The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Rogers, Will
(William Penn Adair Rogers), 1879–1935, American humorist, b. Oolagah, Indian Territory (now in Oklahoma). In his youth he worked as a cowboy in Oklahoma, and after traveling over the world, he returned to the United States and worked in vaudeville as a cowboy rope-twirler, joking casually with the audience. He was an immediate success when he joined the Ziegfeld Follies in 1915. Rogers gained a wide audience through motion pictures, books, the radio, and a syndicated newspaper column. His salty comments on the political and social scene made the “cowboy philosopher” widely known. A constant booster of airplane travel, Rogers made several long airplane trips; he was killed with Wiley Post when their plane crashed near Point Barrow, Alaska.
See his autobiography (ed. by D. Day, 1949) and writings (1973); D. R. Milsten, Will Rogers: An Appreciation (1976); P. C. Rollins, Will Rogers: A Bio-Bibliography (1984).
