‘Little House on the Prairie’ Cast 50 Years Later: Which Star Put Out a Comedy Album?
It is hard to believe that Little House on the Prairie first graced our television screens 50 years ago. Some of the surviving cast members recently reunited for a very special festival celebrating the anniversary at the place where it all started: Simi Valley, California. If you’ve been wondering what happened to the cast of the beloved show, we are here to share it all with you!
Michael Landon (Charles/Pa Ingalls)
d. 1991
Everett Collection; Mario Casilli/TV Guide/NBC/Everett Collection
Michael Landon was truly the face of Little House on the Prairie. Not only did he star in the main role of Charles Ingalls, but he was the director, producer, and even writer for the show. Prior to becoming the head honcho of Little House, he starred in Bonanza and went on to create projects such as Highway to Heaven. Sadly, he passed away in 1991 from pancreatic cancer but helped to bring awareness to the disease before he died.
Remind Another star who has since passed away is Victor French who played Isaiah Edwards in the show. He died just about a year before Landon in June 1989. He also went on to star in Highway to Heaven with Landon.
Karen Grassle (Caroline/Ma Ingalls)
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Everett Collection; Bobby Bank/Getty Images
Karen Grassle played the beautiful and loving mother and wife, Caroline. While she had an often tumultuous relationship with Landon while working on the show, she didn’t let it stop her. She opened up about her experiences and her struggles with mental illness and alcoholism in her memoir. After Little House, she reconnected with her theater roots and moved to Santa Fe. She founded Santa Fe’s Resource Theater Company and later opened up another venue in Kentucky. While Grassle has mainly focused on theater in recent years, she has appeared in films such as Not to Forget, Lasso, and My Greatest Teacher too.
Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
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Everett Collection; Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
After Little House, Gilbert wanted to have more diverse roles. She appeared in several TV movies including Choices of the Heart, Family Secrets, and The Penalty Phase. She also made appearances in shows such as 7th Heaven, Sweet Justice, Babylon 5, and Touched By An Angel, and competed on Dancing With the Stars in 2012. Several years ago, she relocated to a more rural area of New York to focus on a simpler life. In 2022, she co-founded the brand Modern Prairie, a community for older women and a shop that sells clothing, gardening tools, homeware, and more. The brand launched an App in 2023. Gilbert also wrote several memoirs about her life and time on Little House on the Prairie called Prairie Tale: A Memoir and Back to the Prairie: A Home Remade, A Life Rediscovered.
Gilbert’s adopted brother Jonathan portrayed Willie Oleson in the series. He maintains a private life as a stockbroker but did appear at the recent 50th-anniversary reunion.
Melissa Sue Anderson (Mary Ingalls)
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Everett Collection; Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Anderson, just like Gilbert, began her career as a child star on Little House on the Prairie. After, she appeared in the autobiographical film The Loneliest Runner. Anderson went on to appear in several films and TV shows including Veronica Mars, Apocalypse, The Equalizer, and The Con Is On. However, she has since retired from acting and lives a private life in Canada. While she released a memoir called The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House, she did not appear at the recent reunion festival.
Sidney and Lindsay Greenbush (Carrie Ingalls)
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(Second photo of Lindsay) Everett Collection; Bobby Bank/Getty Images
Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush both played the role of Carrie because they were just toddlers when they began working on the set. Their father is Billy Greenbush, known for his roles on shows such as M*A*S*H, Bonanza, and Gunsmoke. When Little House was over, the girls were in high school and had trouble finding new roles. They both decided to forgo an acting career and now Sidney works as a sales system administrator while Lindsey is an accountant. Lindsay has appeared in some stage shows but the two seem content on living normal lives these days.
Matthew Labyorteaux (Albert Quin Ingalls)
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Ted Shepherd/NBCU Photo Bank; D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra
Matthew Labyorteaux appeared on the show with his real-life brother Patrick Labyorteaux (Andrew “Andy” Garvey). After Little House, he guest-starred on some popular shows including Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and The Love Boat. Later on, he moved on to voice acting and voiced Scott Abernathy in G.I. Joe: Sigma 6, Jaden Yuki and The Supreme King in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, and Nabu in Winx Club. He’s also narrated several video games including Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson Dalton)
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Everett Collection; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Arngrim played “Nasty Nellie,” the bully of Little House on the Prairie, and has embraced the part that made her famous. Arngrim went on to focus on stage shows and polished her comedic chops with a comedy album. She was also a regular panelist on Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. Like many of her former co-stars, she appeared in the reunion films and wrote a memoir about her experience called Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated. When Arngrim isn’t focusing on the Little House legacy, she is devoting time to charitable organizations including AIDS awareness after her TV husband Steve Tracy (he played Nellie’s husband Percival Dalton) died from complications of AIDS in 1986.
Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder)
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Everett Collection; Giulio Marcocchi/Getty Images
Landon took a chance on casting Butler for the role of Laura’s future husband Almanzo since he had only really starred in a TV movie called Forever, based on the Judy Blume novel. While he is best known for his Little House role, he went on to star in The New Gidget and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In addition, he appeared as a guest star in shows such as The Love Boat and Who’s the Boss? and performed on Broadway. In his later years, Butler has focused on producing and has recently written a memoir called Prairie Man: My Little House Life and Beyond, which comes out in June.
Tell us, who is your favorite Little House on the Prairie star?
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April 2019
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