Will Rogers His Life and Times Author:Richard M. Ketchum For much of the first third of the 20th century, Will Rogers was not only America's pre-eminent humorist; he was the down-to-earth, horse-sense conscience of the nation. This biography is a fine evocation of a turbulent age as well as the moving story of an American who richly earned the honor and affection he still receives from his fellow ... more »citizens.
William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma), 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 films 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 stars. He died in 1935 with aviator Wiley Post when their small airplane crashed in northern Alaska.