Life of Will Rogers — Timeline
1879: Born on November 4, the youngest of eight siblings, at the Dog Iron Ranch in Indian Territory, near present day Oologah, Oklahoma to Clement Van Rogers and Mary America Schrimsher.
1898-1902: Works in Texas as a cowboy, then as a gaucho in Argentina.
1902: Joins Texas Jack’s Wild West Circus as a trick roper and rider. During his performances, he discovers his gift for interacting with the audience through his witty sense of humor.
1904: Begins to experiment with vaudeville with his humorous comments on political and social issues. Willie Hammerstein, an American theatre manager, visits to see his vaudeville act and is impressed and signs him.
1908: Marries Betty Blake. They later have four children, Will Rogers, Jr., Mary Amelia, James Blake, and Fred Stone.
1915: Starts his Broadway career and appears in the Florenz Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolic, a variety revue that began at midnight in the New Amsterdam Theatre.
1916: Performs in The Wall Street Girl
1916-1925. Performs in the famous Ziegfeld’s Follies.
1918: Makes his first silent movie Laughing Bill Hyde. He made 48 silent movies which were quite successful, but they shadowed the very essence of his popularity which was commentating and talking on stage.
1922-1935: Begins working for The New York Times and also writes for the magazine, The Saturday Evening Post. His New York Times column, “Will Rogers Says,” reached 40 million readers.
1925-1928: Travels the length and breadth of the United States in a “lecture tour”.
1928: Runs for president, promising that if he wins, he will resign.
1929-1934: Makes first movies with sound, beginning with They Had to See Paris. Others include State Fair, Dr. Bull, David Harum, Judge Priest, and many more.
1930-1935: Broadcasts radio shows for the Gulf Oil Company.
1935: Dies at age 55 on August 15 in a plane crash along with the famous pilot, Wiley Post, near Point Barrow, Alaska.