From
http://www.salon.com/ent/wire/2003/0...ers/index.html
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By TODD SPANGLER
Feb. 27, 2003 _|_ PITTSBURGH (AP) --
Fred Rogers, who gently invited millions of children to be his neighbor as host of the public television show "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" for more than 30 years, died of cancer early Thursday. He was 74.
Rogers died at his Pittsburgh home, said family spokesman David Newell, who played Mr. McFeely on the show. Rogers had been diagnosed with stomach cancer sometime after the holidays, Newell said.
"He was so genuinely, genuinely kind, a wonderful person," Newell said. "His mission was to work with families and children for television. ... That was his passion, his mission, and he did it from day one."
From 1968 to 2000, Rogers, an ordained Presbyterian minister, produced the show at Pittsburgh public television station WQED. The final new episode, which was taped in December 2000, aired in August 2001, though PBS affiliates continued to air back episodes.
Rogers composed his own songs for the show and began each episode in a set made to look like a comfortable living room, singing "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood," as he donned sneakers and a zip-up cardigan.
"I have really never considered myself a TV star," Rogers said in a 1995 interview. "I always thought I was a neighbor who just came in for a visit."
His message remained simple: telling his viewers to love themselves and others. On each show, he would take his audience on a magical trolley ride into the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, where his puppet creations would interact with each other and adults.
Rogers did much of the puppet work and voices himself. He also studied early childhood development at the University of Pittsburgh and consulted with an expert there over the years.
"He was certainly a perfectionist. There was a lot more to Fred than I think many of us saw," said Joe Negri, a guitarist who on the show played the royal handyman in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe and owner of "Negri's Music Shop."
Negri said Rogers refused to accept shoddy ad-libbing by guests who may have thought they could slack off during a kid's show.
But Rogers could also enjoy taping as if he were a child himself, Negri recalled. Once, he said, the two of them fell into laughter because of the difficulty they had putting up a tent on the show.
Rogers taught children how to share, deal with anger and even why they shouldn't fear the bathtub by assuring them they'll never go down the drain.
During the Persian Gulf War, Rogers told youngsters that "all children shall be well taken care of in this neighborhood and beyond - in times of war and in times of peace," and he asked parents to promise their children they would always be safe.
"Mister Rogers" dies of cancer at 74
Mr Rogers
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