Will Rogers’ Journey Through Life “Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.” William Penn Adair “Will” Rogers was known for being a humorist, stage and motion picture actor, and newspaper columnist. Will Rogers was featured in many comedic strips, made 71 movies and wrote a few books and newspaper articles of his own. Will Rogers was also known as a true American cowboy. Franklin Roosevelt credited him bringing Americans “back to a sense of proportion.” On November 4, 1879 an American leader was born. Mr. Rogers was born on a ranch just two miles outside of Oologah, Oklahoma. From the start Will Rogers was a comedian. He always would claim his birthplace was Claremore because “nobody but an …show more content…
Him and a friend worked on a local ranch in the Pampas as gauchos, when he lost all his money and was embarrassed to send home for more. He set out on a boat to South Africa to work at James Piccione’s ranch in Pietermaritzburg. His business career began when he was a trick roper in the “Texas Jack’s Wild West Circus,” which led him to being referenced for the Wirth Brother’s Circus to start working on his pony act. For the next decade, Rogers worked about fifty weeks a year, for $140 a week, at the Roof and the city’s Myriad Vaudeville theaters, for himself, his horse, and the man who watched his horse. His humor and charm on stage was what caught the audience’s attention in Vaudeville. His fame started once he was featured on the front headline of many newspapers for his roping the wild steer that broke out of the Arena in Madison Square Garden during his trip in New York …show more content…
Rogers found that his passion for current events and humor were something he could incorporate into his lasso act. In 1916, Will Rogers performed The Wall Street Girl, which led to many more theatrical roles. Rogers began to write regularly for The Saturday Evening Post columns and other newspapers around America. Due to the Industrial’s Age drastic changes, many working Americans felt discouraged and hopeless; until Will Rogers work became known. His writing consisted of a longing for happiness and “more moral American past,” when he saw the development of the industries as unimportant compared to the daily life of a ranch hand. His work dealt with the issues of the increasingly industrializing twentieth century of America from a small town morality perspective. His work emphasized the importance and integrity of the working class of the American citizens. He was able to comfort the average Joe by allowing them to think that the world’s problems were not as serious as they sounded. Even though his role in many films was a simple cowboy, he represented the simplicity and innocence of earlier America. Will Rogers was constantly a reminder of the better, more understandable past. His use of up to date slang references with a mixture a wit from a Southern Dialect allowed him to reach out to many different