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Speaker 1: And we continue with our American stories. Born in Kentucky,

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Speaker 1: James Best was orphaned at the age of three and

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Speaker 1: eventually adopted after high school. He joined the United States

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Speaker 1: Army Air Corps during World War Two in July of

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Speaker 1: nineteen forty four and served with the military police in

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Speaker 1: war torn Germany. He founded the James Best Theater Center

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Speaker 1: in Los Angeles, becoming one of the hottest acting coaches

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Speaker 1: in Hollywood, training the likes of Clinicetwood, Burt Reynolds, Glenn Campbell,

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Speaker 1: Quentin Tarantino, and Regis Philman. Best than his wife, actually

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Speaker 1: gave the young Tarantino a place to sleep while he

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Speaker 1: struggled to make it in Hollywood, just before landing his

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Speaker 1: role as Roscoe P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard.

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Speaker 1: Best taught drama for two years at the University of

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Speaker 1: Mississippi or Ole, miss right here where we broadcast in Oxford, Mississippi.

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Speaker 1: Here's James Best with his story.

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Speaker 2: After the war, there was what they call werewolf gangs

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Speaker 2: in in Fiesbonn, Germany, and they were teenagers that had

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Speaker 2: actually been trained by the SS and actually some loot

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Speaker 2: of them fought in the war. They were like twelve

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Speaker 2: year old. They'd get on a bicycle with a baa

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Speaker 2: in fight the Russians with tanks.

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Speaker 1: Uh.

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Speaker 3: I said, they were rough.

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Speaker 2: Well, we had to clean up the town being a

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Speaker 2: so I was getting shot at more most people did

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Speaker 2: in the war, you know.

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Speaker 3: And I was going up to get a.

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Speaker 2: Cup of coffee in a donut at the PX and

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Speaker 2: a girl walked down the steps and she had a

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Speaker 2: green uniform.

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Speaker 3: On with c AT on her shoulder.

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Speaker 2: I said, come into here, bit, I said, come here please,

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Speaker 2: and German and she she said, I beg your pardon.

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Speaker 2: I said, are you an American? And she said yes,

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Speaker 2: And I said, what's going on? I said, what is

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Speaker 2: the c at? She said, a civilian actress technician. And

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Speaker 2: I said, well is that. I'm an old country boy.

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Speaker 2: I've got from that much about anything. I had never

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Speaker 2: seen a play. She said, well, we're doing a play

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Speaker 2: at the Beesbaden Opera House. I said, oh great. I said,

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Speaker 2: I'll pick up after the play. So she said, well,

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Speaker 2: I won't go out with you know, just come and

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Speaker 2: see the play. I said, I don't want to see

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Speaker 2: the play. I'll pick up after it. She said, no,

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Speaker 2: I'm not wait do the work.

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Speaker 3: So I go over to.

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Speaker 2: See the play. I'm sitting in the audience, old country boy.

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Speaker 2: The curtain goes up and I'm like a kid in Disneyland,

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Speaker 2: and I could not believe this. This was like Comet

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Speaker 2: of the World. I go back to the age to

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Speaker 2: pick up the young lady and here's Gis getting dressed

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Speaker 2: out of the from the show. I said, wait a minute,

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Speaker 2: I'm a sergeant. What are these guys?

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Speaker 3: What are they? They said, they're in the show.

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Speaker 2: They tour, They're treated like officers, and we tour around

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Speaker 2: the French, British American zone.

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Speaker 3: I said, wait a minute, I'm gonna start.

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Speaker 2: I'm getting shot at every night, and these guys are

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Speaker 2: traveling around with you pretty girls. I'm in the wrong outfit.

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Speaker 2: So I went to my commanding altar, and through certain circumstances,

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Speaker 2: I had a pretty good record there, and so they

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Speaker 2: transferred my transferred me into special service. I started acting,

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Speaker 2: and I acted with these professional people and learned my craft.

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Speaker 3: So later on, when I came back to the.

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Speaker 2: States, I hitchhikeed in New York to be an actor.

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Speaker 2: I had that experience, and so I spent about three

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Speaker 2: years in New York did a Broadway show in summer

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Speaker 2: Stock winter Stock, and then put under contract Universal nineteen

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Speaker 2: forty nine. Now I was there for two years, so

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Speaker 2: that started my career. I've counted over six hundred television shows.

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Speaker 2: I'm very fortunate because I got to work back in

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Speaker 2: those days, the golden days, when they used talent instead

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Speaker 2: of reality stars. I really have a little sick coming

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Speaker 2: out of Hollywood. You over, they're doing remakes of things

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Speaker 2: that we did forty years ago. Only only one thing

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Speaker 2: that it's different is that they used four letter words

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Speaker 2: every other way and body parts.

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Speaker 3: And it's funny.

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Speaker 2: I worked with Gene Aunter and I Belong Cassidy and

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Speaker 2: five Movies, Jimmy Stewart, and I worked with Bouguard and

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Speaker 2: Charles Gston Soon and they were all these wonderful people,

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Speaker 2: Clint Eastwood, Bird Reynolds.

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Speaker 3: It's funny.

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Speaker 2: We didn't have to have body parts fly, We didn't

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Speaker 2: need four letter words.

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Speaker 3: Till the guy we.

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Speaker 2: Hated him, we knocked, just knocked him on his backside.

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Speaker 2: I'd put a little chocolate syrup on my shirt.

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Speaker 3: Fall off my horse. You knew I was dead.

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Speaker 2: You didn't have to see my spine go fly across

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Speaker 2: the room. You know. I did Kate Mutiney with the Boguard.

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Speaker 2: I did Naked and Dead, you know. And Jimmy, Jimmy

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Speaker 2: Stewart was my khon. I did five movies with him.

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Speaker 3: I did China, Noah, Fire Creek, Mountain Road, Hawkins Center's Fella,

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Speaker 3: and so forth. I was doing Mountain Road.

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Speaker 2: And mister Stewart in real life flew twenty three combat

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Speaker 2: missions in World War Two. And while we were up

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Speaker 2: there an Act of Congress, they made mister Stewart a general.

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Speaker 3: And I'm back there. I'm bored, I bore easy. I

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Speaker 3: like action.

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Speaker 2: So I called down the room service and I said, uh,

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Speaker 2: room service, and they said yes. He said, well this

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Speaker 2: is mister Stuart. Yes, this is mister Stewart. Let me

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Speaker 2: ask you. Do you have any wine? And they said, well, yes, sir,

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Speaker 2: we have one. He said, well, I don't mean just

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Speaker 2: any any old wine.

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Speaker 3: French. The French have good wine.

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Speaker 2: He said, yes, we have some.

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Speaker 3: Very fire friends.

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Speaker 2: Shud a bottle up to mister best sweet, may make

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Speaker 2: it two. Well, mister Stewart came back and I said, General.

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Speaker 2: He wasn't used to that, and he said, yeah, Well,

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Speaker 2: I said, Missus Stewart, I used your your voice to

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Speaker 2: get two bottles of very fine French wine. But I said,

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Speaker 2: and he said, well who's going to pay for that?

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Speaker 3: Yes? God love him.

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Speaker 2: He he loved for me to imitate him. He'd always

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Speaker 2: pretend like he was upset, but he wasn't that doll.

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Speaker 2: He wanted me to do it, get me in a

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Speaker 2: position where I would have to try to imitate him.

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Speaker 2: You know, God love him.

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Speaker 3: He was marvelous.

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Speaker 2: I was doing Hooper with Bret Reynolds, and I had

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Speaker 2: written the script and performed on it, and my agent

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Speaker 2: call and said, I want to send you over on

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Speaker 2: a on a series.

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Speaker 3: I said, seriously, and it says called Dukes. I said,

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Speaker 3: I don't want to do a gang thing. I really don't.

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Speaker 3: They said, no, no, no, no, this is a good

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Speaker 3: old boy thing and they're going to shoot it in Kanye, Georgia.

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Speaker 3: And they said, I said, you're gonna shoot it in

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Speaker 3: count of Georgia. The fishing is good, the people are nice,

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Speaker 3: and they're gonna shoot the whole series in and they

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Speaker 3: said yeah. I said, I'm going to go over and

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Speaker 3: see about that.

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Speaker 2: So I go over there and here is the producer

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Speaker 2: and the director and the writers in the inquisition. They're

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Speaker 2: sitting there in a bunch of chairs, and they had

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Speaker 2: one chair sitting out in front, and I sat down

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Speaker 2: on that and they said, I said, now what is

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Speaker 2: this and it's a sheriff And I said, how do

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Speaker 2: you want me to play them? They said, well, we

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Speaker 2: would like for him to be amusing, he found funny.

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Speaker 2: And I said, well, I've played a lot of heavies,

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Speaker 2: but I did. I started with Jerry Lewis in a

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Speaker 2: movie Calledrehelicavity. I said, I can do comedy. I did

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Speaker 2: that at summer start. So I thought, what am I

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Speaker 2: going to do? Because I do not want to embarrass

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Speaker 2: the sheriffs in this world, because I have too much

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Speaker 2: respect for the fire Department and the sheriffs in the military.

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Speaker 2: So I said, I'll play him like a twelve year

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Speaker 2: old who likes hot pursuit. So what I did when

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Speaker 2: I said, let me read the script. I read the script.

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Speaker 2: And when I'm reading it, I did what I used

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Speaker 2: to do with my little girls when they were little,

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Speaker 2: and I seek chasing them.

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Speaker 3: Way, I going, don't get you a little rusk.

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Speaker 2: Well, they fell off their chair and they signed me.

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Speaker 2: I was the first one they put under contract.

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Speaker 4: I have just caught the Duke Boys going a half

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Speaker 4: mile over the speed limit with my new radar.

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Speaker 2: Good and we shot five episodes down in Congress, Georgia,

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Speaker 2: and then they moved it back to that cesspool called

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Speaker 2: l A.

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Speaker 4: Whoa look at their fare.

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Speaker 3: I love it.

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Speaker 2: I love it. It's hot in pursuit time flies.

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Speaker 3: My name is Jefferson Davis Hall Oh to g.

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Speaker 2: Until too, Might you be.

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Speaker 3: Bush?

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Speaker 2: You know who I am? Rush Cool Rush, Copie Coltrane.

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Speaker 3: Something wrong with his eyes?

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Speaker 2: It's his head insanity is suffering from a temporary case

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Speaker 2: of amn.

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Speaker 3: Oh, who is this lovely lady? Oh?

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Speaker 2: Luke, that's your wife? My yeah, uh, that's you in

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Speaker 2: the picture.

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Speaker 1: Though, ain't it?

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Speaker 3: You should have shot the other side the profile and

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Speaker 3: much God, your arm right around my wife.

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Speaker 2: I love her very what's going on between the two

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Speaker 2: of you? She's your wife, but she's my sister. Ooh,

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Speaker 2: your sister. Now wait a minute, what that makes you

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Speaker 2: my brother in law? I had no idea how low

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Speaker 2: I'd really sunk.

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Speaker 4: The comedy team with Saw and I came about actually

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Speaker 4: at first played such a heavy in the series, played

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Speaker 4: plus a mean guy that so I went through the

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Speaker 4: powers of being said, you know, it should be a

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Speaker 4: nice relationship with Sorel, and I would can do sort

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Speaker 4: of a modern day Laurel Hardy type of thing. And

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Speaker 4: if Roscoe likes boss Hog, there may.

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Speaker 3: Be other people will like him too.

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Speaker 1: And it did.

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Speaker 3: It worked very well, and that's why we.

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Speaker 4: Go whooh, little fat little Buddy and Chubby Buddy, and

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Speaker 4: it became a wonderful relationship. I believe it having fun,

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Speaker 4: and I believe in making people laugh. I think there's

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Speaker 4: not enough laughter in this world. And if I contribute

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Speaker 4: to that the enjoyment of anything, I think perhaps maybe

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Speaker 4: that was my purpose rather than digging coal in Kentucky

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Speaker 4: where my daddy and my family lived when I was

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Speaker 4: a little boy.

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Speaker 1: And a terrific job on the production editing and storytelling

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Speaker 1: by our own Greg Hangler. And you've been listening to

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Speaker 1: James Best, the late James Best, who played Sheriff Frosco

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Speaker 1: Pee Coltrane of the Dukes of Hazard here on our

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Speaker 1: American Stories.

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Speaker 3: In the system.

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Speaker 1: Lack of two modern day Robin Hoo