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The TV Series
The True Story

The Cast of Little House

 

 

Cast of Little House of the PrairieAfter twenty successful seasons, the long-running, Western-themed drama, Bonanza, ended in January 1973. NBC wished to have a similar family-oriented drama to take its place and commissioned Michael Landon, who played Little Joe on Bonanza, to adapt Laura Ingalls Wilder's novel Little House on the Prairie into a two-hour pilot for a potential television series. The pilot did well with viewers, so NBC gave the go-ahead for a series. The resulting show, also titled Little House on the Prairie, ran successfully for eight years.

The show's narrative was serial-like in nature and included several supporting players and frequent guest stars as it conveyed the day-to-day struggles of the Ingalls family.

The Main Characters

 

Michael Landon Michael Landon as Charles Ingalls (Pa)

Landon was born on October 31, 1936 in Forest Hills, New York. He had a varied and successful career in movies and on many long-run TV series including, Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, and Highway to Heaven. He died on July 1, 1991 in Malibu, California of pancreatic cancer.
Karen Grassle Karen Grassle as Caroline Ingalls (Ma)

Grassle was born on February 25, 1944. She had many movie and TV credits under her belt when she beat out 47 other actresses for the job of Caroline Ingalls (Ma) on the Little House on the Prairie TV series. After her 9 years on this series, Karen continued her career in a variety of movie roles.
Melissa Sue Anderson Melissa Sue Anderson as Mary Ingalls

Melissa was born on September 26, 1962 in Berkeley, California. She got her start in show business by doing TV commercials. Her first television work in the 1970's was on The Brady Bunch. This appearance was her foot-in-door for the Little House on the Prairie television show on which she played the part of the oldest Ingalls' daughter, Mary.
Melissa Gilbert Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls (Wilder) 

Gilbert was born on May 8, 1964 in Los Angeles, CA. She was nine years old when she played the role of Laura Ingalls Wilder in the Little House on the Prairie TV series. She went on to have a very successful career in TV and movies as an actor, producer, and director. She is the youngest person to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Twins Linsday & Sidney Greenbush Lindsay & Sidney Greenbush as Carrie Ingalls

Twins Lindsay and Sidney were born on May 25, 1970. The twins did not appear in much else after Little House on the Prairie. Lindsay has a daughter named Kaitlyn and Sidney is currently training horses and competes in women's professional rodeo.
Twins Wendi & Brenda Turnbeaugh Wendi & Brenda Turnbeaugh as Grace Ingalls 

Twins Wendi and Brenda were born in 1978. They played the role of Grace Ingalls for 4 years, beginning with their first episode which aired Feb. 27, 1978 Wendi now goes by the name of Wendi Schlecht. She recently said in an article, "we used to fight about who got to do which part of the script. There was one Christmas episode where one of us was supposed to pretend we were sleeping - totally boring. The other one got to eat a candy cane and open presents."
Matthew Laborteaux Matthew Laborteaux as Albert Ingalls

Laborteaux was born on December 1, 1966, in Los Angeles, California. Matthew Laborteaux was on the 1970's TV series Little House on the Prairie as Albert Ingalls. Albert was not an original character in the Little House book series, but was added to the TV series as an adopted son of Charles and Caroline Ingalls after Laura, Mary, and Carrie grew up.

 

The Full Cast

 

 

Alison Arngrim

.as

Nellie Oleson

Allison Balson

.as

Nancy Oleson

Bonnie Bartlett

.as

Grace Snyder (Edwards)

Jason Bateman

.as

James Cooper

Linwood Boomer

.as

Adam Kendall

Richard Bull

.as

Nels Oleson

Dean Butler

.as

Almanzo Wilder

Robert Casper

.as

Sherwood Montague

Shannen Doherty

.as

Jenny Wilder

Lucy Lee Flippin

.as

Eliza Jane Wilder

Ruth Foster

.as

Melinda Foster

Missy Francis

.as

Cassandra Cooper

Victor French

.as

Isa Edwards

David Friedman

.as

Jason Carter

Jonathan Gilbert

.as

Willie Oleson

Dabbs Greer

.as

Reverend Robert Alden

Kevin Hagen

.as

Doctor Hiram Baker

Stan Ivar

.as

John Carter

Lindsay Kennedy

.as

Jeb Carter

Patrick Laborteaux

.as

Andrew Garvey

Leslie Landon

.as

Etta Plum

Ketty Lester

.as

Hester Sue Terhune

Katherine MacGregor

.as

Harriet Oleson

Merlin Olsen

.as

Jonathan Garvey

Hersha Parady

.as

Alice Garvey

Brian Part

.as

Carl Sanderson (Edwards)

Radames Pera

.as

John Sanderson, Jr. (Edwards)

Kyle Richards

.as

Alicia Sanderson (Edwards)

Pamela Roylance

.as

Sarah Carter

Queenie Smith

.as

Amanda Whipple

Steve Tracy

.as

Percival Dalton

Karl Swenson

.as

Lars Hanson

Sherri Stoner

.as

Rachel Brown (Oleson)

Charlotte Stewart

.as

Eve Simms (Beadle)

Jennifer Steffin
& Michelle Steffin

.as

Rose Wilder

 

links to Some OTHER characters

Kevin Hagen as Doctor Baker-- http://www.docbaker.com/

Alison Arngrim as Nellie Olson-- http://www.hgd.com/alison/

Jonathan Gilbert as Willie Olson--http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0318116/bio