Rogers was the youngest of eight children. His father remarried less than two years after her death. His mother was one quarter-Cherokee and born into the Paint Clan. Rogers quipped that his ancestors did not come over on the Mayflower, but they "met the boat". His parents, Clement Vann Rogers (1839–1911) and Mary America Schrimsher (1838–1890), were both of mixed race and Cherokee ancestry, and identified as Cherokee. The house in which he was born had been built in 1875 and was known as the "White House on the Verdigris River". Rogers was born on his parents' Dog Iron Ranch in the Cherokee Nation of Indian Territory, near present-day Oologah, Oklahoma, now in Rogers County, named in honor of his father, Clem Vann Rogers. The White House on the Verdigris River, Will Rogers' birthplace, near Oologah, Oklahoma His aphorisms, couched in humorous terms, were widely quoted: "I am not a member of an organized political party. His earthy anecdotes and folksy style allowed him to poke fun at gangsters, prohibition, politicians, government programs, and a host of other controversial topics in a way that found general acclaim from a national audience with no one offended. Rogers crusaded for aviation expansion and provided Americans with first-hand accounts of his world travels. His 1920s syndicated newspaper column and his radio appearances increased his visibility and popularity. His rope act led to success in the Ziegfeld Follies, which in turn led to the first of his many movie contracts. Rogers began his career as a performer on vaudeville. He died in 1935 with aviator Wiley Post when their small airplane crashed in northern Alaska. By the mid-1930s, Rogers was hugely popular in the United States for his leading political wit and was the highest paid of Hollywood film stars. As an entertainer and humorist, he traveled around the world three times, made 71 films (50 silent films and 21 "talkies"), and wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma), and is known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son". William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator.
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