Buddy Rogers

Buddy Rogers made his screen debut in the 1926 film ‘Fascinating Youth,’ and quickly became a star in the late silent era. He also found success as a bandleader and a musician. His signature song became “Twelfth Street Rag,” which he was able to play a few bars of on a great number of musical instruments. However, he remains best-remembered for his acting career. Rogers, who acquired the nickname “America’s Boyfriend,” starred in such films as ‘Wings’ (1927), ‘My Best Girl’ (1927), ‘River of Romance’ (1929), ‘Along Came Youth’ (1930), ‘Working Girls’ (1931), ‘This Reckless Age’ (1932), ‘Best of Enemies’ (1933), ‘This Way Please’ (1937), ‘Sing for Your Supper’ (1941), and ‘An Innocent Affair’ (1948). During World War II, he also worked as a flight training instructor for the Navy. After making ‘An Innocent Affair,’ he retired from the screen for nine years, concentrating on television and radio work. In 1957 he starred in his final movie, ‘The Parson and the Outlaw,’ playing a minor role. Rogers married the legendary actress Mary Pickford in 1937, becoming her third husband. The two had worked together in her 1927 film ‘My Best Girl,’ while she was still married to Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., but didn’t become romantically involved for some time, even though Buddy Rogers had reported feeling attracted to her since they had made that movie. When they finally did become a couple and got married a decade later, many people felt the marriage would never last because Rogers was eleven years younger than Pickford, and it was rare to see a couple where the husband was the one who was significantly younger than the wife. However, they proved their nay-sayers wrong by remaining married until Pickford’s death in 1979. The couple adopted two children, Ronnie and Roxanne. In 1981 Rogers remarried to Beverly Ricono. His second marriage lasted until his death. Rogers was also very involved in charity work and humanitarian groups; for his activities in these causes he was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1986 at the Academy Awards ceremony. Another honor he received in his later years was having a children’s symphony orchestra in Coachella Valley, California named after him. He and his second wife had helped to found this children’s orchestra. Rogers passed away at the age of ninety-four of natural causes.