Pittsburgh (REUTERS) — Fred Rogers, who became a nurturing “television friend” to a generation of children as host of the public television series “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” died of cancer Thursday at the age of 74, his producer said.
An ordained Presbyterian minister who believed television should be used to nourish the human spirit, Rogers died before dawn at his home in Pittsburgh. He had been diagnosed with stomach cancer.
Rogers began his half-century career in children’s television in the 1950s by doing puppet voices for the “The Children’s Corner,” a local show on Pittsburgh PBS affiliate WQED, the first community-owned television station in the United States, which he helped found.
He became a national personality in 1968 when WQED-produced “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” entered national distribution for the Public Broadcasting System.
The series, which released its last new episode 34 years later in August 2001, continues as a popular rerun. It is the longest-running children’s program on PBS, which also airs “Sesame Street” and other shows for young audiences.
Each episode opened with the gentle, soft-spoken Mr. Rogers entering a comfortable living room, singing the theme song “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood,” and donning a zippered cardigan sweater and a pair of sneakers.
One of his sweaters is now at the Smithsonian Institution.
Far from the often garish and dissonant atmosphere of children’s commercial programming, “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” employed a gentle and soothing format that featured Rogers’ own songs and puppet voices, and the recurring motto: “There’s only one person in the whole world like you.”
Over the years, his guests included such names as Yo-Yo Ma and Wynton Marsalis.
“The general message of the neighborhood is that the truth is best,” Rogers, who described himself as his young viewers’ “television friend,” told Reuters in an interview around the time the last episode aired.
NEIGHBORHOOD OF MAKE-BELIEVE
The centerpiece of the show was the “Neighborhood of Make-Believe,” which was filled with real-life people as well as puppet characters including Daniel Striped Tiger, King Friday XIII and Lady Elaine Fairchilde.
Some TV industry figures mocked Rogers as a wimp who employed a somewhat hick-like style that included slow speech and the sunny trademark exclamation: “Hi, neighbor!”
But friends and colleagues say Rogers had a truly humble demeanor and never showed signs of becoming an off-camera tyrant or adopting a tongue-in-cheek approach to his audience.
“If we can share ourselves with our kids in ways that aren’t frightening to them, that’s the greatest gift we can give anyone — the gift of an honest self,” said Rogers, who is credited with having inspired other gentle children’s shows including “Blues Clues” and “Barney.”
Rogers’ programs also tackled important subjects for children, including death, divorce and violence, including the real-life violence on TV news.
During the Gulf crisis of more than a decade ago, Rogers made a public service announcement in which he advised parents: “Children aren’t responsible for wars. The least, and the best, we adults can do is to let our children know that we’ll take good care of them, no matter what.”
He received two Peabody Awards, four Emmys, a “Lifetime Achievement” award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Characteristically, the website of his production company, Family Communications Inc., www.misterrogers.org, posted the announcement of his death alongside advice on how to relay the sad news to children who are likely to continue to see him on TV for years to come.
“Children have always known Mr. Rogers as their ‘television friend,’ and that relationship doesn’t change with his death,” the message said.
Born in Latrobe, Penn., he studied early child development at the University of Pittsburgh and received a charge to continue his work with families and children through television when he was ordained a minister.
Rogers is survived by his wife, Joanne, their two sons and two grandsons.