Little House on the Prairie, starring Michael Landon and Karen Grassle, aired for nine seasons and propelled the young Melissa Gilbert to heights she could never have imagined.
Melissa was barely a child when she landed her classic role as Laura Ingalls Wilder in Little House on the Prairie. She grew up on set between the ages of eight and 18, and the experience had a lasting impact on her life, providing her with a father figure in the form of her on-screen father, Michael Landon.
“I’ve always loved my job,” she told Parade. “I had a great time on the set of Little House on the Prairie. It was a delightful and amazing environment to grow up if you were a child performer.”
To all professionals in the film, television, theatre, entertainment and arts world, join the challenge to post a photo of you in your job. Just a picture, no description. The goal is to flood social media with our profession. Copy the text and post a pic #SaveTheArts pic.twitter.com/IglyIQTSYV
— Melissa Gilbert (@MEGBusfield) July 7, 2020
While fans will always remember her as Laura, her Hollywood career did not stop with Little House on the Prairie. She went on to star in television films such as The Diary of Anne Frank and The Miracle Worker, was President of the Screen Actors Guild from 2001 to 2005, finished fifth on Dancing with the Stars, and ran for Congress in Michigan’s 8th congressional district in 2016, winning the Democratic primary but withdrawing due to health issues.
Indeed, the actress, now 58, has recently relocated from Los Angeles to the Catskill Mountains in New York in search of calm, tranquillity, and better introspection.
Gilbert has mentioned in recent interviews that it took a lot of elbow grease to fix up the old house she and her husband moved into. “It had no heat, and the plumbing was kind of wonky,” she explained to Fox News. “It was as if the people had just wrapped up and left the house, and it had sat like that for decades.”
“When we walked in the front door — I’ve smelled musty places, [but] I’ve never smelled anything like the smell that came from this house,” she explained to Next Avenue. “It was completely overwhelming.”
“But… the longer we stood in that musty, stinky, crowded place, the more I saw past all of that, and realized that this place had the potential to be something incredibly special,” she continued.
The Aging Process
Melissa also recently claimed that she is tired of fighting nature and the aging process.
“I grew up in an industry that values the outside much more than the inside, and I got caught in the hamster wheel of trying to stay young.”
Melissa underwent a series of Botox, filler, and breast implant procedures over the years in an attempt to resist aging naturally.
This was not unusual in Hollywood, a city renowned for putting aesthetic filters to practically everything. According to accounts, Melissa’s first experience with cosmetic sᴜʀɢᴇʀʏ came after she worked on the 1981 television film Splendor in the Grass.
During her time on set, the makeup crew darkened her nose to make it appear narrower. Melissa was left with the feeling that she needed to have her body modified in order to execute certain parts properly.
Years of experimentation with various types of cosmetic sᴜʀɢᴇʀʏ , including a breast implant procedure and Botox, ensued.
Melissa, on the other hand, quickly realized that the person she was developing into was not herself.
“It was a red carpet for the season 4 premiere of Nip/Tuck, and I was all dressed up,” she revealed. And it was the peak of all the fillers in the Botox, and my hair was extremely colored. And that threw me for a loop because I was looking at myself, wondering, “Who is that person?” That is not who I am.”
Melissa had sᴜʀɢᴇʀʏ to remove her breast implants in 2015. “One of the smartest things I’ve ever done,” she stated. “I shaved off all my hair and stopped getting botox and other cosmetic procedures. I’m enjoying all of the changes, as well as seeing what’s going on and getting to know this new person.”
