Born November 4, 1879 Oologah, Oklahoma Indian Territory

Died August 15, 1935 Point Barrow, Alaska

Entertainer, social commentator

Will Rogers. ©Bettmann/CORBIS. Reproduced by permission.

"Will Rogers had the general demeanor of a common man, self-elected representative of the world's underdogs. He was an 'Aw shucks' guy."

Ray Robinson in American Original: A Life of Will Rogers

Will Rogers was a national voice of the common person between 1929 and 1935 during the harshest period of the Great Depression, the worst economic crisis in U.S. history. Rogers conquered most of the media available at the time. He seemed equally at home on stage and on the movie screen, in print, and on the radio. He starred in Wild West shows, vaudeville, silent and talking movies, and radio programs, and he wrote a regular newspaper column. Vaudeville was a popular form of stage entertainment in the United States from the late nineteenth...