William Will Penn Adair Rogers November 4 1879 August 15 1935 was an American cowboy comedian humorist social commentator vaudeville performer and actor and one of the bestknown celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s Known as Oklahomas favorite son Rogers was born to a prominent Cherokee Nation family in Indian Territory now part of Oklahoma He traveled around the world three times made 71 movies 50 silent films and 21 talkies wrote more than 4000 nationallysyndicated newspaper columns and became a worldfamous figure By the mid1930s Rogers was adored by the American people He was the leading political wit of the Progressive Era and was the toppaid Hollywood movie star at the time Rogers died in 1935 with aviator Wiley Post when their small airplane crashed near Barrow Alaska His vaudeville rope act led to success in the Ziegfeld Follies 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 firsthand accounts of his world travels His earthy anecdotes and folksy style allowed him to poke fun at gangsters prohibition politicians government programs and a host of other controversial topics in a way that was readily appreciated by a national audience with no one offended His short aphorisms couched in humorous terms were widely quoted I am not a member of an organized political party I am a Democrat Rogers even provided an epigram on his most famous epigram 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 dident like I am so proud of that I can hardly wait to die so it can be carved Description above from the Wikipedia article Will Rogers licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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