Will Rogers Jr.

Will Rogers Jr.

William Vann "Will" Rogers Jr. (born October 20, 1911 in New York City , †  July 9, 1993 in Tubac , Arizona ) was an American journalist , politician and actor . In 1943 and 1944 he represented the state of California in the US House of Representatives .

Life

Will Rogers Jr., also known as "Bill", was the eldest child of the famous entertainer Will Rogers (1879-1935) and his wife Betty Blake Rogers (1879-1944), he had 3 siblings. The Broadway actress Mary Rogers Brooks (1913-1989) was his sister, his two brothers was James "Jim" Rogers (1915-2000) passed away also on camera, Fred young. The children grew up in New York and later Beverly Hills , California , where Will attended public schools, and spent time on the family ranch in Rogers County , Oklahoma . Rogers graduated from Stanford University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1935 to become a journalist. Between 1935 and 1953 he was first editor and then owner of the newspaper "Beverly Hills Citizen", for which he already worked during his studies. However, at the time his father had an accident, Will decided to join the armed forces.

From 1935 to 1940 he completed his training with an officer candidate course, which he completed with the rank of sub-lieutenant or ensign ("second lieutenant"), but without switching to active military service. That changed after the United States entered World War II . Rogers volunteered, was assigned as a common soldier ( "Private" ), then under his reserve rank between June and December 1942, the field artillery of the US Army . In 1941 he married Collier Connell (married 1941–1976), the couple had two adopted sons.

Profession and Politics

Parallel to his military service, Rogers was politically active as a member of the Democratic Party . He ran in the 1942 congressional election and was elected to the House of Representatives in Washington, DC with the support of his wife and friends in the 16th  electoral district of California , where he succeeded Leland M. Ford on January 3, 1943 . Rogers switched from active service to politics, but only exercised the mandate until his resignation on May 23, 1944, after which he returned to the army. It was used on the European arena in the last year of the war, including a. during the Battle of the Bulge , was honored and wounded. Rogers remained with the rank of lieutenant until March 1946 in the army and ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate against William F. Knowland in November of the same year . In 1948, 1952 and 1956 he was a delegate to the respective Democratic National Conventions and supported Harry S. Truman's election campaign in Southern California in 1948.

After the Second World War, Rogers tried to follow in his father's footsteps with little success, and remained politically active. He appeared on radio and television programs and was active as a publicist and actor, especially in the 1950s. So embodied u. a. he met his father in 1952 in the biopic The Story of Will Rogers , directed by Michael Curtiz . From 1953 to 1954 he had his own show on CBS Radio , from 1956 to 1957 he was the presenter of the "CBS Morning Show" from New York before country singer Jimmy Dean took it over. From 1958 to 1960 he became a member and then between 1960 and 1962 Chairman of the California State Park Commission . From 1967 to 1969 he worked for the Commission on Indian Affairs .

Late years

Will Rogers Jr. spent his old age on his ranch after the family had moved to Tubac , Santa Cruz County, Arizona in the 1950s . His father had bought an estate near Claremore , Oklahoma, as a retirement home for the family in the 1910s , and his brother James was also a rancher. After several strokes, heart problems and hip operations, his health deteriorated more and more. Finally, on July 9, 1993, Rogers committed suicide. He was buried next to his wife in the Tubac cemetery.

Filmography (selection)

• 1921: The Jack Rider
• 1921: The Vengeance Trail
• 1949: Star from Broadway (Look for the Silver Lining)
• 1952: The Story of Will Rogers
• 1953: The Eddie Cantor Story
• 1954: The Sheriff Without a Colt (The Boy from Oklahoma)
• 1958: Death Rides With (Wild Heritage)
• 1982: The American Adventure (voice only)

Web links

• Will Rogers in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Will Rogers in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Will Rogers Jr. in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Betty Blake Rogers, Find a Grave (English)
2. ↑ Mary Amelia Rogers Brooks, Find a Grave (English)
3. ↑ James Blake Rogers, Find a Grave (English)
4. ↑ Fred Stone Rogers, Find a Grave (English)
5. ↑ Ben Yagoda: Will Rogers: A Biography, pp. 333 ff. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 2000, ISBN 978-0-8061-3238-9 ( limited preview in Google Book Search). (English)
6. ↑ ^{a b} Rogers' Military Service - History Net (English)
7. ↑ ^{a b c d} Will Rogers Jr., Humorist's Son, Soldier, Politician and Actor, 81 - New York Times, July 11, 1993 (English)
8. ↑ ^{a b c} Tomb of the Rogers couple, Find a Grave (English)
9. ↑ ^{a b} ROGERS, William Vann, Jr. - Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)