Fred Rogers
Fred Rogers, born Fred McFeely Rogers on March 20, 1928, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, was a notable television host and children's advocate best known for creating and hosting the iconic program "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." Raised in a challenging environment, he found solace in music and the support of his grandfather, instilling in him the belief that everyone deserves love and acceptance. After studying music composition at Rollins College, Rogers was inspired to use television as a medium to positively influence children, leading to his debut as a host in 1963. "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," which premiered in 1968, focused on educating children about complex emotional and social issues through a gentle, respectful approach. The show ran for over three decades and received numerous accolades, including four Daytime Emmys and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Arts and Sciences. Beyond his television work, Rogers was ordained as a minister and dedicated himself to nurturing children's emotional well-being. He passed away on February 27, 2003, but his legacy continues to resonate through various documentaries and films that celebrate his lasting impact on children's television and emotional education.
Fred Rogers
Television personality
- Born: March 20, 1928
- Birthplace: Latrobe, Pennsylvania
- Died: February 27, 2003
- Place of death: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Also known as: Fred McFeely Rogers, Mister Rogers
Significance: Fred Rogers was an American television personality and musician whose educational children’s television series, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, ran for thirty-one seasons. Throughout his time as host of the groundbreaking series, Rogers helped countless young viewers develop social and emotional skills.
Background
Fred Rogers was born Fred McFeely Rogers on March 20, 1928, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The son of Nancy and James H. Rogers, an entrepreneur who built a successful brick business, he was an only child until the age of eleven when his parents adopted a baby girl. Rogers’s childhood was not an easy one—he was a shy boy who was often bullied by other children for being overweight. Despite this, he found solace in playing the piano, and in the love and guidance of his grandfather, Fred Brooks McFeely, who always said to him, “Freddy, I like you just the way you are.”
Rogers attended Greater Latrobe Senior High School, where he excelled in his studies and was president of the student body. Following his graduation in 1946, he went on to attend Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, studying romantic languages for a year before switching to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where he majored in music composition. It was during his senior year in this institution that Rogers watched television for the first time. Appalled by what was labeled as a children’s program—people throwing pies in each other’s faces and slapstick humor—he became determined to use the medium to help children, whom he felt needed and deserved better. Thus, after graduating magna cum laude in 1951, Rogers began to pursue a career in the rapidly growing television industry.
Career as TV Host
Armed with a sense of purpose, Rogers’s career in television began in New York City in 1951, a time in which the medium was just beginning to emerge. He first was a floor manager for the music programs at NBC TV Network. Two years later, however, he moved to Pittsburgh to work at the nascent television station WQED. He became writer, coproducer, and puppeteer of The Children’s Corner, a live, weekday afternoon program that ran from 1955 to 1961.
Understanding the influence of television and intending to gain knowledge on how to help children through this platform, Rogers began to attend Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1955. He studied under the mentorship of prominent child psychologists, including Margaret McFarland. He was ordained a minister of the United Presbyterian Church in 1963.
In 1963, Rogers left the behind-the-scenes television work to make his on-camera debut on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto, Ontario. He had been contacted by the network not only to produce but also host a fifteen-minute, black-and-white daily children’s program called Misterogers. By the mid-1960s the program had increased its duration to thirty minutes. In 1966, however, Rogers moved back to Pittsburgh. Intending to create a new version of Misterogers, he set out to secure funding for a children’s show. Although this newly created program bounced from network to network at first, it was eventually picked up by NET, an educational broadcast television network later succeeded by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
The first episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood premiered on February 19, 1968, on NET. The show—which would air consistently until August 3, 2001—focused on education as its foundation. Combining puppets, songs, and other creative elements, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood featured a variety of entertaining characters—including Mr. McFeely, the delivery man, and Handyman Negri, the neighborhood handyman—that added freshness to the program. What made the show special, however, was how Rogers, the host and main puppeteer, treated his young audience. He always talked to them in a respectful, caring manner, and took on many different topics, from having a newborn in the house to getting a new haircut to how to deal with divorce and racism.
During its run, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood received many awards and honors, including four daytime Emmys, as well as a National Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Moreover, Rogers was inducted into TV Hall of Fame in March 1999.
On February 27, 2003, Rogers died after a short battle with stomach cancer. He was seventy-four.
Impact
From the moment Rogers watched a children’s program on television he became determined to use the influence of the medium to make a positive impact on the lives of young viewers, and many critics suggest that he succeeded. In the thirty-one seasons of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Rogers’s caring nature and welcoming manner became the key characteristics of a beloved role model who inspired countless young children over the years. Making children feel loved and giving them a sense of security, Rogers found the right resources to educate them about difficult topics, including divorce, depression, and racism.
More than fifty years after the premiere of the first episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Rogers’s impact endures. Multiple documentaries and films about him—including Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (2018) and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019), starring Tom Hanks—have chronicled the life of the man who changed children’s television forever.
Personal Life
In 1952, Rogers married Joanne Byrd, an accomplished pianist, whom he met while studying at Rollins College. The couple had two children: James, born in 1959, and John, born in 1961. Rogers’s hobbies included reading, swimming, and listening to classical music.
Bibliography
“15 Facts You Didn’t Know about Mister Rogers, Including the Real Reason He Changed into Sneakers for Every Episode.” Parade, 15 Nov. 2019, parade.com/952259/parade/mister-rogers-trivia. Accessed 10 Feb. 2020.
Andrew, Scottie. “8 Things to Know about Mister Rogers from the Story that Inspired the Tom Hanks Movie.” CNN, 24 Nov. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/11/24/entertainment/mister-rogers-movie-8-things-to-know-trnd/index.html. Accessed 10 Feb. 2020.
Estrada, Louie. “Children’s TV Icon Fred Rogers Dies at 74.” The Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2003, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/02/28/childrens-tv-icon-fred-rogers-dies-at-74/8f5b9796-3588-42cf-aa84-45daec1f0583. Accessed 10 Feb. 2020.
Lewis, Daniel. “Mister Rogers, TV’s Friend for Children, Is Dead at 74.” The New York Times, 28 Feb. 2003, www.nytimes.com/2003/02/28/arts/mister-rogers-tv-s-friend-for-children-is-dead-at-74.html. Accessed 10 Feb. 2020.
Murphy Paul, Anna. “Fred Rogers, Understated Champion of Radical Kindness.” Review of The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers, by Maxwell King. The Washington Post, 2 Nov. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/fred-rogers-understated-champion-of-radical-kindness/2018/11/02/97e784c4-cb27-11e8-920f-dd52e1ae4570‗story.html. Accessed 10 Feb. 2020.
Woo, Elaine. “It’s a Sad Day in This Neighborhood.” Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2003, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-feb-28-me-rogers28-story.html. Accessed 10 Feb. 2020.