Will Rogers, Favorite Son Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cherokee

Some accounts tell that the original house built by Clem and Mary was where Will was born, but some say that the original homestead was destroyed while Clem Rogers was off fighting for the Confederacy, and a new one built when he returned. Clem was a Cherokee leader and often worked to help others in the tribe. Mary America was a member of the Paint Clan. Will was named for Colonel William Penn Adair, a Confederate officer from Georgia and noted leader of the Cherokee.

One of Will's sayings was: "My ancestors didn't come over on the Mayflower, but they met the boat."

Answer: Betty Blake

Will and Betty met in Oologah, Indian Territory. Betty was staying with her sister and recuperating, and many evenings were spent playing music and singing at the beginning of their relationship. They corresponded off and on while he traveled to Argentina and Australia. The story found most often is that he proposed in 1906, but she declined. She finally agreed in 1908 when he proposed that after their marriage and a final tour they would settle down in Oklahoma. After their marriage she must have changed her mind because she supported his career throughout his life.

The couple had four children: Will Rogers, Jr., Mary Amelia, James Blake, and Fred Stone. Though Fred would die at the age of two, the others outlived both of their parents.

As Will said: "The day I roped Betty Blake was the best catch of my life."

Answer: Will Rogers Productions

The Goldwyn contract ended in 1921. According to several sources, three films were made, "The Ropin' Fool" (1922), "Fruits of Faith" (1922), and "One Day in 365" (never released). Only "The Ropin' Fool" has survived intact. This is a fantastic film of 22 minutes with 53 rope tricks. It also included a new technology, slow motion, which allowed viewers to see that the tricks were real.

"An actor is a fellow that just has a little more monkey in him than the fellow that can't act." - Will Rogers

Answer: roping an escaped steer

In "The Papers of Will Rogers: Wild West and Vaudeville, April 1904-September 1908" there are cuttings from prior to the show and a clipping from his scrapbook from April 28, 1905. The clipping from the "New York Herald" said "Will Rogers, a Cherokee Indian, and three other cowboys" went after the steer. "Rogers got a rope over the steer's horns just as he turned to run down into the arena. Rogers clung to the rope, but was dragged over the seats and down the stairs. He was seriously bruised." Interestingly, there are several versions of the story, some of which are mentioned in the footnotes.

A letter home to his father included the following note for the Claremore "Progress" editor: "I never did get to write you but here is a clipping or two. I made the biggest hit I ever dreamed of in my Roping Act and finished my good luck by catching a wild steer that went clear up into the dress circles of the garden among the people."

Answer: chewing gum

According to the "Will Rogers" biography, written after his death by his wife Betty, Will was in a rush to get to the theater and ran on stage still chewing gum. The audience laughed. And, when he took it out of his mouth and put it on the proscenium, the audience laughed some more.

He then often made it part of the act. When he would miss a rope trick (either by accident or on purpose), he would ostentatiously take out the gum and put it somewhere on stage, and then repeat the trick successfully. The audiences loved it.

His December 9, 1923, article for The McNaught Syndicate, was entitled "The Remodeled Chewing Gum Corporation". In it he pokes fun at himself saying that the quality of the gum affects the quality of his jokes.

"What becomes of all the chewing gum that is used in this country?" - Will Rogers

Answer: an alarm clock

Will began his program talking about one subject and then moved to the next and the next. To solve the issue of running over, he brought an alarm clock and told his listeners: "When that alarm goes off, I am going to stop, that is all there is to it. I don't care whether I am in the middle of reciting "Gunga Din" or the "Declaration of Independence", I am going to stop when that rings". The clock became so famous that eventually the his show time was announced with "Will Rogers and his famous Alarm Clock!"

This was not the first time he had worked on radio. In 1930, he had signed with the Squibb company for 15 minute chats. In 1932 he started as a part of "Ziegfeld's Follies of the Air". For the second show, they tried to get him to wrap up, but eventually just cut him off in mid-sentence. Will didn't realize until long after the show, and then sent the sponsor a telegram: "Get another boy."

Another concern that Will had when broadcasting on radio was that he depended on the audience's reaction to his commentary. This was eventually solved by bringing in a live audience for the radio show.

Answer: television

Will began having his newspaper articles printed in 1922, and continued until his death. There were more than 4,000 syndicated columns.

His started acting in movies in 1918. He was in 71 films, 50 silents and 21 talkies. In 1934 he was voted the most popular Hollywood star. (He was second most popular in 1935, with Shirley Temple getting the top vote).

He was a radio star from 1930 until his death, with a weekly show sponsored by the Gulf Oil company.

Unfortunately, he died before television became commonplace in homes.

Will used his comments and humor to gently poke fun at the world. He could make people laugh at his home-spun philosophies and pithy statements.

"There is no credit to being a comedian, when you have the whole Government working for you. All you have to do is report the facts. I don't even have to exaggerate." - Will Rogers

Answer: polo

Jim Minnick, also called the "Father of Polo", had been friends with Will since they met as cowboy contestants at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, and he introduced Will to polo. Will became an avid and enthusiastic polo player, and introduced many Hollywood folk to the game such as Walt Disney, Spencer Tracy, Hal Roach and Darryl Zanuck.

In 1927 Will tried to write off expenses for the polo field and equipment, and part of his communication with the IRS says: "Now of all the things that I have done in my career that has received national publicity without my having to pay for the actual space over the counter, Polo has been the best one, I am no polo player, I am not even fond of the game, I could ride a bit and I took it up solely for what there was in it from a publicity angle, ..."

Today their California home is The Will Rogers State Park, where polo matches can still be seen.

"Polo, is played by us lazy ones, because the horse does all the work and we love to just go for the ride." - Will Rogers

Answer: Wiley Post

Wiley Post was an aviation hero. He had been flying since around 1913 when he was about fifteen years of age. He was a U.S. Army Air Service pilot during World War I and had worked in a "flying circus", and as an oil field pilot. He completed the first solo flying around the world in seven days, 18 hours and 49.5 minutes. He is also credited with discovering jet streams.

Will was an aviation advocate. He used mail planes to fly back and forth across country, and several anecdotes tell that he would weigh himself and pay by the pound, like the rest of the postage. Will was said to have logged more than 300,000 miles as a passenger, both domestically and internationally.

In one of his 1918 newspaper articles he stated: "Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the first flying machine flight by the Wright Brothers. People wouldn't believe a man could fly then and Congress don't believe it yet."

Answer: Will-A-Mania

The Broadway show "The Will Rogers Follies" opened in 1991 and won six Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Original Score. The show is about the life and career of Will Rogers and the character that plays Will performs many roping tricks. The song Will-A-Mania really attempts to show just how popular he was through newspaper, movies and radio. The section that deals with the newspapers starts the number with:

"Each early morning I get up
Read his column with my coffee cup
Never, ever start the day without Will
His wit and wisdom let me see
All the foibles of this century
There's no way to start my day without Will

Just multiply me by the millions
From Gotham out to Frisco Bay
Those Toms and Dicks and Jacks and Jillians
Are asking "Hey did you see what Will said today?""

Folks that read his articles or heard his broadcasts may not necessarily have agreed with him, but many folk formed their opinions from his observations. During the depression years he was frequently a voice of hope or humor that helped people get through their days.

There are many theories about the dramatic wane in his popularity, and that so few know much about him today. For example, Fox, which had the rights to his movies, didn't show them right after his death because they thought it would appear that they were making money from his demise. Several other sources speculated that a lot of his commentaries were very time specific and don't translate well to those not reading the same daily papers. His personality and style were very much in his present.

Alternatively, many of the articles that I've read say that we could learn a lot from his wit and wisdom.