Melissa Gilbertstarred onLittle House on the Prairiefor nine seasons, but she still got shy during photoshoots.
Now she’s revealing the cute way her on-screen father,Michael Landon, helped her get comfortable.
But as a kid, it was evenworse, and Michael hated it as much as I did.
Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon in ‘Little House on the Prairie’.Everett
So he would do everything in his power to make me laugh while we were shooting pictures…
The experience brought the two close together for life.
Mike’s kids went to the same school I went to.
Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon.Pascal Le Segretain/Getty; Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
I slept over at their house all the time.
They slept over at my house.
Landondiedof pancreatic cancer in 1991.
She described him as having “this unbelievable glow that was captivating…
It was special and it was instant.
That was our big trick.”
Not everyPrairiealum remembers Landon so sweetly, however.
Grassle said, “I think we had a unique experience and it can’t be repeated.”
