Will Rogers
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
(now part of
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
), and is known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son". As an entertainer and humorist, he traveled around the world three times, made 71 films (50
silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...
s and 21 "talkies"), and wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns. By the mid-1930s, Rogers was hugely popular in the United States for his leading political wit and was the highest paid of
Hollywood film The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Ame ...
stars. He died in 1935 with aviator
Wiley Post Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935) was a famed American aviator during the interwar period and the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high-altitude flying, Post helped develop on ...
when their small airplane crashed in northern Alaska. Rogers began his career as a performer on vaudeville. His rope act led to success in the ''
Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air ...
'', which in turn led to the first of his many movie contracts. His 1920s syndicated newspaper column and his radio appearances increased his visibility and popularity. Rogers crusaded for aviation expansion and provided Americans with first-hand accounts of his world travels. His earthy anecdotes and folksy style allowed him to poke fun at gangsters,
prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
, politicians, government programs, and a host of other controversial topics in a way that found general acclaim from a national audience with no one offended. His aphorisms, couched in humorous terms, were widely quoted: "I am not a member of an organized political party. I am a Democrat." One of Rogers's most famous sayings was "I never met a man I didn't like" and he even provided an
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
on this famous epigram:
When I die, my
epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...
, or whatever you call those signs on gravestones, is going to read: "I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I dident like." I am so proud of that, I can hardly wait to die so it can be carved.


Early years

Rogers was born on his parents'
Dog Iron Ranch The Dog Iron Ranch, located about two miles east of Oologah, Oklahoma, USA, is the historic ranch and birthplace of humorist Will Rogers. It was donated to the state of Oklahoma by the Rogers family. The current property comprises of the origi ...
in the Cherokee Nation of
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
, near present-day
Oologah, Oklahoma Oologah is a town in Rogers County, Oklahoma, United States. Renowned humorist Will Rogers was born on a ranch two miles east of Oologah, although he usually claimed Claremore as his birthplace ''"because nobody but an Indian can pronounce 'Oolog ...
, now in
Rogers County Rogers County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,240, making it the sixth-most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Claremore. Rogers County is included i ...
, named in honor of his father, Clem Vann Rogers. The house in which he was born had been built in 1875 and was known as the "White House on the
Verdigris River The Verdigris River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ...
". His parents, Clement Vann Rogers (1839–1911) and Mary America Schrimsher (1838–1890), were both of mixed race and
Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
ancestry, and identified as Cherokee. Rogers quipped that his ancestors did not come over on the ''
Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...
'', but they "met the boat". His mother was one quarter-Cherokee and born into the Paint Clan. She died when Will was eleven. His father remarried less than two years after her death. Rogers was the youngest of eight children. He was named for the Cherokee leader Col.
William Penn Adair William Penn Adair (1830–1880) was a leader of the Cherokee Nation. Born in the traditional Cherokee territory in Georgia, he traveled as a child with his family on the Trail of Tears of Indian Removal from the Southeast to Indian Territory to w ...
. Only three of his siblings, sisters Sallie Clementine, Maude Ethel, and May (Mary), survived into adulthood. His father, Clement, was a leader in the Cherokee Nation. An attorney and Cherokee judge, he was a
Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
veteran. He served as a delegate to the
Oklahoma Constitutional Convention The Constitution of the State of Oklahoma is the governing document of the U.S. State of Oklahoma. Adopted in 1907, Oklahoma ratified the United States Constitution on November 16, 1907, as the 46th U.S. state. At its ratification, the Oklahom ...
.
Rogers County, Oklahoma Rogers County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,240, making it the sixth-most populous county in Oklahoma. The county seat is Claremore. Rogers County is included i ...
, is named in honor of him. He served several terms in the Cherokee Senate. Roach (1980) presents a sociological-psychological assessment of the relationship between Will and his father during the formative boyhood and teenage years. Clement had high expectations for his son and wanted him to be more responsible and business-minded. Will was more easygoing and oriented toward the loving affection offered by his mother, Mary, rather than the harshness of his father. The personality clash increased after his mother's death when the boy was eleven. Young Will went from one venture to another with little success. Only after Will won acclaim in vaudeville did the rift begin to heal. Clement’s death in 1911 precluded a full reconciliation. Will Rogers attended school in Missouri, at the Willow Hassel School at Neosho, and then the
Kemper Military School Kemper Military School & College was a private military school located in Boonville, Missouri. Founded in 1844, Kemper filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2002. The school's motto was "Nunquam Non Paratus" (Never Not Prepared). The 46-acre cam ...
at Boonville over the 1897-1898 year. He was a good student and an avid reader of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', but he dropped out of school after the 10th grade. Rogers later said that he was a poor student, saying that he "studied the Fourth Reader for ten years". He was much more interested in
cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
s and horses, and learned to rope and use a
lariat A lasso ( or ), also called lariat, riata, or reata (all from Castilian, la reata 're-tied rope'), is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when pulled. It is a well-known tool of the Spanish an ...
.


First jobs

In 1899, Rogers appeared in the St. Louis Fair as part of the Mulhall Rodeo. Near the end of 1901, when he was 22 years old, he and a friend left home hoping to work as
gaucho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...
s in
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. They arrived in Argentina in May 1902, and spent five months trying to make it as ranch owners in the
Pampas The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazi ...
. Rogers and his partner lost all their money, and he later said, “I was ashamed to send home for more.” The two friends separated and Rogers sailed for
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. It is often claimed he took a job breaking in horses for the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
, but the
Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...
had ended three months earlier. Rogers was hired at James Piccione's ranch near Mooi River Station in the
Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...
district of
Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
.


Career

Rogers began his show business career as a trick roper in "Texas Jack's Wild West Circus" in South Africa:
He exas Jackhad a little Wild West aggregation that visited the camps and did a tremendous business. I did some roping and riding, and Jack, who was one of the smartest showmen I ever knew, took a great interest in me. It was he who gave me the idea for my original stage act with my pony. I learned a lot about the show business from him. He could do a bum act with a rope that an ordinary man couldn't get away with, and make the audience think it was great, so I used to study him by the hour, and from him I learned the great secret of the show business—knowing when to get off. It's the fellow who knows when to quit that the audience wants more of.
Grateful for the guidance but anxious to move on, Rogers quit the circus and went to Australia. Texas Jack gave him a reference letter for the Wirth Brothers Circus there, and Rogers continued to perform as a rider and trick roper, and worked on his pony act. He returned to the United States in 1904, appeared at the Saint Louis World's Fair, and began to try his roping skills on the vaudeville circuits.


Vaudeville

On a trip to New York City, Rogers was at
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
, on April 27, 1905, when a wild steer broke out of the arena and began to climb into the viewing stands. Rogers roped the steer to the delight of the crowd. The feat got front page attention from the newspapers, giving him valuable publicity and an audience eager to see more.
Willie Hammerstein William Hammerstein (September 26, 1875 – June 10, 1914) was an American theater manager. He ran the Victoria Theatre on what became Times Square, Manhattan, presenting very popular vaudeville shows with a wide variety of acts. He was known fo ...
saw his vaudeville act, and signed Rogers to appear on the Victoria Roof—which was literally on a rooftop—with his pony. For the next decade, Rogers estimated he worked for 50 weeks a year at the Roof and at the city's myriad vaudeville theaters. Rogers later recalled these early years: :I got a job on Hammerstein's Roof at $140 a week for myself, my horse, and the man who looked after it. I remained on the roof for eight weeks, always getting another two-week extension when Willie Hammerstein would say to me after the Monday matinee, 'you're good for two weeks more'... Marty Shea, the booking agent for the Columbia, came to me and asked if I wanted to play
burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
. They could use an extra attraction....I told him I would think about it, but 'Burlesque' sounded to me then as something funny." Shea and Sam A. Scribner, the general manager of the
Columbia Amusement Company The Columbia Amusement Company, also called the Columbia Wheel or the Eastern Burlesque Wheel, was a show business organization that produced burlesque shows in the United States between 1902 and 1927. Each year, about four dozen Columbia burlesque ...
, approached Rogers a few days later. Shea told Scribner Rogers was getting $150 and would take $175. "'What's he carrying?', Scribner asked Shea. 'Himself, a horse, and a man', answered Shea." Scribner replied, "'Give him eight weeks at $250'". In the fall of 1915, Rogers began to appear in
Florenz Ziegfeld Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), inspired by the ''Folies Bergère'' of Paris. He also p ...
's ''Midnight Frolic''. The variety revue began at midnight in the top-floor night club of Ziegfeld's
New Amsterdam Theatre The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theater on 214 West 42nd Street, at the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the New Amsterdam was built from ...
, and drew many influential—and regular—customers. By this time, Rogers had refined his act. His monologues on the news of the day followed a similar routine every night. He appeared on stage in his cowboy outfit, nonchalantly twirling his lasso, and said, "Well, what shall I talk about? I ain't got anything funny to say. All I know is what I read in the papers." He would make jokes about what he had read in that day's newspapers. The line "All I know is what I read in the papers" is often incorrectly described as Rogers's most famous punch line, when it was his opening line. His run at the New Amsterdam ran into 1916, and Rogers's growing popularity led to an engagement on the more famous ''
Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air ...
''. At this stage, Rogers's act was strictly physical, a silent display of daring riding and clever tricks with his lariat. He discovered that audiences identified the cowboy as the archetypical American—doubtless aided by
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
's image as a cowboy. Rogers's cowboy was an unfettered man free of institutional restraints, with no bureaucrats to order his life. When he came back to the United States and worked in Wild West shows, he slowly began adding the occasional spoken ad lib, such as "Swingin' a rope's all right... if your neck ain't in it." Audiences responded to his laconic but pointed humor, and were just as fascinated by his frontier Oklahoma twang. By 1916, Rogers was a featured star in Ziegfeld's Follies on Broadway, as he moved into satire by transforming the "Ropin' Fool" to the "Talkin' Fool". At one performance, with President
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
in the audience, Rogers improvised a "roast" of presidential policies that had Wilson, and the entire audience, in stitches and proved his remarkable skill at off-the-cuff, witty commentary on current events. He built the rest of his career around that skill. A 1922 editorial in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' said that "Will Rogers in the Follies is carrying on the tradition of
Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...
, and not unworthily." Rogers branched into silent films too, for
Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor a ...
's company
Goldwyn Pictures Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company that operated from 1916 to 1924 when it was merged with two other production companies to form the major studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was founded on November 19, 1 ...
. He made his first silent movie, ''
Laughing Bill Hyde ''Laughing Bill Hyde'' is a lost 1918 American adventure film directed by Hobart Henley and written by Willard Mack. The film stars Will Rogers, Anna Lehr, Clarence Oliver, Joseph Herbert, Robert Conville, and Dan Mason. The film was released o ...
'' (1918), which was filmed in
Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, th ...
. Many early films were filmed and produced in the New York area in those years. Rogers could make a film, yet easily still rehearse and perform in the ''Follies''. He eventually appeared in most of the ''Follies'', from 1916 to 1925.


Films

Hollywood discovered Rogers in 1918, as
Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor a ...
gave him the title role in ''Laughing Bill Hyde''. A three-year contract with Goldwyn, at triple the Broadway salary, moved Rogers west. He bought a ranch in Pacific Palisades and set up his own production company. While Rogers enjoyed film acting, his appearances in silent movies suffered from the obvious restrictions of silence, as he had gained his fame as a commentator on stage. He wrote many of the
title cards In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dial ...
appearing in his films. In 1923, he began a one-year stint for
Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...
and made 12 pictures. Among the films he made for Roach in 1924 were three directed by
Rob Wagner Robert Leicester Wagner (August 2, 1872 – July 20, 1942) was the editor and publisher of ''Script'', a weekly literary film magazine published in Beverly Hills, California, between 1929 and 1949. Rob Wagner was a magazine writer, screenwrite ...
: ''Two Wagons Both Covered'', ''Going to Congress'', and ''Our Congressman''. He made two other feature silents and a travelogue series in 1927. After that, he did not return to the screen until beginning work in the '
talkies A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...
' in 1929. Rogers made 48 silent movies, but with the arrival of sound in 1929, he became a top star in that medium. His first sound film, ''They Had to See Paris'' (1929), gave him the chance to exercise his verbal wit. He played a homespun farmer (''State Fair)'' in 1933, an old-fashioned doctor (''Dr. Bull'') in 1933, a small town banker (
David Harum ''David Harum; A Story of American Life'' is a best-selling novel of 1898 by Edward Noyes Westcott, whose principal legacy is the colloquial use of the term ''horse trading''. Literary significance and criticism Written by retired Syracuse, N ...
) in 1934, and a rustic politician (''
Judge Priest ''Judge Priest'' is a 1934 American comedy film starring Will Rogers. The film was directed by John Ford, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel in association with Fox Film, and based on humorist Irvin S. Cobb's character Judge Priest. The picture is set i ...
'') in 1934. He was also in ''County Chairman'' (1935), ''Steamboat Round the Bend'' (1935), and ''In Old Kentucky'' (1935). His favorite director was
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
. Rogers appeared in 21 feature films alongside such noted performers as
Lew Ayres Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film '' All Quiet on the Western Fr ...
,
Billie Burke Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke (August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970) was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North ...
,
Richard Cromwell Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who was the second and last Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. On his father's death ...
,
Jane Darwell Jane Darwell (born Patti Woodard; October 15, 1879 – August 13, 1967) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. With appearances in more than 100 major movies spanning half a century, Darwell is perhaps best remembered for her p ...
,
Andy Devine Andrew Vabre Devine (October 7, 1905 – February 18, 1977) was an American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in Western films, including his role as Cookie, the sidekick of Roy Rogers in 10 feature fil ...
,
Janet Gaynor Janet Gaynor (born Laura Augusta Gainor; October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was an American film, stage, and television actress. Gaynor began her career as an extra in shorts and silent films. After signing with Fox Film Corporation (later ...
,
Rochelle Hudson Rochelle Hudson (born Rachael Elizabeth Hudson; March 6, 1916 – January 17, 1972) was an American film actress from the 1930s through the 1960s.Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...
,
Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...
,
Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...
,
Hattie McDaniel Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1893October 26, 1952) was an American actress, singer-songwriter, and comedian. For her role as Mammy in ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'' (1939), she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, ...
, Ray Milland,
Maureen O'Sullivan Maureen O'Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish-American actress, who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She performed with such actors as Laurence Olivier, Greta Garbo, William ...
,
ZaSu Pitts Zasu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas, including Erich von Stroheim's epic 1924 silent film ''Greed'', and comedies, transitioning successfully to mostly comedy films with the ...
, Dick Powell,
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson Bill Robinson, nicknamed Bojangles (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid African-American entertainer in the United States during the f ...
,
Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...
, and
Peggy Wood Mary Margaret Wood (February 9, 1892 – March 18, 1978) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. She is best remembered for her performance as the title character in the CBS television series ''Mama'' (1949–1957), for which sh ...
. He was directed three times by John Ford. He appeared in four films with his friend
Stepin Fetchit Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry (May 30, 1902 – November 19, 1985), better known by the stage name Stepin Fetchit, was an American vaudevillian, comedian, and film actor of Jamaican and Bahamian descent, considered to be the first black a ...
(aka Lincoln T. Perry): ''David Harum'' (1934), ''Judge Priest'' (1934), ''Steamboat Round the Bend'' (1935) and ''The County Chairman'' (1935). With his voice becoming increasingly familiar to audiences, Rogers essentially played himself in each film, without film makeup, managing to ad-lib and sometimes work in his familiar commentaries on politics. The clean moral tone of his films resulted in various public schools taking their classes to attend special showings during the school day. His most unusual role may have been in the first talking version of
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
's novel ''
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'' is an 1889 novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The book was originally titled ''A Yankee in King Arthur's Court''. Some early editions are titled ''A Yankee at the Court of King Arth ...
''. His popularity soared to new heights with films including ''Young As You Feel'', ''Judge Priest'', and '' Life Begins at 40'', with Richard Cromwell and Rochelle Hudson.


Newspapers and magazines

Rogers was an indefatigable worker. He toured the lecture circuit. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' syndicated his weekly newspaper column from 1922 to 1935. Going daily in 1926, his short column "Will Rogers Says" reached 40 million newspaper readers. He also wrote frequently for the mass-circulation upscale magazine ''
The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...
''. Rogers advised Americans to embrace the frontier values of neighborliness and democracy on the domestic front, while remaining clear of foreign entanglements. He took a strong, highly popular stand in favor of aviation, including a military air force of the sort his flying buddy General
Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...
advocated. Rogers began a weekly column, titled "Slipping the Lariat Over", at the end of 1922. He had already published a book of wisecracks and had begun a steady stream of humor books. Through the columns for the McNaught Syndicate between 1922 and 1935, as well as his personal appearances and radio broadcasts, he won the loving admiration of the American people, poking jibes in witty ways at the issues of the day and prominent people—often politicians. He wrote from a nonpartisan point of view and became a friend of
presidents President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
and a confidant of the great. Loved for his cool mind and warm heart, he was often considered the successor to such greats as
Artemus Ward Charles Farrar Browne (April 26, 1834 – March 6, 1867) was an American humor writer, better known under his ''pen name, nom de plume'', Artemus Ward, which as a character, an illiterate rube with "Yankee common sense", Browne also played in pub ...
and
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
. Rogers was not the first entertainer to use political humor before his audience. Others, such as Broadway comedian Raymond Hitchcock and Britain's Sir
Harry Lauder Sir Henry Lauder (; 4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950)Russell, Dave"Lauder, Sir Henry (1870–1950)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011, accessed 27 April 2014 was a S ...
, preceded him by several years.
Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...
is the best known political humorist to follow Rogers's example.


Radio

Radio was the exciting new medium, and Rogers became a star there as well, broadcasting his newspaper pieces. From 1929 to 1935, he made radio broadcasts for the
Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...
Company. This weekly Sunday evening show, ''The Gulf Headliners'', ranked among the top radio programs in the country. Since Rogers easily rambled from one subject to another, reacting to his studio audience, he often lost track of the half-hour time limit in his earliest broadcasts, and was cut off in mid-sentence. To correct this, he brought in a wind-up alarm clock, and its on-air buzzing alerted him to begin wrapping up his comments. By 1935, his show was being announced as "Will Rogers and his Famous Alarm Clock".


Personal life

In 1908, Rogers married Betty Blake (1879–1944), and the couple had four children: Will Rogers Jr., Mary Amelia, James Blake, and Fred Stone. Will Jr. became a World War II hero, played his father in two films, and was elected to Congress. Mary became a
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
actress, and James "Jim" was a newspaperman and rancher; Fred died of
diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...
at age two. The family lived in New York, but they spent summers in Oklahoma. In 1911, Rogers bought a ranch near
Claremore, Oklahoma Claremore is a city and the county seat of Rogers County in Green Country or northeastern Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,580 at the 2020 census, a 5.4 percent increase over the figure of 18,581 recorded in 2010. From about 1925 to 1928, Rogers traveled the length and breadth of the United States in a "lecture tour". (He began his lectures by pointing out that "A humorist entertains, and a lecturer annoys.") During this time he became the first civilian to fly from coast to coast with pilots flying the mail in early air mail flights. The
National Press Club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...
dubbed him "Ambassador at Large of the United States". He visited
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
, along with
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
, as a guest of U.S. Ambassador
Dwight Morrow Dwight Whitney Morrow (January 11, 1873October 5, 1931) was an American businessman, diplomat, and politician, best known as the U.S. ambassador who improved U.S.-Mexican relations, mediating the religious conflict in Mexico known as the Cristero ...
. Rogers gave numerous after-dinner speeches, became a popular convention speaker, and gave dozens of benefits for victims of floods, droughts, or earthquakes. Rogers traveled to Asia to perform in 1931, and to
Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
the following year. In 1934, he made a globe-girdling tour and returned to play the lead in
Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...
's stage play ''
Ah, Wilderness! ''Ah, Wilderness!'' is a comedy by American playwright Eugene O'Neill that premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on October 2, 1933. It differs from a typical O'Neill play in its happy ending for the central character, and depiction of a ...
''. He had tentatively agreed to go on loan from Fox to
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
to star in the 1935 movie version of the play. But, concerned about a fan's reaction to the "facts-of-life" talk between his character and the latter's son, he declined the role. He and
Wiley Post Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935) was a famed American aviator during the interwar period and the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high-altitude flying, Post helped develop on ...
made plans to fly to Alaska that summer.


Politics

Rogers was a
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
but has historically been known as apolitical. He was friends with every president starting with
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
, and he notably supported Republican
Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...
over John W. Davis in 1924. During the Republican Convention of 1928, while criticizing the party platform, Rogers welcomed the nomination of Kaw_people, Kaw citizen Charles Curtis as vice president, although he felt the leadership had deliberately kept him from the presidency: "The Republican Party owed him something, but I didn’t think they would be so low down as to pay him ''that'' way." Four years later, when the Republican leadership attempted to remove the more conservative Curtis from the Hoover ticket, Rogers defended him, and took credit with keeping him on the ticket: "I saved my 'Injun' Charley Curtis for vice presidency. The rascals was just ready to stab him when we caught ‘em." In 1932 Rogers supported Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was his favorite president and politician. Although he supported Roosevelt's New Deal, he could just as easily joke about it: "Lord, the money we do spend on Government and it's not one bit better than the government we got for one-third the money twenty years ago." Rogers served as a goodwill ambassador to Mexico, and had a brief stint as mayor of Beverly Hills, a largely ceremonial position that allowed Rogers to joke about do-nothing politicians such as himself. During the depths of the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depression, angered by Washington's inability to feed the people, he embarked on a cross country fundraising tour for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Red Cross.


1928 presidential campaign

Rogers thought all campaigning was bunk. To prove the point, he mounted a mock campaign in 1928 for the presidency. His only vehicle was the pages of ''Life'', a weekly humor magazine. The campaign was in large part an effort to boost circulation for the struggling magazine. Rogers ran as the "bunkless candidate" of the Anti-Bunk Party. His campaign promise was that, if elected, he would resign. Every week, from Memorial Day through Election Day, Rogers caricatured the farcical humors of grave campaign politics. On election day he declared victory and resigned (he did not actually receive any state electoral votes).


Philosophy and style

After Rogers gained recognition as a humorist-philosopher in vaudeville, he gained a national audience in acting and literary careers from 1915 to 1935. In these years, Rogers increasingly expressed the views of the "common man" in America. He downplayed academic credentials, noting, "Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects." Americans of all walks admired his individualism, his appreciation for democratic ideas, and his liberal philosophies on most issues. Moreover, Rogers extolled hard work in order to succeed, and such expressions affirmed American theories about how to realize individual success. Rogers symbolized the self-made man, the common man, who believed in America, in progress, and in the American Dream of upward mobility. His humor never offended even those who were the targets of it. In the 1920s, the United States was happy and prosperous in various ways (leading to the nickname ''Roaring Twenties''), but it also suffered from rapid change and social tensions. Some people were disenchanted by, and alienated from, the outside world. Many common people believed that World War I had resulted in extensive and largely senseless carnage, and they supported isolationism for the US. According to scholar Peter Rollins (1976), Rogers appeared to be an anchor of stability; his conventional home life and traditional moral code reminded people of a recent past. His newspaper column, which ran from 1922 to 1935, expressed his traditional morality and his belief that political problems were not as serious as they sounded. In his films, Rogers began by playing a simple cowboy; his characters evolved to explore the meaning of innocence in ordinary life. In his last movies, Rogers explores a society fracturing into competing classes from economic pressures. Throughout his career, Rogers was a link to a better, more comprehensible past. In 1926, the high-circulation weekly magazine ''The Saturday Evening Post'' financed a European tour for Rogers, in return for publication of his articles. Rogers made whirlwind visits to numerous European capitals and met with both international figures and common people. His articles reflected a fear that Europeans would go to war again. He recommended isolationism for the United States. He reasoned that for the moment, American needs could best be served by concentrating on domestic questions and avoiding foreign entanglements. He commented: :America has a unique record. We never lost a war and we never won a conference in our lives. I believe that we could without any degree of egotism, single-handed lick any nation in the world. But we can't confer with Costa Rica and come home with our shirts on. Rogers was famous for his use of language. He effectively used up-to-date slang and invented new words to fit his needs. He also made frequent use of puns and terms which closely linked him to the cowboy tradition, as well as speech patterns using a southern dialect. Brown (1979) argues that Rogers held up a "magic mirror" that reflected iconic American values. Rogers was the archetypical "American Democrat" thanks to his knack of moving freely among all social classes, his stance above political parties, and his passion for fair play. He represented the "American Adam" with his independence and self-made record. Rogers furthermore represented the "American Prometheus" through his commitment to utilitarian methods and his ever-optimistic faith in future progress.


Aviation and death

Will Rogers became an advocate for the aviation industry after noticing advancements in Europe and befriending
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
, the most famous American aviator of the era. During his 1926 European trip, Rogers witnessed the European advances in commercial air service and compared them to the almost nonexistent facilities in the United States. Rogers' newspaper columns frequently emphasized the safety record, speed, and convenience of this means of transportation, and he helped shape public opinion on the subject. In 1935, the famed aviator
Wiley Post Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935) was a famed American aviator during the interwar period and the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high-altitude flying, Post helped develop on ...
, an Oklahoman, became interested in surveying a mail-and-passenger air route from the West Coast of the United States, West Coast to Russia. He attached a Lockheed Explorer wing to a Lockheed Model 9 Orion, Lockheed Orion fuselage, fitting floats for landing in the lakes of Alaska and Siberia. Rogers visited Post often at the airport in Burbank, California, while he was modifying the aircraft. He asked Post to fly him through Alaska in search of new material for his newspaper column. After making a test flight in July, Post and Rogers left Lake Washington in Renton in the Lockheed Orion-Explorer in early August and then made several stops in Alaska. While Post piloted the aircraft, Rogers wrote his columns on his typewriter. Before they left Fairbanks, Alaska, Fairbanks, they signed and mailed a burgee, a distinguishing flag belonging to the South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club. The signed burgee is on display at South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club in Marina del Rey, California. On August 15, they left Fairbanks for Point Barrow. About 20 miles southwest of Point Barrow, having difficulty figuring their position due to bad weather, they landed in a lagoon to ask directions. On takeoff, the engine failed at low altitude, and the aircraft plunged into the lagoon, shearing off the right wing, and ended up inverted in the shallow water of the lagoon. Both men died instantly. Rogers was buried August 21, 1935, in Forest Lawn Park in Glendale, California; it was a temporary interment. He was reinterred at the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, Oklahoma. Experts have studied the factors in the accident, and still disagree about it. Bobby H. Johnson and R. Stanley Mohler argued in a 1971 article that Post had ordered floats that did not reach Seattle in time for the planned trip. He used a set that was designed for a larger type of plane, making the already nose-heavy hybrid aircraft even more nose-heavy. But, Bryan and Frances Sterling maintain in their 2001 book ''Forgotten Eagle: Wiley Post: America's Heroic Aviation Pioneer'' that their research showed the floats were the correct type for the aircraft, thereby suggesting another cause for the crash.


Legacy

In 1962, the town of Higgins, Texas (near a ranch where Rogers had worked in 1922), began an annual observance of Will Rogers Day, in honor of the cowboy philosopher, who remained a close friend of Frank Ewing, the son of his old employer.


Oklahoma honors

Before his death, the state of Oklahoma commissioned a statue of Rogers, to be displayed as one of the two it has in the National Statuary Hall Collection of the United States Capitol. Rogers agreed on the condition that his image would be placed facing the House Chamber, supposedly so he could "keep an eye on Congress". Of the statues in this part of the Capitol, the Rogers sculpture is the only one facing the Chamber entrance—a stakeout location for camera crews looking to catch House members during and after voting. It is also a common background for reporters and lawmakers, with staff often directing the media to be at the “Will Rogers stakeout” at a certain time. According to some Capitol guides, each U.S. president rubs the left shoe of the Rogers statue for good luck before entering the House Chamber to give the State of the Union address. A state appropriation paid for the work. It was sculpted in clay by Jo Davidson. He had been a close friend of Rogers. Davidson had the work cast in bronze in Brussels, Belgium. Dedicated on June 6, 1939, before a crowd of more than 2,000 people, the statue faces the floor entrance of the United States Capitol#House Chamber, House of Representatives Chamber next to National Statuary Hall. The Architect of the Capitol, David Lynn, said there had never been such a large ceremony or crowd in the Capitol. His Dog Iron Ranch, birthplace of the Dog Iron Ranch is located two miles east of Oologah, Oklahoma. When the
Verdigris River The Verdigris River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ...
valley was flooded to create Oologah Lake as part of a major dam project, the Rogers house was preserved by being moved about ¾ mile (1.2 km) to its present location overlooking the original site. The family tomb is at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum, constructed in nearby Claremore on the site purchased by Rogers in 1911 for his retirement home. On May 19, 1944, Rogers's body was moved from a holding vault in Glendale, California, to the tomb. After his wife Betty died later that year, she was also interred there. A casting of the Davidson sculpture that stands in National Statuary Hall, paid for by Davidson, was installed at the museum. Both the birthplace and the museum are open to the public. Many landmarks were named in Rogers' honor: Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, where a recent expansion and renovation included the installation of a Oklahoma's Native Son, statue of Rogers on horseback in front of the terminal. The Will Rogers Turnpike is the section of Interstate 44 between Tulsa and Joplin, Missouri. Near Vinita, Oklahoma, a statue of Rogers was installed at the McDonald's (Will Rogers Turnpike), service plaza that spans the interstate. Thirteen public schools in Oklahoma have been named for Rogers, including Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tulsa. The University of Oklahoma named the large Will Rogers Room in the Memorial Union (University of Oklahoma), student union for him. The Boy Scouts of America honored him with the Will Rogers Council and the Scouting in Oklahoma#Camp Properties 3, Will Rogers Scout Reservation near Cleveland, Oklahoma, Cleveland. In 1947, a college football Will Rogers Bowl, bowl game was named in his honor, but the event folded after the first year. The Academy of Western Artists, based in Gene Autry, Oklahoma, presents an annual Will Rogers Medallion award for excellence in western literature.


Colorado memorial

The Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun is the name of an 80-foot observation tower on Cheyenne Mountain west of Colorado Springs, at the base of Pikes Peak near the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.


California memorials

Rogers's California home, stables, and polo fields are preserved today for public enjoyment as Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades. His widow, Betty, willed the property to the state of California upon her death in 1944, under the condition that polo be played on the field every year; it is home to the Will Rogers Polo Club. Several schools have been named for him: Will Rogers Elementary School in Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica, Will Rogers Elementary School in Ventura, middle schools in Long Beach, California, Long Beach and in Fair Oaks, California, Fair Oaks. Will Rogers Memorial Park, a small park at Sunset Boulevard and Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills, was named after him, as is Will Rogers State Beach in the Pacific Palisades. U.S. Route 66 is known as the Will Rogers Highway; a plaque dedicating the highway to the humorist is located at the western terminus of Route 66 in Santa Monica. The California Theatre (San Bernardino), California Theatre in San Bernardino is the site of the humorist's final show. He always performed in front of a special jewelled curtains and had two of them. While he was using one, he would send the other to the site of his next performance. The curtain used in his final show was retained by the California Theatre. Two memorial murals by Kent Twitchell were installed on the exterior of the fly loft. The California Theatre named one of its reception spaces as the Will Rogers Room.


Texas memorials

The Will Rogers Memorial Center was built in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1936. It includes a mural, a bust and a life-size statue of Will Rogers on Soapsuds, titled ''Riding into the Sunset'', sculpted by Electra Waggoner Biggs. A casting of ''Riding into the Sunset'' stands at the entrance to the main campus quad at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. This memorial was dedicated on February 16, 1950, by Rogers' longtime friend, Amon G. Carter. Another casting is held at the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, and a casting is located at the entrance of the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.


Washington State and Alaska memorials

A small monument at the Renton, Washington, Renton airport commemorates the starting point of the fatal 1935 Post-Rogers flight. A memorial is also located within the city of Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska.


National tributes

In 1936, the NVA Hospital located in Saranac Lake, New York was renamed as the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital by the National Vaudeville Artists association. On November 4, 1948, the United States Post Office Department, United States Post Office commemorated Rogers with a three-cent postage stamp. In 1979, it issued a United States Postal Service 15-cent stamp of him as part of the "Performing Arts" series. In 1976, Rogers was among the historical figures depicted in the artwork ''United States Bicentennial, Our Nation's 200th Birthday, Invention of the telephone, The Telephone's 100th Birthday'' by Stanley Meltzoff for Bell System. The Barrow, Alaska airport (BRW), located about 16 miles (26 km) from the location of the fatal airplane crash, is known as the Wiley Post–Will Rogers Memorial Airport. The Rogers-Post Site, overlooking the lagoon where the plane crashed, has two (or possibly one remaining) monuments. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. A plaque to Rogers and Post was also erected in Barrow. The World War II Liberty Ship was named in his honor. The final ship of the s, was launched in 1966, and commissioned the following year. On November 4, 2019, Google celebrated his 140th birthday with a Google Doodle.


Film and stage portrayals

Rogers was portrayed by A.A. Trimble in cameos in both the 1936 film ''The Great Ziegfeld'', and the 1937 film ''You're a Sweetheart''. Rogers was portrayed by his son, Will Rogers Jr., in a cameo in the 1949 film ''Look for the Silver Lining (film), Look for the Silver Lining'', and as the star of the 1952 film ''The Story of Will Rogers''. James Whitmore portrayed Rogers in eight runs of the one-man play ''Will Rogers' USA'' between 1970 and 2000, including a limited run on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in 1974, and as a television film in 1972. Whitmore changed the monologue each time he performed it, using quotations from Rogers as commentary on events current at the time of the performance.Dennis McClellan
"James Whitmore dies at 87; veteran award-winning actor brought American icons to the screen"
''Los Angeles Times'', February 7, 2009.
The Tony Award-winning musical ''The Will Rogers Follies'', produced on Broadway in 1991, starred Keith Carradine in the lead role. Carradine also played Rogers in the 1994 film ''Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle''.


Filmography


Silent films

* ''
Laughing Bill Hyde ''Laughing Bill Hyde'' is a lost 1918 American adventure film directed by Hobart Henley and written by Willard Mack. The film stars Will Rogers, Anna Lehr, Clarence Oliver, Joseph Herbert, Robert Conville, and Dan Mason. The film was released o ...
'' (1918, film debut) – Bill Hyde * ''Almost a Husband'' (1919) – Sam Lyman * ''Jubilo'' (1919) – Jubilo * ''Water, Water, Everywhere'' (1919) – Billy Fortune * ''The Strange Boarder'' (1920) – Sam Gardner * ''Jes' Call Me Jim'' (1920) – Jim Fenton * ''Cupid the Cowpuncher'' (1920) – Alec Lloyd * ''Honest Hutch'' (1920) – Hutch * ''Guile of Women'' (1920) – Hjalmar Maartens * ''The Illiterate Digest'' (1920) * ''Boys Will Be Boys (1921 film), Boys Will Be Boys'' (1921) – Peep O'Day * ''An Unwilling Hero'' (1921) – Dick * ''Doubling for Romeo'' (1921) – Sam Cody / Romeo * ''A Poor Relation'' (1921) – Noah Vale * ''One Glorious Day'' (1922) – Professor Ezra Botts * ''The Ropin' Fool'' (1922, Short) – 'Ropes' Reilly (the ropin' fool) * ''The Headless Horseman (1922 film), The Headless Horseman'' (1922) – Ichabod Crane * ''Fruits of Faith'' (1922, Short) – Larry * ''One Day in 365'' (1922, unreleased) * ''Hollywood (1923 film), Hollywood'' (1923) – Himself * ''Jus' Passin' Through'' (1923, Short) – Jubilo * ''Hustling Hank'' (1923, Short) – Hank * ''Uncensored Movies'' (1923, Short) – Lem Skagwillow * ''Two Wagons Both Covered'' (1923, Short) – Bill Bunian / Joe Jackson * ''The Cowboy Sheik'' (1924, Short) – Two Straw Bill * ''The Cake Eater'' (1924, Short) * ''High Brow Stuff'' (1924, Short) * ''Going to Congress'' (1924, Short) – Alfalfa Doolittle * ''Don't Park There'' (1924, Short) * ''Big Moments From Little Pictures'' (1924, Short) – Himself / Rufus the bullfighter / Robin Hood / Son / Police Chief * ''Jubilo, Jr.'' (1924, Short) (part of the ''Our Gang'' series) – Himself * ''Our Congressman'' (1924, Short) – Alfalfa Doolittle * ''A Truthful Liar'' (1924, Short) – Ambassador Alfalfa Doolittle * ''Gee Whiz Genevieve'' (1924, Short) * ''Tip Toes (1927 film), Tip Toes'' (1927) – Uncle Hen Kaye * ''A Texas Steer'' (1927) – Cattle Brander Travelog Series * ''In Dublin'' (1927, Short) – Himself * ''In Paris'' (1927, Short) – Himself * ''Hiking Through Holland'' (1927, Short) – Himself * ''Hunting For Germans In Berlin'' (1927, Short) – Himself * ''Through Switzerland And Bavaria'' (1927, Short) – Himself * ''In London'' (1927, Short) – Himself * ''Roaming The Emerald Isle'' (1927, Short) – Himself * ''Prowling Around France'' (1927, Short) – Himself * ''Winging Round Europe'' (1927, Short) – Himself * ''Exploring England'' (1927, Short) – Himself * ''Reeling Down The Rhine'' (1927, Short) – Himself * ''Over The Bounding Blue'' (1928, Short) – Himself


Sound films

* ''Happy Days (1929 film), Happy Days'' (1929) – Minstrel Show Performer * ''They Had to See Paris'' (1929) – Pike Peters * ''So This Is London (1930 film), So This Is London'' (1930) – Hiram Draper * ''Lightnin' (1930 film), Lightnin''' (1930) – Lightnin' Bill Jones * ''A Connecticut Yankee (film), A Connecticut Yankee'' (1931) – Hank Martin * ''Young as You Feel (1931 film), Young as You Feel'' (1930) – Lemuel Morehouse * ''Ambassador Bill'' (1931) – Bill Harper * ''Business and Pleasure'' (1932) – Earl Tinker * ''Down to Earth (1932 film), Down to Earth'' (1932) – Pike Peters * ''Too Busy to Work (1932 film), Too Busy to Work'' (1932) – Jubilo * ''State Fair (1933 film), State Fair'' (1933) – Abel Frake * ''Doctor Bull'' (1933) – Dr. George 'Doc' Bull * ''Mr. Skitch'' (1933) – Mr. Ira Skitch * ''
David Harum ''David Harum; A Story of American Life'' is a best-selling novel of 1898 by Edward Noyes Westcott, whose principal legacy is the colloquial use of the term ''horse trading''. Literary significance and criticism Written by retired Syracuse, N ...
'' (1934) – David Harum * ''Handy Andy (1934 film), Handy Andy'' (1934) – Andrew Yates * ''
Judge Priest ''Judge Priest'' is a 1934 American comedy film starring Will Rogers. The film was directed by John Ford, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel in association with Fox Film, and based on humorist Irvin S. Cobb's character Judge Priest. The picture is set i ...
'' (1934) – Judge Priest * ''The County Chairman (1935 film), The County Chairman'' (1935) – Jim Hackler * '' Life Begins at 40'' (1935) – Kenesaw H. Clark * ''Doubting Thomas (1935 film), Doubting Thomas'' (1935) – Thomas Brown * ''Steamboat Round the Bend'' (1935) – Doctor John Pearly * ''In Old Kentucky (1935 film), In Old Kentucky'' (1935) – Steve Tapley (final film role)


References and further reading


Biographies

* Carnes, Mark C. ''Will Rogers and "His" America'' (2010). * Ketchum, Richard M. ''Will Rogers: His Life and Times'' (1973) * O'Brien, P. J. (1935). ''Will Rogers, Ambassador of Good Will Prince of Wit and Wisdom''
online edition
* Robinson, Ray (1996).''American Original: A Life of Will Rogers''. 288 pp
online edition
* Rogers, Betty (1941). ''Will Rogers: His Story As Told By His Wife''. 312 pp. * Rollins, Peter C. (1984). ''Will Rogers: A Bio-Bibliography''. Greenwood, 282 pp. * Bryan Sterling, Sterling, Bryan B., and Frances N. Sterling (1989). ''Will Rogers' World''. * Ben Yagoda, Yagoda, Ben (1993). ''Will Rogers: A Biography'
excerpt and text search


Scholarly studies

* * Coleman, Timothy S. "All We Know of Nation Is What We See in the Pictures: Will Rogers and the National Imaginary in 1920s and 1930s America". PhD dissertation, Wayne State U. 2003. 183 pp. DAI 2004 64(12): 4245-A. DA3116488 Fulltext: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses * Jenkins, Ronald Scott. "Representative Clowns: Comedy and Democracy in America". PhD dissertation Harvard U. 1984. 208 pp. DAI 1984 45(4): 1187-A. DA8416931 Fulltext: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses * Johnson, Bobby H. and R. Stanley Mohler. "Wiley Post, His Winnie Mae, and the World's First Pressure Suit". Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1971. * Roach, Fred, Jr. "Will Rogers' Youthful Relationship with His Father, Clem Rogers: a Story of Love and Tension". ''Chronicles of Oklahoma'' 1980 58(3): 325–42. * * Rollins, Peter C. "Will Rogers: Symbolic Man, Journalist, and Film Image". ''Journal of Popular Culture'' 1976 9(4): 851–77. * * * *


Books by Rogers

* * * * * * * * * Rogers, Will (1926). ''Letters of a Self-Made Diplomat to His President'
online edition
* Rogers, Will, and Joseph H. Carter. ''Never Met a Man I Didn't Like'' (1991
excerpt and text search
* Rogers, Will. ''Will Rogers at the Ziegfeld Follies''. ed. by Arthur Frank Wertheim, (1992). 288 pp. * Rogers, Will. ''Will Rogers' Weekly Articles. Vol. 1, The Harding/Coolidge Years, 1922–1925''. ed. by James M. Smallwood, (1980). 431 pp. * Rogers, Will. ''Will Rogers' Weekly Articles. Vol. 2: The Coolidge Years, 1925–1927''. ed. by Steven K. Gragert, (1980). 368 pp. * Rogers, Will. ''Will Rogers' Weekly Articles. Vol. 3: The Coolidge Years, 1927–1929''. ed. by Steven K. Gragert, (1981). 304 pp. * Rogers, Will. ''Will Rogers' Weekly Articles. Vol. 4: The Hoover Years, 1929–1931''. ed. by Steven K. Gragert, (1981). 278 pp. * Rogers, Will. ''Will Rogers' Daily Telegrams. Vol. l, The Coolidge Years, 1926–1929''. ed. by James M. Smallwood, 1978. 453 pp. * Rogers, Will. ''Will Rogers' Daily Telegrams. Vol. 4, The Roosevelt Years, 1933–1935''. ed. by James M. Smallwood, (1979). 457 pp. * Rogers, Will. ''Convention Articles of Will Rogers''. ed. by Joseph A. Stout, 1976. 174 pp. * Rogers, Will. ''The Writings of Will Rogers. Volume 3: Illiterate Digest''. ed. by Joseph A. Stout, Jr., 1974. 230 pp
online edition
* Rogers, Will. ''Autobiography'' (1948), ed. by Donald Day; 410 pp
online edition
* Rogers, Will. ''Rogers-isms: the Cowboy Philosopher on the Peace Conference'', (1919)

* Sterling, Bryan B., and Frances N. Sterling, eds. ''Will Rogers Speaks: Over 1,000 Timeless Quotations for Public Speakers (And Writers, Politicians Comedians, Browsers)'' (1995). * The Papers of Will Rogers ** ** ** ** **


Articles by Rogers

* "The House That Jokes Built," ''Photoplay'', July 1921, p. 36.


See also

* Will Rogers phenomenon * Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun * Will Rogers Memorial * Will Rogers Memorial Park * List of people on the cover of Time Magazine: 1920s, List of people on the cover of ''Time Magazine'': 1920s – July 19, 1926 * ''The Will Rogers Follies''


Notes


References

* "Humor’s sober side: Being an interview with Will Rogers, another of a series on ''how humorists get that way'' by Josephine Van de Grift," ''Bisbee Daily Review'', October 15, 1922, p. 4. * * "Claim Will Rogers Is Free To Insult Race Under Agreement". ''Kansas City'' (MO) ''Plaindealer'', February 2, 1934, p. 2. * "Protest Will Rogers' Radio Speech". ''Pittsburgh Courier'', January 27, 1934, p. 1. * Sterling, Bryan B., and Frances N. Sterling, eds. (1995). ''Will Rogers Speaks: Over 1,000 Timeless Quotations for Public Speakers (And Writers, Politicians Comedians, Browsers)''. * "Will Rogers Hurls Back A Second Insult". ''Baltimore Afro-American'', February 3, 1934, p. 1. * All references to Will Rogers concerned with early life and the annual celebration in or around Higgins,Texas are taken from the Texas State Historical Association.


External links

* *
FBI Records: The Vault – Will Rogers
at fbi.gov
The Official Site of Will Rogers

Will Rogers Birthplace

Will Rogers Museums

Will Rogers State Historic Park



Will Rogers World Airport



Will Rogers Institute

The Tulsa World's Will Rogers site
* *
"Writings of Will Rogers"
from C-SPAN's ''American Writers: A Journey Through History''
Voices of Oklahoma interview with Doris "Coke" Meyer, grand-niece to Will Rogers.
First person interview conducted with Doris "Coke" Meyer, Will Rogers grand-niece on May 17, 2009.
Image of Will Rogers tribute float at the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena, California, 1936.
Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Will 1879 births 1935 deaths 20th-century American male actors 20th Century Studios contract players 20th-century Native Americans Cowboys Accidental deaths in Alaska American columnists American humorists American male comedians Comedians from California American male film actors American male radio actors American male silent film actors American male comedy actors California Democrats Cherokee Nation people (1794–1907) Cherokee Nation artists Male actors from Oklahoma Male Western (genre) film actors Mayors of Beverly Hills, California Musical theatre characters Native American journalists Native American male actors Native American filmmakers Native American writers Oklahoma Democrats People from Rogers County, Oklahoma People of Indian Territory Candidates in the 1928 United States presidential election 20th-century American politicians U.S. Route 66 Hal Roach Studios short film series Vann family (Georgia), W Vaudeville performers Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1935 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Writers from Oklahoma Wild West shows Members of The Lambs Club