Fred Rogers, who gently invited millions of children into his neighborhood as host of the public television show “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” for more than 30 years, died of stomach cancer early this morning. He was 74.
Rogers died at his Pittsburgh home. He had been diagnosed with the cancer sometime after the holidays.
“He was so genuinely kind, a great person” said Rev. Donald Lash of Greensburg, who went to seminary with Rogers in the 1960s in Pittsburgh.
It was my father who brought Mr. Rogers into our home on television and I passed it on to my son when he was 3-years-old. From 1968 to 2000, Rogers, an ordained Presbyterian minister, produced the show at Pittsburgh public television station WQED. His final new episode, was taped in December 2000, aired in August 2001, though PBS affiliates continued to air back episodes.
Rogers composed his own songs for the show and began each episode singing “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood” while donning sneakers and a zip-up cardigan sweater. And of course I always sang along.
His television message remained simple: telling viewers to love themselves and others.
On each show, he would take his audience on a magical trolley ride through the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, where his puppet creations would interact with each other and adults. Rogers did much of the puppet work himself and created the characters of King Friday the XIII, Daniel the Striped Tiger and the curious X the Owl.
Rogers taught all of us how to share, deal with anger, and even why we shouldn’t fear the bathtub by assuring us that we’ll never go down the drain. And even during the Persian Gulf War, he told youngsters that all children will be taken care of in this neighborhood and beyond.
Rogers came out of broadcast retirement last year to record four public service announcements for the Public Broadcasting Service to show parents how to help their children deal with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Mr. Rogers Neighborhood won four Emmy Awards, plus one for lifetime achievement. The show’s ratings peaked in 1985-86 when about eight percent of all United States households with televisions tuned in. By the 1999-2000 season, viewership had dropped to about 2.7 percent or 3.6 million people.
As other childrens’ programming opted for slick action cartoons, Rogers stayed the course with the same soothing messages.
Born in Latrobe, Westmoreland County, he was ordained as a minister in 1962 with a charge to continue his work with children and families through television. He studied early childhood development at the University of Pittsburgh graduate school and consulted for decades with Dr. Margaret McFarland, another expert at the university.
Having met him several times, Rogers was much like his television persona. He enjoyed swimming, reading and listening to Beethoven. He once volunteered at a state prison and set up a playroom for children visiting their parents.
Even as an adult I enjoyed going through his make believe neighborhood at Idlewild Park in Ligonier just last summer. He will be missed by all of us that grew up watching him and our children as well.
He is survived by his wife Joan, a concert pianist, two sons and two grandsons.
Fred Rogers timeline
— March 20, 1928: Fred Rogers born in Latrobe, Pa.
— 1954: Rogers introduces “The Children’s Corner,” a children’s show in Pittsburgh where he works as an unseen puppeteer.
— 1963: Rogers accepts offer to develop his own 15-minute show, “Misterogers,” for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
— 1968: National Educational Television, which later becomes Public Broadcasting Service, begins distributing the show, by then called “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”
— 1985-86: Ratings peak for “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” as 8 percent of all U.S. households tune in.
— 1991: During the Persian Gulf War, Rogers tells youngsters, “All children shall be well taken care of in this neighborhood and beyond — in times of war and in times of peace,” and asks parents to promise their children they will always be safe.
— 1993: At a ceremony marking the show’s 25th anniversary, Rogers says, “It’s not the honors and not the titles and not the power that is of ultimate importance. It’s what resides inside.”
— December 2000: Rogers tapes the show’s final episode.
— August 2001: Final episode airs.
— September 2002: Rogers comes out of broadcasting retirement to record public service announcements telling parents how to help their children deal with the Sept. 11 attacks anniversary.
— Feb. 27, 2003: Rogers dies of stomach cancer.
