Fred Rogers trivia: 50 facts about the television personality

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.

1. His full name is Fred McFeely Rogers
2. He was born on March 20, 1928
3. He died on February 27, 2003
4. He was an American television personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, producer, and Presbyterian minister
5. He was known as the creator, showrunner and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
6. It ran from 1968 to 2001
7. He was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh
8. Fred Rogers earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Rollins College in 1951
9. He began his television career in 1951 at NBC in New York
10. He returned to Pittsburgh in 1953 to work for children’s programming at NET (later PBS) television station WQED
11. After graduating from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, he became a Presbyterian minister in 1963
12. He attended the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Child Development
13. There he began his 30-year long collaboration with child psychologist Margaret McFarland
14. He also helped develop the children’s shows The Children’s Corner (1955) and Misterogers (1963)
15. In 1968 he created Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which ran for 33 years
16. The program was critically acclaimed for focusing on children’s emotional and physical concerns, such as death, sibling rivalry, school enrollment, and divorce
17. Rogers died of stomach cancer on February 27, 2003
18. He was 74
19. His work in children’s television has been widely lauded
20. He received over 40 honorary degrees and several awards
21. Including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002 and a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997
22. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999
23. Rogers influenced many writers and producers of children’s television shows
24. His broadcasts, with their gentle nature, have served as a source of comfort during tragic events, even after his death
25. Rogers was born on March 20, 1928, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles (64 km) outside of Pittsburgh, at 705 Main Street
26. His parents were James and Nancy Rogers
27. James was “a very successful businessman”, who was president of the McFeely Brick Company, one of Latrobe’s largest businesses
28. Nancy’s father, Fred Brooks McFeely, after whom Rogers was named, was an entrepreneur
29. Nancy knitted sweaters for American soldiers from western Pennsylvania who were fighting in Europe and regularly volunteered at the Latrobe Hospital
30. Initially dreaming of becoming a doctor, she settled for a life of hospital volunteer work
31. Rogers grew up in a three-story brick mansion at 737 Weldon Street in Latrobe
32. He had a sister, Elaine
33. The Rogerses adopted when he was 11 years old
34. Rogers spent much of his childhood alone, playing with puppets, and also spent time with his grandfather
35. He began to play the piano when he was five years old
36. Through an ancestor from Schöneck, Hesse, Germany, Johannes Meffert (1732–1795), later Johannes Mefford, Rogers is the sixth cousin of American actor Tom Hanks
37. Tom Hanks portrays him in the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)
38. Rogers had a difficult childhood
39. He was shy, introverted, and overweight, and was frequently homebound after suffering bouts of asthma
40. He was bullied and taunted as a child for his weight, and called “Fat Freddy”
41. Rogers attended Latrobe High School, where he overcame his shyness
42. 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
43. He attended Dartmouth College for one year before transferring to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida
44. He graduated magna cum laude in 1951 with a degree in music composition
45. Rogers graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
46. He was ordained a minister of the United Presbyterian Church in 1963
47. Rogers met Sara Joanne Byrd (called “Joanne”) from Jacksonville, Florida, while attending Rollins College
48. They were married in 1952 and remained so for 50 years
49. Until his death in 2003
50. They had two sons, James and John