Fred Rogers

The Reverend Fred Rogers
Rogers in 1982
Born	Fred McFeely Rogers (1928-03-20)March 20, 1928 Latrobe, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	February 27, 2003(2003-02-27) (aged 74) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting place	Unity Cemetery, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other names	Mister Rogers
Education	Dartmouth College Rollins College (BM) Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (BDiv)
Occupations	Children's television presenter actor puppeteer singer composer television producer author educator Presbyterian minister
Years active	1951–2003
Spouse	Joanne Byrd ​ (m. 1952)​
Children	2
Awards	Presidential Medal of Freedom (2002)
Pennsylvania Historical Marker
Official name	Fred McFeely Rogers (1928–2003)
Type	Roadside
Designated	June 11, 2016
Signature

Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), better known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister.^[1] 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, Rogers earned a bachelor's degree in music from Rollins College in 1951. He began his television career at NBC in New York City, returning to Pittsburgh in 1953 to work for children's programming at NET (later PBS) television station WQED. He graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with a bachelor's degree in divinity in 1962 and became a Presbyterian minister in 1963. He attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began his thirty-year collaboration with child psychologist Margaret McFarland. He also helped develop the children's shows The Children's 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 children's emotional and physical concerns, such as death, sibling rivalry, school enrollment, and divorce.

Rogers died of stomach cancer in 2003, aged 74. His work in children's television has been widely lauded, and he received more than forty honorary degrees and several awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999. Rogers influenced many writers and producers of children's television shows, and his broadcasts provided comfort during tragic events, even after his death.