“Mr Rogers’ Neighborhood” producer Hedda Sharapan has wonderful memories of her childhood in McKeesport. 

She remembers having loving grandparents, good relationships with neighbors (who she babysat for while young) and parents who “adored” her. 

When Sharapan was 11 years old, she produced a show called the “Happy Hedda Show” — in front of a mirror. And though it was pretend, she knew she wanted to create a children’s show of a higher caliber when she grew up.

After over 50 years of of work with Fred Rogers Productions, Sharapan, who now has decades of experience working in child development and with Fred Rogers himself, was inducted into the The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Gold Circle on March 15. The circle recognizes people in television who have been a “reliable, valued colleague” or a “diligent advocate for the audience.” in the TV industry for over half a century. 

Sharapan was there at the beginning of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” which was born almost 60 years ago in 1966. 

As a young adult, she attended Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) where she attained a degree in psychology while still hoping to pursue her dream. In 1965, while job hunting and applying to graduate programs, she came across Fred Rogers, who was studying at the University of Pittsburgh. 

Rogers told Sharapan to get a masters degree, but not in television production or media. Instead, he told her to study child development. 

“Thinking back on that now, I think what he was saying to me is a really important question,” Sharapan said. “It’s not ‘what can we produce for children.’ The really important question is: ‘Who are the children? What makes them happy? What makes them sad? What are they worried about? How do they understand make-believe versus reality?’”

Sharapan eventually got into the University of Pittsburgh’s school of child development — the same under which Rogers was studying — and the two began working together.

Sharapan was there for the very first taping of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” in October 1966. 

In 1967, she served as the assistant director for the show, which first aired on WQED-TV, in 1968. Then, she assistant produced between 1968 and 1970. After that, she served as associate producer until the show ended in 2001. 

“People wanted Fred to speak at conferences and they were told he was tied to production,” Sharapan said. “But, you could get Hedda. And there I was, having been in his studio, having a child development background. The first talk I had to give was at the Harvard Graduate School of Public Health.”

“You don’t go to Harvard without knowing what you’re talking about.”

Now 81, Sharapan works as a child development consultant with Fred Rogers Productions and an advisor for the Fred Rogers Institute. Fred Rogers Productions is currently working on “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” an animated show aimed at children based on the original “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

“I’ve taken out a lot of different positions, different roles and I’m just grateful that I’ve been stretched and I’ve been appreciated,” Sharapan said. “Fred was a great appreciator. And now, working with ‘Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,’ this is like a whole different world. We didn’t know animation and it’s just been fascinating.”

Sharapan finds the bond she shares with past and current colleagues “heartwarming.”

“It’s like Fred said, there’s no better feeling than knowing what you have to give is a value to others,” she said. “With ‘Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,’ we were a tiny staff. It was 12 or 14 of us, that’s all, over all the years. And some of us are still close as a family almost. And now, with ‘Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,’ there’s that same sense of the team working together.”

And she’ll continue sharing what she’s learned over the course of her life with students, children and adults alike. 

“It’s something heartwarming to be able to think of the things I’ve learned from Fred over the years and to be able to translate them in other ways for writing, speaking and consulting,” she said. “To think that we can, I can, in some way, help keep his legacy alive.”

First Published: March 13, 2025, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: March 13, 2025, 9:59 a.m.