it was "The Dukes of Hazzard" series from January 1979 to August 1985 that made Booke's character "Boss" Hogg a household name.
Hogg, the nemesis of Luke Duke (Tom Wopat) and Bo Duke (John Schneider), was the corrupt politician in a white suit preoccupied with the antics of the Duke boys. Luke and Bo were rural Robin Hoods with pedal-to-the-metal escapades through Hazzard County in their souped-up Dodge Charger.
Booke's movie credits included "Gone Are the Days," 1963; "Purlie Victorious," 1963; "Black Like Me," 1964; "Fail Safe," 1964; "Up the Down Staircase," 1967; "Bye Bye Braverman," 1968; "What's Up Doc?" 1972; "The Iceman Cometh," 1973; and "The Other Side of Midnight," 1977.
A funeral will be held Tuesday. In addition to his daughter and son, Booke is survived by a brother, Fred.
by CNB