Page 10 The Behrend Beacon With the death of Fred Rogers, it's a sad day in the neighborhood Fred Rogers and his wife, Joanne by Hal Boedeker The Orlando Sentinel Pause for a moment today and remem ber all the people who have helped you along. Mister Rogers would like that. "No one of us gets to be a competent adult without other people taking an in terest in us, without loving us," he used to say. For more than 30 years, Fred Rogers helped millions of children and parents with the lessons of love, kindness and friendship he delivered on public television's "Mister Rogers' Neighbor hood." That sprawling and appreciative population now mourns him. Rogers died early Feb. 27 of cancer at his Pittsburgh home. He was 74. He had been diagnosed with stomach cancer shortly after the holidays, family spokes man David Newell said. Rogers niet his wife, Joanne, when they were both music majors at Rollins Col lege in Winter Park, Pb. In 1991, the col lege laid a stone in his honor in its Walk of Fame, right outside the house where he lived as a student. He called Rollins "a nurturing neigh borhood for me, just the right place to learn and grow. Some of the most endur ing friendships I have in this life began at Rollins." His death was the top story on morn ing news programs. "He created a safe place for kids on TV," said Harry Smith of CBS' "The Early Show." He is survived "by his wife, Joanne: PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS two sons, two grandsons and millions of grateful neighbors," Katie Couric said on NBC's "Today." Diane Sawyer of ABC's "Good Morn ing America" said she hoped the 900 epi sodes of his show would run forever and recalled the special treat of interviewing him. "When he'd come to the studio, he would end it always by hugging you, hug ging members of the crew and saying, 'Think about what you're doing today', to remind everybody this isn't just a job. It's your life you're creating," Sawyer said. It's a lesson that people in the television business would do well to ponder a day after the cheesiest ratings period ended. Flooding the airwaves were the sagas of a deluded pop star, a fake millionaire and pampered celebrities in the Australian jungle. The foolish programs catered to the low est common denominator, unlike the classy Rogers. But he wouldn't criticize others. That wasn't his style. Rather, the ordained Presbyterian min ister tried to reach the best in his audiences. During a 1997 awards ceremony in Los Angeles, he received a career achievement award from the nation's television critics. He followed a dirty joke by Drew Carey and several giddy acceptance speeches with a story about a monastery where the number of monks dwindled. The problem: Success replaced love. "I realize more and more that even if we do all the right things in television scripting and production and editing and , ... ~ . .„ ~ .. ~, , ,,...,:r-- 4 ~........; ~,,.. -r., , . 0:: , - 0 , ` , ."- . •,' '...,',...,,',*....-.. , , . ....„ . . • 1 t z...1:' 1 41, -'' .--- 47.t.i. Ak . .i ..; tt :. :',,..-.-. '4. . WIN k' ....`:.. .tv ,;....., r ,'• .§.111r: ri r„,---- , 4-,:t ~ 1 ., j :; , - . r . ..-,, :.-,-.. -,..... , Friday, March 7, 2003 promotion, even if we should deliver the perfect program that everybody in the world would see, if we don't have love for the people we're working with and the audiences we're working for, our whole industry will someday dwindle," Rogers told the audience. "Love and success, always in that order. It's that simple and that dif ficult." He followed that approach on his program, which was produced from 1968 to 2000 at WQED, the Pittsburgh public television station. The last first-run episode of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" was made in December 2000, but didn't air until Au gust 2001. He was much loved everywhere. His sweet singing of the show's theme ("it's a lovely day in this neighbor hood"), his cardigan sweater and his gentle voice delighted young viewers and reassured parents that there was an oasis of beauty in an increasingly coarse medium. "His legacy will be that he made millions of children feel safe and com forted in a time when so much of the bombardment of the media is over whelming," said Linda Ellerhee. The veteran newswoman, who has won acclaim for her Nick News programs, called Rogers a wonderful example. "For everything that we all agree is bad about television and children, he was the good of it," she said. "Nothing is as had as he was good." Audiences serenaded Rogers wherever he went. One of his sweaters hangs at the Smithsonian. Eddie Murphy spoofed him with "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood," a "Saturday Night Live" skit that Mister Rogers enjoyed. Beyond the trappings and fame, "Mis ter Rogers' Neighborhood" touched on se rious themes, from war to love to feelings. He was gratified to hear parents, who grew up with the program, say they were shar ing it with their children. "If those parents can, through watch ing again, recapture some of their own childhood, that's going to help them be in tune with their children and their growth," Rogers said in 1997. In later years, in appearances at the White House and the Daytime Emmy Awards, Rogers asked audiences to re member "the extra special people" who had helped them. He asked for a half minute of silence. "I'll watch the. time," he would say. People would laugh, then grow silent. Many would be in tears later. "Wherever they are, how pleased the people you've been thinking about must be," he said afterward. "My hunch is, that besides me, there are many others in this life who often think about you and all that you've done for them." Millions are pausing now for another reason: Thank you, Mister Rogers. Cu. T Miramax films dominate the Oscar nominations . by Terry Lawson Knight Ridder Newspapers "Chicago" was their kind of movie, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences proved it by showering a whopping 13 Oscar nominations on the movie version of Bob Fosse's musical. But the biggest winner at the 75th Acad emy Awards nominations was Harvey Weinstein. The chairman of Miramax not only shepherded "Chicago" through nearly 10 years of development but presided over the three-year public relations disaster that was "Gangs of New York," which repaid his bluster with If) nominations. As icing on his cake, Miramax has the overseas distribution rights to "The Hours," which received eight nomina tions, and it has a financial piece of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," which Miramax developed before turn ing it over to New Line. After a couple of years of being shuffled off to the Oscar sidelines with little but showy but empty candidates like "Chocolat," the man who virtually invented modern Oscar campaigning re minded the competition that this was how it was done. First, you produce great movies. Then you convince the 5,816 members of the academy that those mov ies were great with a barrage of adver- tising and hype. Miramax also pulled off a couple of minor coups by secur ing a best actress nomination for Salma Hayek in "Frida" and a supporting actress nomination for Queen Ladfah in "Chicago." Meryl Streep, who could have had nomi- nations in either of those categories for "The Hours," had to console herself with becoming the most nominated actress in Oscar history courtesy of her supporting ac tress nod for "Adapta tion." She now has 13 nominations, surpass ing Katharine Hepburn's 12. There were few Kona fide surprises in Tuesday's announce ments. save for the relatively poor show ing of "Lord of the Rings: The Two Tow ers." While the first in stallment of the tril ogy led the nomina tion tally last year with 13, the second in stallment earned only six for a film that both critics and audiences considered superior to the first. Director Peter Jackson suffered a ma jor snub by being shut out in the best di- Seats five, has 53 cubic feet of cargo space, and is available with 180 hp and a 6-speed manual shift. Even evolution can't fully explain it. ©2002 TOYOTA MOTOR SALES, U.S.A., INC BUCKLE UP! DO IT FOR THOSE WHO LOVE YOU. *MSRP INCLUDES DELIVERY, PROCESSING AND HANDLING FEE. EXCLUDES TAX, TITLE, LICENSE, OPTIONS AND REGIONALLY REQUIRED EQUIPMENT. ACTUAL DEALER PRICE MAY VARY. rector race. His spot was taken by Spain's Pedro Almodovar, whose "Talk to Her," unlike the films of the other directing nominees, was not nominated for best picture. (The Is-My-Face-Red award goes to this writer, who confidently predicted Monday that neither first-time director Rob Marshall of "Chicago" or convicted felon Roman Polanski, director of "The Pianist," would be recognized by the academy. Both were.) The film with the most nominations has won the hest picture category for 18 of the past 20 years, which bolsters the view that "Chicago" is essentially a lock to become the first musical to win best picture since "Oliver!" in 1968. Still, it is a long shot to win most of the other categories in which it was nominated, in cluding best song. Julianne Moore undoubtedly has mixed emotions. Yes, she became only the ninth actor ever to be nominated twice in one year, and the first ever to be nominated in two categories for two pic tures supporting actress for "The Hours" and best actress for "Far From !leaven." But she had to feel disappoint ment at the overall performance of "Far From Heaven." It failed to receive a best picture nomination or a best-director nomination for her friend Todd Haynes. And perhaps most grievously, her co star, Dennis Quaid, was overlooked for best supporting actor. Perhaps the acad- PHOTO COURTSEY OF KRT CAMPUS Miramax's "Chicago" swept the Oscar nomina tions this year with 13. cmy thought that nominating two straight men playing gay roles Ed Harris did make the cut for "The Hours" would just be tacky. Of course, any supporting actor debate is practically moot. Paul Newman, in "The Road to Perdition," will probably be a near-unanimous sentimental choice by the time of the March 23 ceremony. (The late cinematographer Conrad Hall, also nominated for "Perdition," auto matically becomes the front-runner as well.) That "Gangs of New York"s Martin Scorsese will finally win the best-direc tor prize he was denied for "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas" is a foregone conclu sion. But with Oscars, foregone conclu sions often can become formidable mis- takes in judgment. Lost in all the "Chicago" hoopla were a couple of small victories. Just a few days ago, Variety announced that the tri umph of computer animation over the traditional hand-drawn style could have dramatic ramifications for Walt Disney Studios. On Tuesday, Oscar voters gave four of the five animated-feature nomi nations to films that were primarily hand drawn, and three of those were Disney films. They included the probable win ner "Lilo & Stitch," and "Treasure Planet," whose box-office failure prompted Disney to take a $75 million tax writeoff. Fortunately, Miramax is a wholly owned Disney subsidiary. behrcolls@aol.com
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