Joe Negri was a child prodigy as a musician and was a local star in Pittsburgh when Fred Rogers hired him to star as a recurring character on his iconic children's television show. As Handyman Negri, this musician interacted with puppets in The Land of Make-Believe and operated a music shop in Fred Rogers's* fictional neighborhood.
Joe Negri died on Saturday just a few days of his one hundredth birthday.
You can read more about Negri's work on television in The Good Neighboor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers--a biography that I have read and enthusiastically recommend.
*"Rogers" is a singular noun and thus an "s" is necessary to indicate possession, but Fred Rogers did not follow that rule when titling his show, hence the spelling in the post title.
Images: PBS, Fred Rogers Institute
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