born Nov. 4, 1879, Indian Territory, U.S. [near present-day Claremore, Okla.]
died Aug. 15, 1935, near Point Barrow, Alaska
U.S. humorist and actor.
Raised in Indian Territory, he demonstrated his rope-twirling skills in Wild West shows and vaudeville and gradually wove bits of homespun wit into his act. He was popular in New York City from 1905 and starred in Florenz Ziegfeld 's Midnight Frolic (1915). Noted for his good-natured but sharp criticism of current affairs, he wrote a newspaper column in the New York Times (from 1922) as well as several books. He performed on radio and in movies such as State Fair (1933) and Steamboat Round the Bend (1935). His death in a plane crash in Alaska with the aviator Wiley Post (1899–1935) was widely mourned.
Will Rogers.
Culver Pictures