David Newell - Speedy Delivery

 

 

When I was nine years old, my grandfather took me to see my first play at the Nixon Theater in downtown Pittsburgh. And the name of the play was Harvey. Well, I was mesmerized by not only the play, but the theater. The Nixon Theater was built in the early 1900s, and it was said to be one of the most lavish theaters Pittsburgh ever had. I remember a sea of red velvet, and polished marble and gold trim everywhere. It's then that I realized that I wanted to be involved in some form of theater. But in the summer of 1967, I had the chance to go to London to visit my cousin. And then, after that, tour Europe on $5 dollars a day. You could actually buy a book, tour Europe on $5 dollars a day. 

 

Well, you could do it in 1967 if you didn’t want to eat. [audience laughter] But it was also hard to locate anybody in Europe. This is 1967, and there were no computers and no cell phones. So, it was really difficult to catch up with someone who’s on the go. I had a friend in Pittsburgh who was trying to locate me. His name was Bob McCully. He located the American Express office in London and sent a telegram in hopes that I would get the telegram and the message when I came back to London. Well, I did. And the message was that “Fred Rogers had gotten some underwriting to take Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood national.” And he said, “I have set up an interview for you with Fred Rogers when you get back to Pittsburgh.” 

 

So, about three days after I got back to Pittsburgh, I met with Fred. Now, I didn’t know Fred. I knew him from the popularity of his first program called Children’s Corner and the regional production of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. So, during the interview, he explained the concept of the program and said, “The job we’re offering you, is that of a production assistant. You would be in charge of finding props, and making sure they are ready to go when we tape, and checking the costumes and so forth.” Oh, and he said, [chuckles] “And dressing the puppets.” [audience laughter] That was the job description. 

 

And so, after about an hour, he hired me. So, I had a job. On the first day of taping, I had props already, all my assignments were done, the costumes were in order and also the puppets were dressed, even King Friday. [audience chuckle] I was in my delivery costume, waiting in the corner of the studio to get for a ready for taping. Well, we started taping the first program, and my first delivery, I remember it was an armadillo, [audience chuckle] a South American animal, armadillo. 

 

Now, I don’t know how that worked in the context of the script, I can’t remember but somehow it did. Then my delivery service was called Speedy Delivery, a one-man delivery service. We finished the scene and I was leaving, I said, “Speedy Delivery, Mr. Rogers.” And he said back to me, “Speedy delivery, Mr. McFeely.” And off I went and it’s been my catchphrase for 40 years. [chuckles] [audience cheers and applause] 

 

Well, we were a success. We went from black and white to color and we were renewed and renewed and renewed. As the years went on, I worked in public relations for the program. Fred and I were in New York City. Fred was rehearsing for the interview on the David Letterman Show. Oh, by the way, the guests that night were Julie [chuckles] Andrews, Andy Kaufman and Fred Rogers. [audience laughter] Between the rehearsal, there was about an hour before the taping. There was a crewman on the floor. I don’t know, he came over to me and started whispering. It was sort of hushed. He said, “Why don’t you take Fred up to Studio 8H? They’re rehearsing Saturday Night Live there and surprise Eddie Murphy.” [audience laughter]

 

Well, if you don’t know, Eddie Murphy did a lot of spoofs on the neighborhood. [audience laughter] And he called them Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood. [audience laughter] Not all of them were G rated. [audience laughter] Anyhow, we went up. Oh, the man said, “Take that elevator, because it goes right to 8H. No one will stop you.” So, we did. When we got there, they were on a break. Eddie was in his dressing room. That was it. They recognized Fred and said, “Oh, Mr. Rogers, Eddie’s dressing room is over there.” [audience laughter] 

 

Fred goes over and knocks on the door. Eddie opens it, and he was truly surprised. [audience laughter] Actually, he stepped back a little, and then gave Fred a big hug and said, “The real Mr. Robinson.” [audience laughter] Oh, somebody took a Polaroid picture of the famous meeting of Eddie and Fred, and Fred took it down to Letterman later that evening and showed it to Letterman and his audience. You know, Fred Rogers skillfully used television to communicate. Even someone as cool and as talented as Eddie Murphy knew that.

 

I think it’s a connection that Eddie made as he was growing up. He said he watched the program. Well, meeting Eddie was years ago. But just recently, some cast members and I, we were at Idlewild Park. Idlewild Park is a charming amusement park about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh. We were there meeting and greeting. A family came up to us with their son, who was a teenager in a wheelchair. I had met them before, but this time, they had a picture with them, a photograph of me as McFeely holding a young child. And they said, “Do you know who this child is?” And I said, “No, I don’t.” And then, they pointed to their son in the wheelchair. It was just then I realized that this family has probably been coming back to see us every year of that child’s life.

 

We at Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood are touchstones for people, giving families the opportunity to come back again and again for a visit. Of all the things that I do, these visits are most important to me. As the saying goes, “If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life.” And for that, I have my grandfather, and Fred Rogers to thank and generations of children who grew up in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Speedy Delivery, Mr. Rogers. [audience laughter]