Mister Rogers’ Widow Reveals He Would Fart to Make Her Laugh

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is in theaters now and the press rollout for the film has been full of interesting factoids about Fred Rogers. One hilarious tidbit that people have uncovered about the beloved child star is a special way that he used to make his wife laugh. Joanne Rogers is both a part of the film as a consultant, but also as a factor in her husbands’ life. It turns out that their relationship was every bit as loving as one might expect. But, when it time to cut through the tension, Mr. Rogers opted to cut the cheese. She told the Los Angeles Times that the gesture never once failed to make her smile. “He would just raise one week and he would look at me and smile,” she told the paper. It’s hard to imagine the television personality really doing that, but as the film gestures towards, there are just some things that we just didn’t know about him. That is not a bad thing, because the film also includes numerous moments where the truth of the man’s life manages to shine through Tom Hanks’ performance.

A big takeaway that viewers had from Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, a documentary about Rogers and this film is how people love the symbol that the TV personality became. His widow believes that the capacity for that kind of magic is there for everyone who has the courage to try and do right by their neighbors.

It’s like Mrs. Rogers said to the Times, “He’s out there now as somebody who’s somehow way above all the rest of us. People invariably say, ‘Well, I can’t do that, but I sure do admire him. I would love to do it.’ Well, you can do it. I’m convinced there are lots of Fred Rogerses out there.”

Here’s Sony’s official synopsis for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood:

“Tom Hanks portrays Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a timely story of kindness triumphing over cynicism, based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod. After a jaded magazine writer (Emmy winner Matthew Rhys) is assigned a profile of Fred Rogers, he overcomes his skepticism, learning about empathy, kindness, and decency from America’s most beloved neighbor.”

Marielle Heller directed A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood from a script by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster. Hanks and Rhys are starring in the film. They are joined by This Is Us standout Susan Kelechi Watson and Chris Cooper.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is in theaters right now.