Spoiler : Will Rogers (William Penn Adair Rogers) Born Oologah, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), November 4, 1879 Died Point Barrow (Nuvuk), Alaska, August 15, 1935 Age 55 (plane crash)

Spoiler : Over 80 years since that tragic day, 15th August 1935, the legend of Will Rogers lives on. A key backer of American aviation, Will was exploring Alaska with pilot Wiley Post, when their plane sputtered and stopped soon after takeoff and made a nosedive into a lagoon near Point Barrow. At the time of his death, he had the most popular Sunday evening radio show, his newspaper columns were read by millions in the country and he was the second biggest motion picture box office draw.

Spoiler : Rogers, Sr., Will (William Penn Adair Rogers) Born in Oologah, Indian Territory (now Claremore, Oklahoma) 11/4/1879; died 8/15/1935 in a South Barrow, Alaska plane crash with his pilot Wiley Post. Married to Betty Blake (1908-1935 his death). Father of Will Rogers, Jr., former actor Jim Rogers and actress Mary Rogers that used the name Mary Howard during her career. Rogers was a cowboy and a merchant seaman before appearing in Wild Wild West Shows. Screen debut playing Bill Hyde in Laughing Bill Hyde (1918). Last movie was playing Steve Tapley In Old Kentucky (1935).

Spoiler : Announcer for Charlie Wild, Private Detective on the NBC and CBS Radio Networks (1950-1951).

Spoiler : I’m sorry to inform you, but that’s not Will Rogers. That is Will Rogers, Junior. And it is from the film about Will Rogers that came out in the 50s.

Spoiler : While he was a member of the Ziegfeld Follies, he was featured on the Ziegfeld Follies Of The Air for CBS-Radio (1932). Regular performer on The Gulf Show for NBC-BLUE and CBS-Radio (1933- 1935). In 1951 there was an ABC-Radio program titled, The Will Rogers Show that used close to a hundred and thirty of Rogers' witty recordings.