Will Rogers

Born: 1879-11-03

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 best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s. Known as Oklahoma's 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 4,000 nationally-syndicated newspaper columns, and became a world-famous figure. By the mid-1930s, Rogers was adored by the American people. He was the leading political wit of the Progressive Era, and was the top-paid 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 first-hand 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 CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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State Fair

as Abel Frake
Released: 1933-02-10

The children of Iowa farmers find love, with mixed results, at the state fair.

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Judge Priest

as Judge William Pitman 'Billy' Priest
Released: 1934-09-15

Judge Priest, a proud Confederate veteran, restores the justice in a small town in the...

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Uncensored Movies

as Lem Skagwillow
Released: 1923-12-09

A morals reformer returns from Hollywood to his small town, and shows his fellow citizens the...

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Laughing Bill Hyde

as Bill Hyde
Released: 1918-09-22

Convict Bill Hyde and his friend, Danny Dorgan, break out of prison, but in running from the...

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Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10)

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1942-01-01

The edition of Screen Snapshots celebrates 25 years of production. It looks at the content of...

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A Connecticut Yankee

as Hank Martin
Released: 1931-04-06

Making a delivery to a mysterious mansion in a rainstorm, radio salesman Hank Martin is knocked...

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The Golden Age of Comedy

as archive footage
Released: 1957-12-26

A compilation featuring comedic stars of the silent era including Will Rogers, Laurel and Hardy,...

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Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1975-08-06

Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American...

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Steamboat Round the Bend

as Doctor John Pearly
Released: 1935-09-06

A Louisiana con man enters his steamboat into a winner-take-all race with a rival while trying...

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Cupid the Cowpuncher

as Alec Lloyd
Released: 1920-07-25

Alec Lloyd, the foreman of the Sewell ranch, is nicknamed "Cupid" because of his propensity for...

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The Headless Horseman

as Ichabod crane
Released: 1922-11-05

The village of Sleepy Hollow is getting ready to greet the new schoolteacher, Ichabod Crane, who...

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They Had to See Paris

as Pike Peters
Released: 1929-09-18

Oklahoma mechanic Pike Peters finds himself part owner of an oil field. His wife Idy, hitherto...

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In Old Kentucky

as Steve Tapley
Released: 1935-11-28

Horse trainer Steve Tapley is caught between the feuding Martingale and Shattuck families. He...

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Happy Days

as Minstrel Show Performer
Released: 1929-09-16

Margie, singer on a showboat, decides to try her luck in New York inspite of being in love with...

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The Legend of Rudolph Valentino

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1961-05-24

A documentary of Hollywood's first great Latin Lover, the contradictions in his personal life,...

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A Texas Steer

as Cattle Brander
Released: 1927-12-04

Laconic cowboy Maverick Brander just happens to be a very wealthy rancher, but the money doesn't...

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Tiptoes

as Uncle Hen Kaye
Released: 1927-06-19

A silent film version of the Gershwin stage musical

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Hollywood

as Will Rogers
Released: 1923-08-19

Angela comes to Hollywood with only two things: Her dream to become a movie star, and Grandpa....

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Doctor Bull

as Dr. George 'Doc' Bull
Released: 1933-09-22

In this engaging adaptation of James Gould Cozzen's novel The Last Adam, film icon Will Rogers...

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Doubting Thomas

as Thomas Brown
Released: 1935-07-10

A husband makes fun of his wife's theatrical aspirations when she agrees to appear in a local...

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Going Hollywood: The '30s

as (archive footage)
Released: 1984-01-01

Robert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they...

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Too Busy to Work

as Jubilo
Released: 1932-12-02

A hobo searches the countryside for the daughter he lost when his wife left him...

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Two Wagons Both Covered

as Bill Bunian / Joe Jackson
Released: 1924-01-05

Satire on the epic Western 'The Covered Wagon (1923)'.

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Water, Water, Everywhere

as Billy Fortune
Released: 1920-02-08

Cowboy Billy Fortune is in love with Hope Beecher, who prefers Billy's friend Ben Morgan, but...

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Honest Hutch

as Hutch
Released: 1920-09-19

Ort Hutchins is a confirmed loafer who spends all of his time fishing while his wife toils over...

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Ambassador Bill

as Bill Harper
Released: 1931-11-13

An American ambassador arrives in a small country that is being convulsed by political intrigue...

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The Ropin' Fool

as 'Ropes' Reilly
Released: 1922-10-29

"Ropes" Reilly shows off his impressive roping skills, then runs afoul of the local townsfolk.

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The Strange Boarder

as Sam Gardner
Released: 1920-04-01

Honest Arizona rancher Sam Gardner, goes with his motherless son Billy to the city, where he is...

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Young as You Feel

as Lemuel Morehouse
Released: 1931-08-06

Lemuel Morehouse, the owner of a profitable meatpacking company in Chicago, bemoans the fact...

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Mr. Skitch

as Ira Skitch
Released: 1933-12-22

After losing their Missouri home during the Great Depression, the Skitch family pulls up stakes...

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The Cake Eater

as uncredited
Released: 1924-03-02

A young cowboy takes a job at a ranch owned by two aging spinsters, unaware that both are...

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Business and Pleasure

as Earl Tinker
Released: 1932-02-24

On a Mediterranean cruise, Earl Tinker, a manufacturer of razor blades, is the target of a femme...

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The County Chairman

as Jim Hackler
Released: 1935-01-11

Based on George Ade's play which, in part, was based on an incident in a 1902 election in...

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Life Begins at Forty

as Keneshaw H. Clark
Released: 1935-03-22

A small-town newspaper publisher finds himself in opposition to the local banker on the return...

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Lightnin'

as Lightnin' Bill Jones
Released: 1930-11-28

Lightnin' and Mary Jones are co-owners of a hotel built right on a state border, used by...

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Jubilo, Jr.

as Jubilo / Himself
Released: 1924-06-28

A young boy, determined to make money enough to buy his mother a birthday present, finds a...

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So This Is London

as Hiram Draper
Released: 1930-05-23

Hiram Draper is an all-American self-made man with a profound distaste for everything British....

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Almost a Husband

as Sam Lyman
Released: 1919-10-11

A New England schoolteacher arrives in a small Southern town. He becomes the savior of several...

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David Harum

as David Harum
Released: 1934-03-02

Rogers plays a small town banker in the 1890s whose chief rival is the deacon (Middleton) with...

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Handy Andy

as Andrew Yates
Released: 1934-07-19

A small-town druggist is henpecked by his social-climbing wife to sell his pharmacy to a...

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Jus' Passin' Through

as Jubilo
Released: 1923-10-14

At Thanksgiving, a tramp arrives in a homeless-hostile town.

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Down To Earth

as Pike Peters
Released: 1932-09-01

Husband and father Will Rogers tells his spoiled wife and children that they have to economize.

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Jubilo

as Jubilo
Released: 1919-12-07

Jubilo, a hobo, witnesses a robbery, finds work on Judge Hardy’s farm, and foils the vengeful...

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An Unwilling Hero

as Dick
Released: 1921-01-08

As a man travels down to New Orleans for the winter, he finds out a robbery will be taken place...

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A Poor Relation

as Noah Vale
Released: 1921-12-30

Slaving to perfect an invention, Noah Vale tries to keep two orphans--Rip and Patch--and himself...

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Jes' Call Me Jim

as Jim Fenton
Released: 1920-05-23

Happy-go-lucky Jim Fenton is in love with Miss Butterworth, the town milliner, who is taking...

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Boys Will Be Boys

as Peep O'Day
Released: 1921-05-05

Peep O'Day, an orphan in a small Kentucky town, falls heir to a small fortune and begins to make...

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Big Moments from Little Pictures

as uncredited
Released: 1924-03-30

In this short, Will Rogers introduces and concludes the movie. And, then, he acts in different...

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Will Rogers and American Politics

as uncredited
Released: 2010-11-30

In the 1930s, with the United States mired in the Great Depression and teetering on the brink of...

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Babe Ruth: The Man, the Myth, the Legend

as himself
Released: 1990-04-25

Mel Allen hosts this look at Babe Ruth's life and career, focusing primarily on Ruth's years...

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Guile of Women

as Hjalmar Maartens
Released: 1921-01-01

A naive young Swede is repeatedly victimized by predatory women. When finally he meets a young...

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One Glorious Day

as Professor Ezra Botts
Released: 1922-01-29

Ek is a disembodied spirit, required to wait his turn in the boring cosmos until he is allowed...

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Doubling for Romeo

as Sam Cody / Romeo
Released: 1921-10-22

Slim Cody works in the movie industry, doubling for the performers. He has a dream in which he...

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Shirley Temple: America's Little Darling

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1993-08-31

There never was a star quite like her. Adored by adults and children alike, at four she already...

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Going to Congress

as Alfalfa Doolittle
Released: 1924-05-24

Will Rogers plays a lazy man who is chosen by a group of men to run for Congress.

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