“There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you,” said Will Rogers (1879-1935), famous humorist, writer, philosopher, and performer.
As a young man, he worked on ranches, and being a master of the lariat led to his performing in Vaudeville. By 1917 he was a headliner for the Ziegfeld Follies, blending his unique style of poking gentle fun at current events with his rope tricks. In 1922, he started a syndicated column that was read in 2,800 daily papers. His wit, wisdom and understanding of the human condition is often compared to that of Mark Twain, and much of what he said and wrote is still relevant today. Also a film star, Rogers played the lead in the 1931 film version of Twain’s 1889 time-travel novel, A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT. Taking on the role of Will Rogers is Tom Byrn who recently received rave reviews for his performance in ELTC’s MR. LINCOLN. Conceived and produced by George Spota in 1970, James Whitmore originally played the role. The script is not published and took ELTC’s artistic director three months to track down who owns the script and the rights.