Will Rogers, Performer

Richard J. Maturi and Mary Buckingham Maturi
21st Century Publishers (2008)
ISBN 9780960729883
Reviewed by Tyler R. Tichelaar for Reader Views (2/08)


“Will Rogers, Performer” is the only book I have read about Will Rogers, but it’s a wonderful introduction to one of America’s most loved performers. Previously, my only knowledge of Will Rogers was the Broadway musical “The Will Rogers Follies” and his performance in “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.” I knew he had written newspaper columns and been in radio, as well as film and the Ziegfeld Follies, but I had no idea of the full extent of his career. “Will Rogers, Performer” focuses on his incredible career, with great detail, while bringing to life the lovable, humorous star.

The book focuses on all the different aspects of Will Rogers’s career. His later film career in talkies appears to be his greatest work, but I personally found the discussion of his silent films the most fascinating. He truly was a pioneer of the film industry, working alongside D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Eddie Cantor, W.C. Fields and Shirley Temple. We learn what Rogers thought of his films, how he behaved on the set—lassoing his co-workers—and his impressions of early Hollywood.

Will is allowed throughout to speak in his own words. He is continually quoted, and his witticisms, more than three-quarters of a century old, remain comical. Among the many amusing remarks quoted are, “There is nothing as stupid as an educated man if you get him off the thing he was educated in,” and “Congress has more fiction in it in a day than writers can think of in a year.”

Best of all, “Will Rogers, Performer” has awakened my interest to learn more about Will Rogers, perhaps even to visit the museums honoring him. I definitely would like to see more of his films, which, even if somewhat dated, I imagine he still shines in. The book is filled with dozens of wonderful photographs including film stills. Detailed descriptions of all his films are included. Finally, in this expanded version of “Will Rogers, Performer” is an extra section on Will Rogers as an aviator, showing he was as much a pioneer of aviation as he was of film.

Anyone interested in Will Rogers, the history of radio, Broadway, and film will love “Will Rogers, Performer.”

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