Josie Carey
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Josephine Vicari Massucci Franz (August 20, 1930 – May 28, 2004), known by the stage name Josie Carey, was a lyricist and a host of several children's television shows.


Biography

Carey was born in Pittsburgh and raised in Butler,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
as Josephine Vicari and would later change her name at the suggestion of her television station's general manager. Carey was the host of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
's children show, ''The Children's Corner'' on WQED from 1953 to 1961. Carey was one of the station's original employees, beginning work there in October 1953 — six months before WQED actually started broadcasting. She went door-to-door, raising money for the station selling $2 educational program guides. Carey was partnered with
Fred Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...
who would act as puppeteer of various puppets who would dance along to 68 songs which he wrote and for which Carey wrote the lyrics. Carey joined ASCAP in 1955 and she and Rogers produced such songs as "Goodnight God," "It's Morning," and "Why Hi, Don't I Know You?" — the theme song for her program. Carey once remarked on their collaboration, "He would make me very angry because I'd labor over my lyrics and he would sit at the piano and what took me four hours, he would do in four minutes." Carey wrote the lyrics to "Tomorrow," which Rogers sang at the end of each ''
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001, and was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series ''Misterogers'' deb ...
'' episode until 1972. The puppet characters included Daniel S. Tiger, Grandpère Tiger, King Friday XIII of Calendarland, his wife Queen Sara Saturday, X the owl, and Henrietta the cat. ''The Children's Corner'' was syndicated on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
for 39 weeks and won a Sylvania Award in 1955 for the best locally produced children's program in the country. ''The Children's Corner'' debuted puppet characters who would go on to future fame on ''
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001, and was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series ''Misterogers'' deb ...
''; characters like King Friday XIII (who would dub four children "Prince" or "Princess" during the birthday greetings segment of the Children's Corner) and Daniel Striped Tiger, who was named after WQED's first general manager, Dorothy Daniel. The program also featured a wide range of human guests, including Johnny Carson,
Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as '' Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel'' (1956), and ''The M ...
,
Van Cliburn Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. (; July 12, 1934February 27, 2013) was an American pianist who, at the age of 23, achieved worldwide recognition when he won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 during the Cold W ...
, and
Charles Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wi ...
. After her show was cancelled, Carey went on to host other children's programming, including ''Josie's Storyland'' and ''Funsville'', which were aired on
KDKA-TV KDKA-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division a ...
in Pittsburgh; ''Wheee!'' in
South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
in the 1970s; and most recently, ''Josie's Attic'' during the 1990s on WQEX in Pittsburgh. In 2000, Carey was interviewed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for its archives in
North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...
. She continued to perform, act, and direct in Pittsburgh
community theater Community theatre refers to any theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a community with no outside hel ...
until her death, which resulted from complications from a fall, at the age of 73.


Awards

*1965—Pittsburgh Post Gazette named Josie Carey "Woman of the Year." *1955—Sylvania Award - best locally produced children's program in the country *Both
Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Gh ...
and the Pittsburgh Junior Chamber of Commerce would honor Carey with awards for her efforts in children's programming.


References


External links

*
Post-Gazette
story on Carey * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carey, Josie 1930 births 2004 deaths Television personalities from Pittsburgh American lyricists American women television personalities American women songwriters Writers from Pittsburgh People from Butler, Pennsylvania Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Pennsylvania 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 21st-century American women