Fred Rogers, Iconic TV Host, Was Likely Bisexual

Fred Rogers (photo - Rogelio A. Galaviz C./Flickr - CC license)

Folks have been a bit gobsmacked over the news that Mr. Rogers - yes, the 'Mr. Rogers' - considered himself bisexual.

An excerpt from The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King, references a 1974 interview Rogers did with the New York Times and also a conversation with Rogers' friend, Dr. William Hirsch.

In the Times interview, Rogers admitted he wasn't a he-man in the model of 'John Wayne.'

And in a chat with Hirsch, Rogers apparently admitted he had "found women to be attractive, and I have found men attractive."

Before you get too concerned as to whether Fred was some two-timing cad on the down low - never fear, our hero's reputation is completely intact. According to King, Rogers was "absolutely faithful to his marriage vows."

In addition to his long-running, popular children's television show on PBS, Rogers was a musician, a puppeteer and a Presbyterian minister.

Over the course of his career, he was awarded 40 honorary degrees, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a Peabody Award.

He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999.

Rogers died a few years later of stomach cancer in 2003.