08/16/2026
An actor, performer, and humorist, Will Rogers became one of America’s most recognizable voices by finding humor in the controversial issues of his day.
According to the Journal of the American Society for Ethnohistory, Rogers worked the vaudeville circuit and headlined the Ziegfeld Follies as a political comedian and trick roper before turning much of his attention to journalism, radio, and film.
Throughout the 1920s and ’30s, Rogers starred in 71 movies, hosted a regular radio show, and penned more than 4,000 syndicated columns. His signature wit took aim at politicians, gangsters, government, and, of course, Prohibition.
Rogers also developed a distinctive writing style that often ignored conventional grammar, a trait that became a trademark of his later journalism and helped capture the conversational, folksy humor that made him such a recognizable voice of the era.
On August 15, 1935, Rogers died in a plane crash alongside famed aviator Wiley Post.
