|
The Reverend Frederick McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) was an American educator, minister and television host. Rogers was the host of the internationally acclaimed children's television show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, in production from 1968 to 2001. As Mister Rogers, he became an iconic presence to millions of viewers. Rogers was also an ordained Presbyterian minister. Throughout his life, he was a tireless advocate for the education and welfare of children. Personal life Rogers was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a town located 40 miles (65 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. He was born to James and Nancy Rogers; he spent many years as an only child, which shaped his creativity and imagination. He spent much of his free time as a child with his grandfather, Fred McFeely, and had an interest in puppetry and in music. When Rogers was 11, his parents adopted a daughter, Elaine. His parents also acted as foster parents to a black teenager named George; George's mother had died, and he came to live with the Rogers family. Rogers eventually came to consider George his older brother. George later became an instructor for the Tuskegee Airmen of World War Two and also taught Rogers to fly. * Following secondary school, he studied at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire between 1946 and 1948 before transferring to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He received a BA in music composition there in 1951. At Rollins, Rogers met his wife, Sara Joanne Byrd; they had two sons, James (born in 1959) and John (born in 1961). Television career Rogers had a life-changing moment when he first saw television in his parents' home. He had planned to enter seminary after college, but had been diverted into television after his first experience as a viewer; he wanted to explore what the medium was capable of. In 1954, he began working at WQED, a Pittsburgh public television station, as a puppeteer on a local children's television series, The Children's Corner. For the next seven years, he worked with host Josie Carey in unscripted live TV, and developed many of the puppets, characters and music used in his later work, such as King Friday the XIII, and Curious X the Owl. He was also the voices behind King Friday XIII and Queen Sara Saturday (named after his wife), rulers of the neighborhood, as well as X the Owl, Henrietta Pussycat, Daniel the Striped Tiger, Lady Elaine Fairchild (named for Fred's sister, Elaine) and Donkey Hodie. The show won a Sylvania Award for best children's show, and was briefly broadcast nationally on NBC. For eight years during this period, he would leave the WQED studios during his lunch breaks to study theology at the nearby Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Rogers, however, was not interested in preaching, and after his ordination as a Presbyterian minister in 1962, he was specifically charged to continue his work with children's TV. He had also done work at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development. In 1963, Rogers moved to Toronto, where he was contracted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to develop a 15 minute children's television program: MisteRogers, which would be his debut in front of the camera. The show was a hit with children, but only lasted for three seasons on the network. Many of his famous set pieces, such as the trolley, Eiffel Tower, the 'tree', and 'castle' were all created by designers at the CBC. While on production in Canada, Rogers brought with him his friend and understudy, Ernie Coombs, who would go on to create "Mr. Dressup," a very successful and long running children's show in Canada which, in many ways, was similar to "Mister Roger's Neighborhood." Mr. Dressup had also used some of the songs that would later go on Rogers' later program. In 1966, Rogers acquired the rights for his program from the CBC, and moved the show to WQED in Pittsburgh, where he had worked on The Children's Corner. He developed the new show for the Eastern Educational Network. Stations which carried the program were limited; they included educational stations in Boston, Washington, DC and New York City. Distribution of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood began on February 19 1968. The following year, the show moved to PBS (Public Broadcasting System). In 1971, Rogers formed Family Communications, Inc. (FCI), and the company established offices in the WQED building in Pittsburgh. Initially, the company served solely as the production arm of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, but now develops and produces an array of children's programming and educational materials. Overview of Mister Rogers Neighborhood
Emmys for programming Mister Rogers' Neighborhood won four Emmy awards, including one for lifetime achievement. During the 1998 Daytime Emmys, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Rogers. The following is an excerpt from Esquire Magazine's coverage of the gala, written by Tom Junod: "...Mister Rogers went onstage to accept the award -- and there, in front of all the soap opera stars and talk show sinceratrons, in front of all the jutting man-tanned jaws and jutting saltwater bosoms, he made his small bow and said into the microphone, 'All of us have special ones who have loved us into being. Would you just take, along with me, ten seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are. Ten seconds of silence.' "And then he lifted his wrist, looked at the audience, looked at his watch, and said, 'I'll watch the time.' There was, at first, a small whoop from the crowd, a giddy, strangled hiccup of laughter, as people realized that he wasn't kidding, that Mister Rogers was not some convenient eunuch, but rather a man, an authority figure who actually expected them to do what he asked. And so they did. One second, two seconds, three seconds -- and now the jaws clenched, and the bosoms heaved, and the mascara ran, and the tears fell upon the beglittered gathering like rain leaking down a crystal chandelier. And Mister Rogers finally looked up from his watch and said softly, 'May God be with you,' to all his vanquished children." Rogers is quoted as saying, "I got into television because I hated it so. And I thought there was some way of using this fabulous instrument to be of nurture to those who would watch and listen." Mister Rogers and the VCR During the controversy surrounding the introduction of the household VCR, Rogers was involved in supporting the manufacturers of VCRs in court. His 1979 testimony in the case Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. noted that he did not object to home recording of his television programs, for instance, by families in order to watch together at a later time. This testimony contrasted with the views of others in the television industry who objected to home recording or believed that devices to facilitate it should be taxed or regulated. The Supreme Court considered the testimony of Rogers in its decision that held that the Betamax video recorder did not infringe copyright. The Court stated that his views were a notable piece of evidence "that many television producers are willing to allow private time-shifting to continue;" it even quoted his testimony in a footnote: The Home Recording Rights Coalition later stated that Rogers was "one of the most prominent witnesses on this issue." Rogers had been a supporter of VCR use since the very early days of the VCR -- in his final week of episodes of the original run in 1976, Rogers used a U-Matic VCR to show scenes from past episodes, as a way to prepare viewers for repeats that would begin the following week. Mister Rogers and PBS funding In 1969, Rogers appeared before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. His goal was to support funding for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in response to significant proposed cuts. In about five minutes of testimony, Rogers spoke of the need for social and emotional education that public television provided. He passionately argued that alternative television programming like his Neighborhood helped encourage children to become happy and productive citizens, sometimes opposing less positive messages in media and in popular culture. He even recited the lyrics to one of his songs. The chairman of the subcommittee, John O. Pastore, was not previously familiar with Rogers' work, and was sometimes described as gruff and impatient. However, he reported that the testimony had given him goosebumps, and declared, "Looks like you just earned the $20 million." The following congressional appropriation, for 1971, increased PBS funding from $9 million to $22 million. * Speeches, memberships, awards, and other recognition Death and memorial After returning to Pittsburgh, Rogers attended and participated in activities at the Sixth Presbyterian church in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. He died from stomach cancer a short time after his retirement at the age of 74. Rev. William P. Barker presided over a public memorial, and attendees included Teresa Heinz Kerry, former "Good Morning America" host David Hartman, Elsie Hillman, PBS President Pat Mitchell, Arthur creator Marc Brown, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar author-illustrator Eric Carle, as well as about 2,700 other people stuffed into a near-capacity Heinz Hall. Speakers remembered Rogers' love of children, devotion to God, enthusiasm for music, and quirks. Teresa Heinz Kerry said of Rogers, "He never condescended, just invited us into his conversation. He spoke to us as the people we were, not as the people others wished we were." Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, on a concert tour overseas, played on video, and violinist Itzhak Perlman played in person. Outside the hall, about a half-dozen demonstrators from Fred Phelps' anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas protested Rogers' failure to condemn homosexuality, and his teachings about tolerance and acceptance. About 150 supporters of Mr. Rogers from gay rights and peace groups marched in counter-protest, singing songs from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.* Fred Rogers' remains are entombed in a family crypt in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Fred Rogers and his legacy Pittsburgh Magazine dedicated their April 2003 issue to commemorate Rogers' life and mourn his passing. Included in the mazagine is a table of information that measures the impact Rogers had. Among the items cited: Urban legends Fred Rogers has been the subject of a few urban legends. Among the urban legends and rumors about Rogers: Rumors to this effect have been completely discounted as being false on urban legend verification websites. Not only is military service not mentioned in any biographies about him, but there wasn't a period of time, unaccounted for, where he could have been involved in war efforts. During most of the Vietnam conflict, he was fully dedicated to his television show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and before that, around the start of Vietnam, he was living and working in Canada, and was working on getting rights for his show and moving it to Pittsburgh. | |||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
 |
|
| |