Title: American original : a life of Will Rogers /
Authors: Robinson, Ray, 1920 December 4-
Publisher: Oxford University Press,
Year: 1996
Subjects: Rogers, Will,; Entertainers United States Biography; Humorists, American Biography.
Abstract: In American Original, Ray Robinson chronicles the trajectory of Will Rogers' remarkable life. This lively portrait follows Rogers from his childhood in the Indian Territory of what is now Oklahoma, to his first spellbinding lariat performances in the Wild West shows (where he would often lasso prominent audience members and drag them on stage), to his stardom in vaudeville and the Ziegfeld Follies, to his early silent movies and the later "talkies," and finally to his astonishing influence as a "cowboy philosopher" columnist read by over 40 million Americans. Far more than other biographers, Robinson excels at conveying Rogers' impact as a political commentator ("I belong to no organized political party.