50 years ago, Little House on the Prairie was making her American television debut. Melissa Gilbert was only 10 years old and not always comfortable in front of the camera. Her fictional father, played by Michael Landon, helped her get into the game.
It’s hard to be a star when you’re a child. While many in Hollywood go through this, it doesn’t stop them from being shy in front of the cameras. Fortunately, some child actors have been able to count on their adult colleagues to acclimate them to this strange life. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the cult series Little House on the Prairie – yes, the first episode dates back to March 1974 – Melissa Gilbert, who played the unforgettable Laura Ingalls, confided how she managed to feel more comfortable in front of photographers. She owes this semblance of ease to Michael Landon, who plays Charles Ingalls, her fictional father. “I don’t like having my picture taken, it can be very uncomfortable for me, she said to People. But when I was a kid, it was even worse, and Michael hated it as much as I did. So he would do everything he could to make me laugh while we were taking pictures. If you see me laughing, it’s because he had just taken one of my braids and shoved it up my nose!”
Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon had a special relationship on the set of Little House on the Prairie
Melissa Gilbert co-starred with Michael Landon for all nine seasons of the series. She began playing Laura Ingalls, the original author of the books, at age 10. Little House on the Prairiefrom which the series is based. Melissa Gilbert was 20 years old when the final episode was filmed. Throughout this period, she explains that Michael Landon acted like a father to her. “We all went on vacation together. His kids went to the same school as me. I slept over at their house all the time, and vice versa.”confides the 60-year-old actress.
All the actresses of Little House on the Prairie don’t have a good memory of Michael Landon
Michael Landon died in 1991, at the age of 54, from pancreatic cancer. While Melissa Gilbert has fond and lasting memories of the actor, other women who starred in the series did not see him in the same light. His on-screen wife, Karen Grassle, notably revealed in her memoir, published in 2021, that the man had highly misogynistic behavior on the set of Little House on the Prairie. For Alison Arngrim, who played Nellie, Michael Landon was someone “crazy, bad and dangerous”.
Article written in collaboration with 6Médias
