PITTSBURGH, PA – MARCH 23: Joseph Negri attends the U.S. Postal Service Dedication of the Mister Rogers Forever Stamp at WQED’s Fred Rogers Studio on March 23, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvani (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
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Joe Negri, who played Handyman Negri for over 33 years on Fred Rogers’ iconic kids’ show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, has died.
Fred Rogers Productions confirmed Negri’s death to Pittsburgh’s CBS station KDKA-TV on Sunday. He was 99. Joe Negri’s daughter, Lisa Negri, told the Pittsburgh publication TribLive that her father died of natural causes.
Mister Rogers Neighborhood was filmed at WQED-TV in Pittsburgh with Rogers, who was a Pennsylvania native. Rogers died in 2003 in Pittsburgh at age 74. The series was broadcast on the National Educational Television (NET) network and eventually, the Public Broadcasting Service, aka PBS.
Born Joseph Harold Negri in Pittsburgh in 1926, Negri died 11 days short of his 100th birthday, which would have been June 10. The actor originated the role of Handyman Negri on the first season of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in 1968 and went on to appear in 330 more episodes over all 31 seasons of the show through 2001.
While Negri played a handyman on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, in reality, he admitted he wasn’t one.
“I said, ‘Fred, I’m not handy at all. I can’t even hammer a nail.’ And he said, ‘Don’t worry about a thing, it’s going to be all pretend,’” Negri once told KDKA-TV.
While Negri was pretending to be a handyman, he realized that the role did come with a big responsibility.
“The handyman doesn’t just fix things – he also fixes problems. I hope children see me as someone they can trust,” Negri noted on Handyman Negri’s bio page on the official Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood website.
Joe Negri Brought His Skills As A Guitar Player To ‘Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood’
While Joe Negri wasn’t a real handyman, he did know how to play guitar and was able to utilize his talents on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. He also ran the fictional Negri’s Music Shop on the series.
“I’m glad he gave me the music shop because it gave me a really good opportunity to utilize my music,” Negri told KDKA-TV.
On Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Handyman Negri was assigned by King Friday XIII to repair and build things, as well as guard the royal’s castle. In addition, the king also would asked the handyman musician to play for him.
Outside of the show, Negri’s specialty was jazz guitar. Considered to be a virtuoso in the genre, Negri began playing guitar at age 8 and taught jazz guitar for 50 years at the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne, and Carnegie Mellon University, according to KDKA-TV. Negri retired from teaching in 2019.