Fred Rogers

Fred McFeely Rogers March 20 1928 February 27 2003 commonly known as Mister Rogers was an American television host author producer and Presbyterian minister He was the creator showrunner and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers Neighborhood which ran from 1968 to 2001 Born in Latrobe Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh Rogers earned a bachelors degree in music from Rollins College in 1951 He began his television career at NBC in New York returning to Pittsburgh in 1953 to work for childrens programming at NET later PBS television station WQED He graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with a bachelors degree in divinity in 1962 and became a Presbyterian minister in 1963 He attended the University of Pittsburghs Graduate School of Child Development where he began his 30year collaboration with child psychologist Margaret McFarland He also helped develop the childrens shows The Childrens Corner 1955 for WQED in Pittsburgh and Misterogers 1963 in Canada for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation In 1968 he returned to Pittsburgh and adapted the format of his Canadian series to create Mister Rogers Neighborhood It ran for 33 years and was critically acclaimed for focusing on childrens emotional and physical concerns such as death sibling rivalry school enrollment and divorce Rogers died of stomach cancer on February 27 2003 3 weeks before the age of 75 His work in childrens television has been widely lauded and he received more than 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 childrens television shows and his broadcasts have served as a source of comfort during tragic events even after his death