From ‘Dukes Of Hazzard’ To Broadway To His New Album ‘Simple Man’

Tom Wopat may be best known for his role as “Luke Duke” on the 1980’s TV show Dukes of Hazzard, but he has an extensive body of acting work that might surprise those who haven’t closely followed his career. He’s performed on Broadway in shows like “Annie Get Your Gun,” alongside the legendary Bernadette Peters. And he’s acted in a steady stream of movies and TV shows, and currently plays the sheriff in the three film County Line series on the Inspiration Network.

“It’s funny after being on the other side of the law for so long on Dukes of Hazzard,” he says with a laugh, “now I play marshals and sheriffs.

Wopat is also an accomplished singer and musician. He’s recorded more than a dozen albums in studios from Los Angeles to Nashville, including a 2014 Christmas album with his friend and Dukes of Hazzard ‘brother’ John Schneider.

Wopat’s newest album is called Simple Man, named after a song written by Graham Nash.

“It’s kind of an Americana album, I guess, would be the best way to describe it,” he says. “I have a couple of ballads, some blues, some Broadway tunes. There’s a couple of James Taylor songs, a Shawn Colvin song, and a couple of originals. One is from the third County Line movie. I ended up writing a song for it. I kind of integrated the two parts of my life – acting and music.”

His interest in both acting and music began when he as a kid, growing up in Wisconsin.

“I started doing musicals in school when I was around 12,” he recalls. “Then, when I was 13 the Beatles showed up. So, I had to have a guitar and I started playing the guitar and singing.”

He had vocal training in junior high and high school, then went on to study voice at the University of Wisconsin.

“I had a couple of people at the university who said if you want to do this and make a living at it, you could probably be successful. And that’s what got me kind of got me thinking about Broadway.”

He did summer stock theater in Michigan before eventually heading to New York. He was on Broadway within months.

“I was a high school athlete, I’m 6 feet tall, looked like a football player and I can sing. And people like that are few and far between on Broadway.”

He was soon getting calls for both stage and screen and got cast in One Life to Life. But it was Dukes of Hazzard that made him a star and more than four decades later, he’s still recognized as Luke Duke just about everywhere he goes.

“The Dukes of Hazzard thing has a complete life of its own,” he says. “It’s pop culture and it’s iconic. Ben Jones who played Cooter on the show, he and his wife have three stores where all they sell is Dukes of Hazzard stuff and it’s maintained a fan interest. We do big events now and then, and we’re on our fourth generation of fans.”

Those stores are in Luray, Virginia, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Nashville. Wopat will make an appearance at the Cooter’s in Nashville later this month (March 25th and 26th) to promote the album.

He considers himself fortunate to have such a lengthy career with so many continued opportunities.

“Between theater and recording, live performing, television and film, it certainly keeps my interest.”

And as far as music goes, he plays more guitar on this latest album than he has in the past, and is enjoying the art of songwriting, along with covering songs that have come to mean something through the years.

“I have a few more songs in me. It’s like I wrote at the end of the artist note for this record, I said, music is what we do. And if you enjoy listening to this half as much as we enjoyed making it, well, heck,” Wopat says and then stops to laugh, “then we might just have to do another one.”