Will Rogers

1879 Will Rogers (d. August 15, 1935), American populist humorist.

In 1898, Will Rogers left his family ranch in Oklahoma to work as a Texas cowboy, and then travelled to Argentina where he worked for several months as a gaucho. Rogers discovered his real talent when he joined Texas Jack's Wild West Show in 1902 as a trick roper and rider under the stage name 'The Cherokee Kid' (he was in fact of part-Cherokee descent). One day he was attempting to perform an especially complicated lassoing trick and wanted to explain it to the audience first. When he did, everyone laughed, and Rogers said it was the luckiest thing that ever happened to him as he discovered his comedic talents.

Joining the Wirth Brothers' Circus in 1903, Rogers toured Australia and New Zealand performing his rope tricks before returning to the United States the following year to appear at the St Louis Exposition and receive his first vaudeville bookings in Chicago. Rogers moved to Hollywood in 1934, and his career in acting immediately took off ...

Categories: australia, usa, movie, journalism