Guich Koock

Guich Koock was one of seven children born to a Texas farmer and his wife. Koock attended Texas A&M University, where he earned a BA in history and an MA in Texas folklore. Newly married, he spent his immediate post-college years as a bartender, shooting his own food (squirrels, rabbits etc.) to save money. He went on to work as a schoolteacher, woodcarver, blacksmith, rodeo clown, and organizer of the annual Luckenbach, Texas "World's Fair," regaling the crowds with all manner of eccentric displays and contests. The story goes that Koock was downing a brew at a local bar when a casting director for Steven Spielberg offered him the supporting role of a Louisiana deputy in Spielberg's The Sugarland Express. Thus was launched his on-and-off acting career, with Koock generally cast as a bucolic good ol' boy who wasn't as dumb as he looked. After several busted TV pilots, he landed the part of Deputy Harley Puckett in the 1977-79 sitcom Carter Country. Guich Koock has since played variations of that role in such weekly TVers as The Chisholms (1980, as Frank O'Neill), Lewis and Clark (1981-82, co-starring with Gabe Kaplan as the manager of a C&W club) and She's the Sheriff (1987-88, as still another deputy, this one named Hugh Mulcahy).

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide