Wikipedia:Very good articles/Fred Rogers
Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) was an American television personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, producer, head writer, and host of the children's television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood from 1968 until he retired in 2001. He was also the music composer for the program.
Rogers was not happy with the television shows that children were seeing. He began to write and perform local Pittsburgh-area shows for children. In 1968, Eastern Educational Television Network began distributing Rogers's new show across the United States on WQED. For thirty years, Rogers became a television icon of children's entertainment and education.
Rogers supported many public causes. In the Betamax case, the U.S. Supreme Court used what Rogers said before a lower court to support fair use television recording. Rogers also spoke before a U.S. Senate committee to support government money for children's television.
In August 2001, Rogers retired from recording Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. In October 2002, doctors told him he had stomach cancer. He died from the disease a few months later on February 27, 2003. He was 74 years old.