Category: vaudeville

Will Rogers: Remembering the Charismatic ‘Cowboy Philosopher’ Comedian Who Won the Hearts of America

There isn’t just one word that can describe famed American folk hero Will Rogers. Born on a ranch in Indian Territory in 1879, he became a cowboy, a ranch hand, a rodeo rider, a vaudeville performer, a film star, a columnist, an author, a public speaker, a humorist, a radio personality, and a social commentator….


American Treasures: Vaudeville, Family Friendly Entertainment

What do Houdini, Bob Hope, and Don the Talking Dog have in common? They all started out in vaudeville. What was vaudeville? The word is French for a kind of comic song, but in North America it came to mean theatrical presentations of unrelated acts—singers, comics, dancers, magicians—and it dominated our popular culture for half…