Will Rogers grew up on a ranch and began his career in entertainment at rodeos and Wild West shows. Soon after making his debut in New York City in 1905, he was exchanging banter with his audiences. By 1915 he had developed the stage persona of a cowboy who debunked pretension. Rogers began to write a syndicated newspaper column in 1922 and made a series of films between 1929 and his death in a plane crash in 1935. His books include Rogerisms--the Cowboy Philosopher on Prohibition, Illiterate Digest, and Autobiography.