Enos Strate

Enos at the 2009 World of Wheels in Chattanooga, Tn

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 age of nineteen, and was promptly hired as Deputy Sheriff of Hazzard County by J.D. Hogg.

Enos was always honest and straight, despite the corrupt state of law enforcement in Hazzard County. He was a polite and coy, yet bumbling young deputy, whose ineptitude as a police officer, as well as his crush on Daisy Duke, usually inadvertently served to help the Dukes in their attempts to foil the crooked Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. Daisy often exploited his weakness for her by sweet-talking him into revealing their schemes. When Enos's incompetence was shown, Rosco would usually respond by calling him "Dipstick."

Enos was known for using the expression "Possum on a gum bush" whenever applicable. Despite his amiable, bumbling ways, Enos is invariably the most capable of the Hazzard PD dealing with real threats: he usually is the one to handcuff the bad guys or draw his gun to cover them, and he usually presents a far more capable driver when pursuing the Dukes or a criminal.

Background

Enos Strate was one of the few original characters from the series with no basis on any real person from Jerry Rushing's life. Creator Gy Waldron wrote the character of a goofy "straight and narrow" cop based on actor he knew named Sonny Shroyer. Shroyer auditioned for the role and was selected from a list of prospects, having no knowledge that the character was written specifically for him.

For one season in 1980, Strate even went on to star in his own short-lived series, Enos. Sonny Shroyer played the same character as his role on Dukes, but with a bit more intelligence and fighting skills. The show began with the premise of Enos capturing two notorious criminals back in Hazzard County, then being invited to join a Special Branch of the Los Angeles Police for his nation-wide heroics.

Enos returned to Los Angeles at the series end. In The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!, Enos had spent a tour on the LAPD SWAT team. The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard In Hollywood shows Enos as an LAPD detective.

Enos was later played by Michael Weston in the subsequent cinematic version.

Adam Shulman played Enos in The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning.