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Will Rogers[1, 2, 3]  1879 - 1935

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• Birth	4 Nov 1879	Oologah, Indian Territory   [1, 3, 4]
  Gender	Male
  Physical Description	5'11"  [2]
  Education	Boonville, Cooper, Missouri, USA   [2, 3]
  	Kemper Military School & College
  Education	Neosho, Newton, Missouri, USA   [3]
  	Willie Hassell School
  Alt. Birth	4 Nov 1879	Cooweescoowee District, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory   [5]
  	He was the youngest of eight children. He was named for the distinguished Cherokee statesman William Penn Adair. He was listed as 9/32 Cherokee on the Indian rolls and belonged to the Paint Clan. His first appearance on the Cherokee Rolls was in 1880 when he is listed as Col. W. P. Rogers, a native Cherokee of Cooweescoowee District.
  Biographical	a Mason and an Elk  [3]
  Biographical	was a cousin of William Martin (Clu) Gulager  [2]
  Employment	1898	Higgins, Texas   [1]
  	cowboy
  	While growing up on the family ranch, he worked with cattle and learned to ride and lasso from a young age. He grew so talented with a rope, in fact, that he was placed in the Guinness Book of World Records for throwing three lassos at once. One went around the horse's neck, another circled around the rider, and the third flew under the horse, looping all four legs together.
  Biographical	1899-1902  [2]
  	transported pack animals across the South Atlantic from Buenos Aires to South Africa for use in the Boer War
  Occupation	1902	South Africa   [1]
  	bronco rider and lasso thrower
  	In December, he joins Texas Jack's American Circus and Wild West Show in South Africa as a bronco rider and lasso thrower. Billed as the "Cherokee Kid."
  Biographical	1904	Saint Louis, St. Louis (city), Missouri, USA   [1]
  	joins Colonel Zach Mulhall's Wild West Show as a fancy roper at the World's Fair
  	In October he plays in a vaudeville bill at the Cleveland Tehatre in Chicago.
  Biographical	1905	New York, New York, New York, USA   [3]
  	began in Vaudeville at Hammerstein's Roof Garden
  Biographical	1905	New York, New York, New York, USA   [1]
  	receives considerable publicity for helping to rope a runaway bull that had run into the stands in the Horse Fair in Madison Square Garden
  	Buck McGee becomes his partner, riding Will's horse on stage.
  Biographical	1915	Atlantic City, Atlantic, New Jersey, USA   [1]
  	takes his first airplain flight
  Biographical	May 1916  [1]
  	gives his first presidential performance to Woodrow Wilson
  Biographical	Jul 1916  [1, 3]
  	joins the Ziegfeld Follies as a comedian and emcee
  	Who's Who states "with Ziegfeld' Follies, and Night Frolics, 1914–    , except 3 years in moving pictures".
  Biographical	1918  [1]
  	makes his first motion picture, Laughing Bill Hyde
  Biographical	1919  [1]
  	moves the family to California to start a silent film contract with Goldwyn Studio
  Biographical	1922  [1, 2]
  	stars in and produces his own motion pictures, as well as begins a series of syndicated weekly articles for the McNaught Syndicate
  	In 1922, his weekly articles for the "New York Times" became so popular that they appeared in more than 500 U.S. newspapers daily. The articles dished out down-to-earth, biting criticism of politics, politicians, big business, and the imbalance of the wealthy and the poor. Total, Rogers wrote more than 2,800 daily articles up until his death. H.L. Mencken labeled him "the most dangerous man alive" because of the power his comments had on an adoring public.
  Biographical	1925  [1, 3]
  	travels the United States on a lecture tour
  Biographical	1926	Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA   [1]
  	was elected honorary mayor
  Biographical	1929  [1, 3]
  	makes his first sound picture for Fox Film Corporation
  	He will star in 21 films for them from 1929-1935.
  Biographical	1930  [1]
  	does a series of radio broadcasts for E. R. Squibb and Sons
  Biographical	1931  [1]
  	travels to Nicaragua to benefit earthquake and fire victims and London to observe disarmament conference
  Biographical	1933  [1]
  	is the highest paid film star in Hollywood
  	His famous talks on the Gulf Oil radio broadcasts reach millions of listeners. Will and Betty celebrate their silver anniversary.
  Biographical	1934  [2]
  	hosted The Academy Awards
  Died	15 Aug 1935	Point Barrow, Alaska   [1, 2, 3, 5]
  	Cause: air plane crash
  	He was killed with his friend Wiley Post in an airplane crash. "When I die my epitaph, 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 didn't like.' I am proud of that I can hardly wait to die so it can be carved. "And when you come to my grave you will probably find me sitting there proudly reading it."
  Biographical	4 Nov 1948  [2]
  	was pictured on a 3¢ U.S. postage stamp in Famous Americans series
  		Rogers → Will - stamp Famous American Series
  Biographical	1955  [2]
  	was Charter Member of the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
  Biographical	4 Nov 1979  [2]
  	was pictured on a 15¢ U.S. commemorative postage stamp in the Performing Arts and Artists Series
  		Rogers → Will - stamp Performing Arts & Artists Commemorative Series
  Name	William Penn Adair Rogers  [1, 2, 4, 5]
  Occupation	author  [3]
  	1919 – Rogerisms, The Cowboy Philosopher on Prohibition 1919 – Rogerisms, The Cowboy Philospher on The Peace Conference 1920 – Rogerisms, What We Laugh At 1924 – Illiterate Digest 1927 – Letters of a Self-Made Diplomat to His President; There's Not a Bathing Suit in Russia
  Religion	Methodist  [3]
  Residence	Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA   [3]
  Buried	Will Rogers Memorial family vault, Claremore, Rogers, Oklahoma, USA   [2, 5]
  Person ID	I45724	If the Legends Are True...
  Last Modified	22 May 2008
  Father	Captain Clement Vann Rogers,   b. 11 Jan 1839, Westville, Indian Territory ,   d. 23 Oct 1911, Chelsea, Rogers, Oklahoma, USA
  Mother	Mary America Schrimsher,   b. 1838, Indian Territory ,   d. 1890
  Family ID	F16198	Group Sheet
  Family	Betty Blake,   b. 9 Sep 1879, Silver Springs, Benton, Arkansas, USA ,   d. 21 Jun 1944, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, USA
  Married	25 Nov 1908	Silver Springs, Benton, Arkansas, USA   [1, 2, 3]
  Biographical	have four children, with three surviving to adulthood  [1]
  Biographical	were married at the home of Betty's parents  [5]
  Children	> 1. William Vann Rogers,   b. 20 Oct 1911, New York, New York, New York, USA ,   d. 9 Jul 1933, Tubac, Santa Cruz, Arizona, USA   2. Mary Amelia Rogers,   b. 18 May 1913, Rogers, Benton, Arkansas, USA ,   d. 13 Dec 1989, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, USA > 3. James Blake Rogers,   b. 25 Jul 1915, New York, New York, New York, USA ,   d. 28 Apr 2000   4. Fred Stone Rogers,   b. 15 Jul 1918,   d. 17 Jun 1920, California
  Last Modified	14 Nov 2007
  Family ID	F16671	Group Sheet

• Event Map

  Event Education - Kemper Military School & College - - Boonville, Cooper, Missouri, USA Education - Willie Hassell School - - Neosho, Newton, Missouri, USA Biographical - joins Colonel Zach Mulhall's Wild West Show as a fancy roper at the World's Fair - 1904 - Saint Louis, St. Louis (city), Missouri, USA Biographical - began in Vaudeville at Hammerstein's Roof Garden - 1905 - New York, New York, New York, USA Biographical - receives considerable publicity for helping to rope a runaway bull that had run into the stands in the Horse Fair in Madison Square Garden - 1905 - New York, New York, New York, USA Married - 25 Nov 1908 - Silver Springs, Benton, Arkansas, USA Biographical - takes his first airplain flight - 1915 - Atlantic City, Atlantic, New Jersey, USA Biographical - was elected honorary mayor - 1926 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA Residence - - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA Buried - - Will Rogers Memorial family vault, Claremore, Rogers, Oklahoma, USA  = Link to Google Maps   = Link to Google Earth




• Photos		Rogers → Will

• Notes

  World-famous, widely popular American humorist of the vaudeville stage and of silent and sound films, Will Rogers graduated from military school, but his first real job was in the livestock business in Argentina, of all places. He transported pack animals across the South Atlantic from Buenos Aires to South Africa for use in the Boer War (1899-1902). He stayed in Johannesburg for a short while, appearing there in Wild West shows where he drew upon his expertise with horse and lasso. Returning to America, he brought his talents to vaudeville and by 1917 was a Ziegfeld Follies star. Over the years he gradually blended into his act his unique style of topical, iconoclastic humor, in which he speared the efforts of the powerful to trample the rights of the common man, while twirling his lariat and perhaps chewing on a blade of straw. Although appearing in many silents, he reached his motion-picture zenith with the arrival of sound. Now mass audiences could hear his rural twang as he delivered his homespun philosophy on behalf of Everyman. The appeal and weight of his words carried such weight with the average citizen that he was even nominated for governor of Oklahoma (which he declined).

• Sources

  [S281] Will Rogers Institute, Will Rogers Institute, (Toluca Lake, California: Will Rogers Institute, 2007), Will Rogers: A Brief Biography (Reliability: 4). [S282] Internet Movie Database, Internet Movie Database, Inc., (amazon.com, 1990-2007), Biography for Will Rogers (Reliability: 3). [S209] Who Was Who - Vol. I (1897-1942), The A. N. Marquis Company, (Chicago, Illinois: The A. N. Marquis Company, 1942), page 1,053 (Reliability: 4). [S278] Fisher, Gunter, Hill, Stebbins, Eugene Fisher, (Livermore, California: FamilyTreeMaker Online, 12 Oct 2003), Descendants of William Gunter page 13 of 29 (Reliability: 3). [S280] Will Rogers Memorial Museum, Will Rogers Memorial Museum, (Claremore, Oklahoma: Will Rogers Memorial Museums), Will Rogers and His Descendants (Reliability: 4). by Pat Lowe

Copyright © 2004-2010 J. Craig Canada aka palmspringsbum™. All Rights Reserved.

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