Did you know?

    Will Rogers was radio’s pioneer commentator, but he was also the Number One male box office star of the 1930s.

    When soundtracks were added to motion pictures in 1929, Will Rogers found a new media and a heightening fame. He was a leading star behind only 5-year-old Shirley Temple, but he was still the top moneymaker for 20th Century Fox.

    Will Rogers’ first talking contract was signed with Fox on June 1, 1929, guaranteeing him $600,000 for four movies.

    Then came a 1.2 million dollar deal for six movies the following year.

    During a six-year period, Will Rogers starred in 21 sound-on-film movies that earned more than one million dollars each … That’s one million in Depression-era dollars.

    Will Rogers did not memorize scripts. Instead, he would study the plot, and understand the storyline, and then he would simply talk. Or, ad-lib, if you choose. And, he did this with very few rehearsals.

    John Ford was selected by 20th Century Fox to direct a classic story of the South in the 1890s, “Judge Priest.” Released in 1934, it starred Will Rogers in the title role.

    Years later, John Ford, who directed 145 movies during a seven-decade career, told an interviewer that “Judge Priest” was his favorite movie of all time.

    The 80-minute comedy-drama was written by Irving Cobb. Will Rogers played the role of the wise but wily judge so convincingly that President Franklin Roosevelt wrote to Will Rogers, saying: “I suppose the next thing you’ll be doing is making an application for an appointment to the federal bench. And I might just take you up on that.”