Person Record
Metadata
Name |
Will Rogers |
Born |
1879 |
Deceased |
1935 |
Occupation |
Acotr/Civic Leader/Journalist |
Biography |
William Penn Adair Rogers was born of Cherokee heritage and loved to ride horses on the family’s large frontier ranch. In 1902, he traveled to South America and hired himself out as a gaucho, then joined "Texas Jack’s Wild West Show" where he was billed as "The Cherokee Kid." Rogers then worked for the Wirth Brothers Circus as roping artist and returned to the U.S. in 1904. He joined Colonel Mulhall’s Cowboy Band and Riders in New York in 1905 and ultimately signed with the Ziegfeld Follies in 1915. He was soon a national star and moved to Beverly Hills, California, in 1919. Rogers starred in 71 movies during the 1920s and 1930s, was a popular radio personality and political commentator, and wrote more than 4,000 syndicated newspaper columns. The wit and humor with which Rogers wrote and spoke about American politics made him a powerful pundit whose sayings are still relevant to politics today. In addition to his notable career in show business, Rogers was also instrumental in advancing commercial flight throughout his life. On August 15, 1935, Rogers tragically lost his life in a plane crash in Alaska with pioneer aviator and fellow Oklahoman Wiley Post. The Will Rogers Memorial was dedicated in Claremore, Oklahoma, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 and is still open today as part of the Will Rogers Memorial Museum. |
Related Records
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2019.001.016 - Clipping, Newspaper
Sooners Join Alaskans to Honor Will Rogers, Wiley Post
Record Type: Archive
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2019.001.123 - Clipping, Newspaper
Mr. Rogers Would Like to See These Fliers Really Make Good
Record Type: Archive
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2019.001.176e - Telegram
A typed letter in reply to Dr. H. H. Kako from F. C. Hall.
Record Type: Archive
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2019.001.176i - Letter
A typed letter thanking the congratulations from the Retail Merchants Association of Claremore, Oklahoma to F. C. Hall, Wiley Post, and Harold Gatty.
Record Type: Archive
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