Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: Will Rogers, Cherokee entertainer and performer

William Rogers, born November 4, 1897 in the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory near what is now Oologah, Oklahoma, is known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son".  He made 71 films, most of them silent movies, and in the mid-thirties, was the highest paid actor in Hollywood. Both of his parents were of Cherokee ancestry.

He began his show business in South Africa as a trick roper and later went to Australia where he worked with the Wirth Brothers Circus.  He returned to the US in 1904 and appeared at the St. Louis World's Fair. In April 1905, he was visiting Madison Square Gardens in NYC when a steer broke out and began climbing the viewing stands.  Rogers used his roping skills to catch the animal, which delighted the crowd.  He worked for the next ten years performing with his horse on the Victoria Roof in NYC.

He appeared in his first movie in Laughing Bill Hyde in 1918.  His first sound film came in 1929 in They Had to See Paris.  

In 1935, he asked Wiley Post, another Oklahoman, to fly him through Alaska in search of new material for his newspaper column.  On August 15, after several stops in Alaska, they left Fairbanks for Point Barrow.  About 20 miles south of Point Barrow, Wiley attempted to take off from a lagoon after asking for directions.  The engine failed and the plane crashed into the water, killing both men instantly.  

The international airport in Oklahoma City is named Will Rogers World Airport.  He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

Moe Howard of The Three Stooges born 1897

Moe Howard, born Moses Horwitz on June 19, 1897, is best known as the bully in The Three Stooges.  He was the real-life brother of Curly and Shemp.  His trademarks were the bowl haircut and the omnipresent scowl. 

Although he was a bully on screen, he was a gentle person in life and very protective of his brother Curly.  Moe was the business-minded one of the group.  He began saving his money while acting realizing that his career might not last forever and died a wealthy man.  Curly and Larry Fine had a propensity of spending their money, so Moe convinced them to give him part of their paycheck and he would invest it for them.  Although they weren't as wealthy as Moe, they came out much better than if they hadn't.

He passed away of lung cancer in 1975.

Bram Stoker's "Dracula" released in 1897

Bram Stoker's Victorian-era Gothic-horror masterpiece, "Dracula" first appeared in London bookstores May 26, 1897.  Although it only enjoyed moderate success at the time, it has become Stoker's best-known and most favorite novel.  It began to gain popularity when Stoker's widow Florence allowed the story to be adapted for stage in the 1920's.  But it was when Bela Lugosi appeared in the 1931 movie "Dracula" when it really became a hit.