Biography for
Fred Rogers (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

20 March 1928, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, USA

Date of Death

27 February 2003, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA (stomach cancer)

Birth Name

Fred McFeely Rogers

Nickname

Mr. Rogers

Height

6' (1.83 m)

Mini Biography

Fred Rogers was the host of the popular long-running public television children's show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. The show debuted in Pittsburgh in 1967 and was picked up by PBS the next year, becoming a staple of public TV stations around the United States. Rogers' mild manner, cardigan sweaters and soft speaking voice made him both widely beloved and widely parodied. Rogers ended production of the show in 2001, but reruns of the show continued to be aired on many PBS stations. He died in 2003 after a short battle with stomach cancer.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Spouse

Joanne Rogers

(9 July 1952 - 27 February 2003) (his death) 2 children

Trade Mark

Cardigan sweaters (many made by his mother)

Trivia

Inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999.

From its premiere on February 19, 1968 until its end on August 31, 2001, 895 episodes of "MisteRogers' Neighborhood (1968) were produced. All of which he wrote and executive produced.

Ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963.

Received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences as well as the TV Critics Association.

Received two George Foster Peabody Awards.

Rogers was appointed Chairman of the Forum on Mass Media and Child Development of the White House Conference on Youth in 1968.

Three grandsons, born in 1988,1993, and 2003.

Grand marshal, Tournament of Roses parade [2003]

Graduate of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, USA. Was a contemporary of actor Anthony Perkins.

He earned his divinity degree from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1962. The Presbyterian church ordained him and charged him with a special mission: in effect, to keep on doing what he was doing on television.

An only child until the age of 11 when his sister was born.

Books: Mister Rogers Talks with Parents, 1983; The New Baby (Mister Rogers' First Experiences Books), 1985; Making Friends (Mister Rogers' First Experiences Books), 1987; Mister Rogers: How Families Grow, 1988; You Are Special, 1994.

Records: Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 1967; Let's Be Together Today, 1968; Josephine, The Short-Necked Giraffe, 1963; You Are Special 1969; A Place of Our Own, 1970; Bedtime, 1992; Growing, 1992

Father of Jim Rogers and John Rogers.

Received a "Pennsylvania Founder's Award" in June 1999 for his "lifelong contribution to the Commonwealth in the spirit of Pennsylvania's founder, William Penn."

Wife Sara Joanne Byrd was his college sweetheart

Named for his maternal grandfather, Frederick McFeeley. Years later, he named a character Mr. McFeely after his grandfather.

After Burger King used an actor impersonating Mister Rogers for a TV commercial, ("Can you say Flame Broiled? I knew you could.") Fred Rogers called a press conference, shaming the company for "confusing innocent children" into thinking he was promoting their fast food franchises. Rogers never did any commercial promotions of any kind. Burger King openly apologized, and the commercial was pulled.

Rogers' gentle manner was the butt of some comedian's jokes. Eddie Murphy parodied him on "Saturday Night Live" (1975) in the 1980s with his "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood," a routine Rogers found funny and affectionate.

Was a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national music fraternity.

May 2003: asteroid no. 26858 was named Misterrogers after him.

305 of the 895 episodes of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" still air today as reruns.

His signature red sweater is on display at the Smithsonian Institute Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., having been a gift from Mister Rogers in 1984.

He earned a Bachelor's degree in Music Composition, and wrote most of the music performed on his show.

Bette Midler paid tribute to him in her 2003-2004 tour, "Kiss My Brass." Footage of Fred Rogers was shown singing "I Like to Be Told," in which Midler sang along. She also sported a red cardigan sweater.

During Halloween, the Rogers family always gave out sugar-free candies to local trick-or-treaters.

When Mister Rogers came on TV singing his song, many children who actually lived on his street used to yell at their televisions, "But you ARE our neighbor!"

Johnny Carson once did a parody skit on The Tonight Show, "Mister Rambo's Neighborhood". When Fred Rogers complained, Carson publicly apologized.

After his death, a star was named after him.

On July 9, 2002, President George W. Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.

Named Celebrity Captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the National Hockey League's 75th Anniversary celebration in the 1991-92 season.

A large, black-and-white photo of him hangs in the bar Frank Drebin walks in on "Naked Gun 2 1/2" (1991).

His only television or film appearance as a character other than himself was as Reverend Thomas on the "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: Deal with the Devil (#4.19)" (1996).

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 473-475. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.

Color-blind.

Personal Quotes

"I think people who produce and perform on programs for children should have as a prerequisite some sort of course to understand their audience. You wouldn't put a newsman on the air who didn't know how to pronounce Vietnam. But we give millions of dollars to these people who are producing cartoons and they have no earthly idea of what they're doing to a kid."

"I got into television because I hated it so. And I thought there's some way of using this fabulous instrument to nurture those who would watch and listen."

"We have to remember to whom the airwaves belong, and we must put as great an emphasis on the nurturing of the human personality as we can." "I believe that those of us who are the producers and purveyors of television -- or video games or newspapers or any mass media -- I believe that we are the servants of this nation."

"You know you don't have to be an actor when you read a book to a child. All you need is to simply love what you're reading. Even just enjoying the pictures together is a great start. When you share a book with a child, you're saying to them that books are important. That's a gift that can nurture them all through their lives."

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