For 25 years Francois Clemmons entertained families as Officer Clemmons on "Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood" but he was secretly gay and Fred Rogers told him if he revealed his sexual preference it would end his role on the show.
According to a new book due out next week, Mr. Rogers, asked the actor to stay in the closet or lose his job.. He then suggested that Clemmons find himself a wife and settle down. It was a sacrifice he was willing to make but it came with heartache.
Roger was a friend and mentor to Clemmons, who came from a violent childhood, so his request was a difficult one for Clemmons to process. Clemmons wrote about that pivotal day in his new memoir, Officer Clemmons.
"Someone has informed us that you were seen at the local gay bar downtown," Rogers said to him. "Now, I want you to know, Franc, that if you’re gay, it doesn’t matter to me at all. Whatever you say and do is fine with me, but if you’re going to be on the show as an important member of the Neighborhood, you can’t be out as gay."
Clemmons could not contain his tears.
"I could have his friendship and fatherly love and relationship forever," he recalled in an interview with People. "But I could have the job only if I stayed in the closet."
Clemmons said he felt "destroyed" by what Rogers was asking him to do.
"The man who was killing me had also saved me. He was my executioner and deliverer. But, at the same time, I knew that he would know how to comfort me," he said. "I didn’t have another mother or father to comfort me. I had no one to go and be a boy with. I was just vulnerable.
That was when Rogers suggested Clemmons get married, explaining that "people do make some compromises in life."
Not long after their conversation, Clemmons decided to tie the knot with La-Tanya Mae Sheridan. The couple split in 1974 and now Clemmons is living as an openly gay man. Clemmons said he does not hold any grudges against Rogers.
"Lord have mercy, yes, I forgive him," he said. "More than that, I understand. I relied on the fact that this was his dream. He had worked so hard for it. I knew Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was his whole life."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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