Fred Rogers is one of the best known American television personalities. His life and career was made into a documentary and a feature film.
So let’s find out some more trivia and facts about his life and contribution.
- His full name is Fred McFeely Rogers
- He was born on March 20, 1928
- He died on February 27, 2003
- He was an American television personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, producer, and Presbyterian minister
- He was known as the creator, showrunner and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
- It ran from 1968 to 2001
- He was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh
- Fred Rogers earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Rollins College in 1951
- He began his television career in 1951 at NBC in New York
- He returned to Pittsburgh in 1953 to work for children’s programming at NET (later PBS) television station WQED
- After graduating from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, he became a Presbyterian minister in 1963
- He attended the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Child Development
- There he began his 30-year long collaboration with child psychologist Margaret McFarland
- He also helped develop the children’s shows The Children’s Corner (1955) and Misterogers (1963)
- In 1968 he created Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which ran for 33 years
- The program was critically acclaimed for focusing on children’s emotional and physical concerns, such as death, sibling rivalry, school enrollment, and divorce
- Rogers died of stomach cancer on February 27, 2003
- He was 74
- His work in children’s television has been widely lauded
- 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
- His broadcasts, with their gentle nature, have served as a source of comfort during tragic events, even after his death
- Rogers was born on March 20, 1928, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles (64 km) outside of Pittsburgh, at 705 Main Street
- His parents were James and Nancy Rogers
- James was “a very successful businessman”, who was president of the McFeely Brick Company, one of Latrobe’s largest businesses
- Nancy’s father, Fred Brooks McFeely, after whom Rogers was named, was an entrepreneur
- Nancy knitted sweaters for American soldiers from western Pennsylvania who were fighting in Europe and regularly volunteered at the Latrobe Hospital
- Initially dreaming of becoming a doctor, she settled for a life of hospital volunteer work
- Rogers grew up in a three-story brick mansion at 737 Weldon Street in Latrobe
- He had a sister, Elaine
- The Rogerses adopted when he was 11 years old
- Rogers spent much of his childhood alone, playing with puppets, and also spent time with his grandfather
- He began to play the piano when he was five years old
- Through an ancestor from Schöneck, Hesse, Germany, Johannes Meffert (1732–1795), later Johannes Mefford, Rogers is the sixth cousin of American actor Tom Hanks
- Tom Hanks portrays him in the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)
- Rogers had a difficult childhood
- He was shy, introverted, and overweight, and was frequently homebound after suffering bouts of asthma
- He was bullied and taunted as a child for his weight, and called “Fat Freddy”
- Rogers attended Latrobe High School, where he overcame his shyness
- Rogers served as president of the student council, was a member of the National Honor Society and was editor-in-chief of the school yearbook
- He attended Dartmouth College for one year before transferring to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida
- He graduated magna cum laude in 1951 with a degree in music composition
- Rogers graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
- He was ordained a minister of the United Presbyterian Church in 1963
- Rogers met Sara Joanne Byrd (called “Joanne”) from Jacksonville, Florida, while attending Rollins College
- They were married in 1952 and remained so for 50 years
- Until his death in 2003
- They had two sons, James and John
Got anything to add?