Imperial Valley press., 1935-08-21
BY ROBERT BURKHARDT
Written for the United Press

HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 21.-Talents
such as those of Will Rogers could
not long remain concealed, but it
was an accident that actually start
ed him on his way to fame.
It was during a return engage
ment at HammerStein'S Roof of the
vaudeville act of will Rogers and
Company" which consisted Of Will
himself. a little show horse named
Teddy and Buck Mckee, expert
horseman.
Rogers and Mckee recently got
together again after many years
when Will was on location making
what turned out to be his last pic
ture, Steamboat Round the Bend" "
The company was working near
Sacramento and Rogers drove to
Roseville, Calf, to look up the Nc
KEGS who now operate small rid
ing academy.
1T was just 80 years ago." Rogers
recalled, that we started out to-
gether at Hammerstein's and kept
goin' for five solid years. Only lay
offs we had was on the ocean max
ing our two trips to Europe"
Started BY Mckee
1t was Mckee, Rogers said, who
started him off talking to his audi
enceS.
HE used to make WiSecrackS to
me as I stood in the wings" Buck
explained, "and sometimes the first
two or three rows of the orchestra
would hear him. They always
!, laughed, and 1 tried to get Bill to
talk louder, but he was bashful.
"One day a theatre manager
wondering what was going on, stood
beside me and he got a lot OF
laughs, too. Why don't you put
that out to the audience?' he asked
and Rogers, thinking he meant the
roping loop he was throwing out
over the audience, explained it was
the longest he had, but he'd try il
some time"
That's right" chimed in Rogers
Finally, I tried an announcement.
had a trick with two ropes that
no one seemed to understand, so !
told 'em what it was. The first an
nouncement brought down n e
house, decided they was kiddin'
me. and wouldn't try it again for
weeks"
1t was Mrs. Rogers who finally
urged Will to try talking to his au-
dience. With this moral support
he remarked one night, about the
management not allowing cowboys
to cuss freely when muffing rop-
ing trick That was his very first
crack and it went over.
His next was during the late
Theodore Roosevelt's regime when
the country was bitterly split with
partisanship. People either hated
Roosevelt or loved him. This sit
uation gave Rogers an idea, and he
coupled it with the fact that T. R
was then seeking the River OF
Doubt in South America.
Will would tWirl his rope and say
II wonder whatever became of that
fellow?" The anti Roosevelts
would roar.
But sometimes they come back,
Will would cut in, and that gave
cheer. And then as an after
thought he would add, but not Of
ten"
With laughter added to his prev
iously dumb" act, Rogers became
a head-liner and bounded up the
ladder to fame and fortune. Flor
enz ziegfeld signed him for his IA
nous "Follies" and for six years
without a night off, Will changed
his stuff at every performance, de-
veloping his great technique II
finding laughs in the days news.
People could stand to- see the
same legs every night, but they
couldn't be expected to listen tt
the same gags more than once,
Rogers explained.
Scored Heavily Abroad
Rogers continued to gravitat'
from ziegfeld shows to vaudeville
and back again, making. Severa
trips abroad and scoring as big
success in London and Paris ant
Berlin as he did in the larger Am
erican cities
A little more than 20 years ago, Y
v. McNitt, president of q newSpa
per syndicate, invited Bill to din
ner after seeing him perform at th'
new Amsterdam theatre in New
york City and proposed that tn
cowboy-comedian write a daily an
ecdote for papers throughout tn
country.
+. "Shucks, I can't write" Will re
, sponded. But McNitt was insisten
and Rogers agreed to try it. Thu
was born the feature which grey