Sorrell Booke facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sorrell Booke
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| Born | January 4, 1930 Buffalo, New York, U.S.
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| Died | February 11, 1994 (aged 64) Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.
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| Resting place | Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Education | Columbia University (BA) Yale University (MFA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1939–1993 |
| Spouse(s) | Miranda Knickerbocker (1958–1973; divorced) |
| Children | 2 |
Sorrell Booke (born January 4, 1930 – died February 11, 1994) was an American actor. He was famous for acting in plays, movies, and TV shows. He appeared in over 100 plays and 150 television shows. He is best known for playing the character Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg in the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard. Boss Hogg was a funny, sometimes tricky, local politician.
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Early Life and Education
Sorrell Booke was born in Buffalo, New York. His father, Sol Booke, was a doctor. As a child, Sorrell would entertain patients in his father's waiting room. He started acting on the radio when he was just nine years old.
He was very good at doing different voices. He even won a radio contest for sounding like Adolf Hitler. He often acted on local radio stations like WGR and WEBR. He went to Bennett High School and was the top student in his class of 1946. This means he had the best grades.
At 16, Booke went to Columbia University. He acted in plays by Shakespeare in the school's drama club. He finished college at 19 in 1949. Later, he earned a special degree in fine arts from the Yale School of Drama. He also served in the United States Army for two years during the Korean War. He worked as a counterintelligence officer, which means he helped gather secret information.
Acting Career Highlights
After his time in the Army, Sorrell Booke started acting in plays in New York City. His first TV role was in a show called Omnibus. In 1956, he made his first appearance on Broadway, which is the highest level of theater in the U.S.
He played many different characters. One early role was Senator Billboard T. Rawkins in a play called Finian's Rainbow. He also appeared in movies like Black Like Me, What's Up, Doc?, and Fail-Safe. In 1962, he starred in the Broadway musical Fiorello!.
Sorrell Booke was also a familiar face on many TV shows. These included Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-O, and The Rockford Files. He even worked as a voice actor in the 1980s and early 1990s. He also sometimes conducted the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his acting in the TV show Dr. Kildare. He appeared in an episode of Mission: Impossible in 1966. Booke also had roles in M*A*S*H and All in the Family. In All in the Family, he played Mr. Sanders, the personnel manager at Archie Bunker's job.
Boss Hogg in The Dukes of Hazzard
Sorrell Booke's most famous role was Boss Hogg in The Dukes of Hazzard. Boss Hogg was the funny, sometimes mean, enemy of the main characters, Bo and Luke Duke. The show was very popular and ran for seven seasons, from 1979 to 1985.
This role made him very well-known. The show also led to an animated series called The Dukes. There were also two TV movies and two feature films based on The Dukes of Hazzard.
Later Voice Acting Work
By the late 1980s, Booke mostly did voice acting. He lent his voice to many cartoon characters and was sometimes a narrator. You can hear his voice in movies like Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987) and Rock-A-Doodle (1991). He also voiced characters in TV shows like Gravedale High (1990).
Personal Life and Hobbies
Sorrell Booke was about 5 feet 6 inches tall. When he played Boss Hogg, he wore extra padding to look heavier. He copied Boss Hogg's Southern accent from real U.S. senators.
Booke was very good at languages. He could speak French, Latin, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, German, Greek, and Italian. He also said he knew a little bit of other languages like Arabic and Chinese.
One of his favorite hobbies was buying old, run-down houses and fixing them up. In 1981, he lived in a simple home in Los Angeles. He enjoyed doing his own gardening and carpentry. Even though he called his Boss Hogg character "despicable," he liked meeting fans of the show.
Booke married Miranda Knickerbocker in 1958. They had two children together. They later divorced in 1973.
Death
Sorrell Booke passed away on February 11, 1994. He died from colorectal cancer in Sherman Oaks, California. He is buried at the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.
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