Fred Rogers

Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) was an American television personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was known as the creator, composer, producer, head writer, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968–2001). The program was marked by its slow pace and its host's quiet manner. He was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and had a difficult childhood in which he was isolated and bullied.
After earning a bachelor's degree in music from Rollins College in 1951, Rogers began working in television, initially at NBC in New York. He returned to Pittsburgh in 1953 to work for children's programming at NET (later PBS) television station WQED. He graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963, and attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began his 30-year long collaboration with child psychologist Margaret McFarland. Rogers worked off-camera helping produce the children's show The Children's Hour, and then in 1963, worked on the 15-minute, black-and-white Canadian children's show Misterogers, where he developed many of the characters, props, and sets he used later. In 1968 he returned to Pittsburgh to produce Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran for almost 900 episodes, until 2001. The program emphasized the child's developing psyche, feelings, sense of moral and ethical reasoning, civility, tolerance, sharing, and self-worth. Difficult topics such as the death of a family pet, sibling rivalry, the addition of a newborn into families, moving and enrolling in a new school, and divorce were also addressed.
Rogers died on February 27, 2003 of stomach cancer. His work in children's television has been widely lauded, and he received over 40 honorary degrees and several awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002 and a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999. Rogers influenced many writers and producers of children's television shows, and served as a source of comfort during tragic events, even decades after his death.
Category:Celebrities