Fred Rogers was the host of the popular long-running public television children's show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. The show debuted in Pittsburgh in 1967 and was picked up by PBS the next year, becoming a staple of public TV stations around the United States. Rogers' mild manner, cardigan sweaters and soft speaking voice made him both widely beloved and widely parodied. Rogers ended production of the show in 2001, but reruns of the show continued to be aired on many PBS stations. He died in 2003 after a short battle with stomach cancer.


Inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999. Ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963. Received two George Foster Peabody Awards. Three grandsons, born in 1988,1993, and 2003. Graduate of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, USA. Was a contemporary of actor Anthony Perkins. An only child until the age of 11 when his sister was born. Records: Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 1967; Let's Be Together Today, 1968; Josephine, The Short-Necked Giraffe, 1963; You Are Special 1969; A Place of Our Own, 1970; Bedtime, 1992; Growing, 1992 Received a "Pennsylvania Founder's Award" in June 1999 for his "lifelong contribution to the Commonwealth in the spirit of Pennsylvania's founder, William Penn." Named for his maternal grandfather, Frederick McFeeley. Years later, he named a character Mr. McFeely after his grandfather. Rogers' gentle manner was the butt of some comedian's jokes. Eddie Murphy parodied him on "Saturday Night Live" (1975) in the 1980s with his "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood," a routine Rogers found funny and affectionate. May 2003: asteroid no. 26858 was named Misterrogers after him. His signature red sweater is on display at the Smithsonian Institute Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., having been a gift from Mister Rogers in 1984. Bette Midler paid tribute to him in her 2003-2004 tour, "Kiss My Brass." Footage of Fred Rogers was shown singing "I Like to Be Told," in which Midler sang along. She also sported a red cardigan sweater. When Mister Rogers came on TV singing his song, many children who actually lived on his street used to yell at their televisions, "But you ARE our neighbor!" After his death, a star was named after him. Named Celebrity Captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the National Hockey League's 75th Anniversary celebration in the 1991-92 season. His only television or film appearance as a character other than himself was as Reverend Thomas on the "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: Deal with the Devil (#4.19)" (1996). Color-blind.