Here are 30 things you probably didn’t know about your favourite childhood TV show:
The western drama series , Little House On The Prairie was easily one of our favourite television shows from when we were younger. We used to watch this ALL the time. But, it feels like a lifetime ago that this was on our televisions! It was so popular in fact that it ran for 9 successful seasons and a film adaption is currently underway at Paramount Pictures.
1. Nellie Oleson wore a wig.
And not only did she wear a wig, she started losing her hair because of it. The wig was so tight on her head that it started to pull the hairs out of her head and she started going bald at the front. OUCH! Her head even started to bleed sometimes because it was gripped in so tightly.
2. Pa Ingalls hair wasn’t brown.
The gorgeous Michael Landon didn’t actually have luscious brown locks, they were grey! Poor man started going grey in his early twenties (not that he would have been any worse looking with grey hair) so he had to dye his hair with Clairol hair dye.
Sometimes his grey would come through so when they were shooting some scenes, they had to get him to stand away from direct light, or else people would have noticed his blotchy grey streaks.
3. The costumes…
The outdoor scenes were filmed in Simi Valley in California when a cool day heat was in the low 90s. The cast had to wear a lot of different outfits, pinafores, bonnets and cotton stockings. Alison Arngrim actually passed out from the heat one day during filming.
4. The youngest Ingall daughter was played by twins.
In order to comply with California young child labour laws, the directors had to rotate the girls around from scene to scene. Rachel and Sydney Bush were just three when they were signed to play the role of the youngest Ingalls daughter.
5. Michael Landon used to go commando.
Michael Landon (Pa Ingalls) used to appear shirtless quite a lot on screen but he also liked to go commando under his pants! Ooooh la-la!
6. Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder’s wedding wasn’t very romantic.
Melissa Gilbert was only 15 years old when she had to kiss 23-year-old Dean Butler. She was very embarrassed and didn’t want to kiss him at first because she was scared if his stubbly face.
7. Sean Penn had his acting debut.
Leo Penn, Sean’s father, directed one of the episodes! So, he got Sean in to appear in the episode as one of the uncredited school boys. He also got his wife, Eileen Ryan, in the role of Mrs. Kennedy.
8. Nellie Oleson’s scary scene was quite real.
When Nellie was thrown from a horse and paralysed, the cast on her arm was actually real. Alison Angrim had just broken her arm in a skateboarding accident.
9. KFC.
All the meals that you saw the family eat, were either Dinty Moore brand beef stew or Kentucky Fried Chicken Wings. This was regardless of what Ma said it was in the show. I bet it put them off stew and chicken for life eating that every day!
10. Charles’ boots were uplifted.
Michael Landon was a short man at only 5 foot 9 inches. So to avoid anyone else towering above him, he wore 4-inch heeled boots and every scene he filmed he made sure he was either stood on a ladder, or on the stairs or a mound of mud.
11. Nellie and Laura were actually best of friends.
They might have hated each other on set, but the pair were instant best of friends in real life after first meeting in the makeup trailer. They’ve stayed in touch with each other, even after all these years and they used to have sleepovers at each others houses.
12. Simi Valley Ranch was an unsafe place.
Back in 1959, there was a nuclear meltdown in Simi Valley and the area was completely contaminated. Deaths among the actors/crew could be because of the contamination and chemical radioactive waste in the area.
13. Mary wasn’t the nicest on set.
Melissa Sue Anderson wasn’t as close to the girls as the others. In Melissa Gilbert and Alison Angrim’s autobiographies, she say’s she was cold and aloof on set, probably because her mother was so overprotective and controlling.
14. The cast were well liquored up.
After long days of retaking and rewritten scenes, the cast used to have a makeshift pop up bar with hard liquor which was served to them as soon as they’d finished. They used to go through litres and litres of Coors beer apparently. I don’t know how they did it!
15. Not everyone was Christian on set.
Little house on the prairie had strong Christian themes throughout it. However, Michael Landon, born Eugene Maurice Orowitz was born to a Jewish father and was brought up in New York as Jewish.
16. The show explored more serious issues.
Even though it was a family show, there were storylines that touched some more serious issues. For example, the show covered rape, alcohol abuse, drug addiction and prejudice.
17. Willie Oleson was related to Laura Ingalls.
Nasty Willie Oleson who used to pick on Laura Ingalls was actually Melissa Gilbert’s adopted brother in real life. Who would have thought?!
18. Walnut Grove was a real place.
There really is a Walnut Grove and Laura Ingalls really did live there. The characters in the show were based on real people that lived around her. Her family travelled often but settled in Walnut Grove for a while in 1874.
19. Episodes were recycled storylines.
Michael Landon reused scripts that he had written for Bonanza. The episode, “A Matter of Faith”, was originally supposed to be the episode, “A Matter of Circumstance”, in Bonanza.
20. Melissa Gilbert had to bind her chest.
Melissa matured very early, so to hide her assets, she had to bind her chest every day before filming started. That must have been so annoying and uncomfortable for Melissa who, now a young woman, was also forced to continue wearing braids.
21. Walnut Grove really did blow up.
In “The Last Farewell”, the residents decided to leave and blow up the town. So, Michael Landon decided to blow up the town of Walnut Grove to fit in with the demolition.
22. Michael Landon was a prankster.
Michael was apparently a bit of a joker on set, he used to play pranks on the cast members all the time. He used to leave Laura running after the camera even after they’d stopped filming. Probably hilarious for everyone but Laura!
23. Third time lucky.
Alison Arngrim originally auditioned for the role of Laura but got rejected. She then returned to audition for the role of Mary but didn’t get it either. Third time round, she auditioned for the role of Nellie…..and the rest was history. Talk about persistence!
24. Famous family.
Alison Arngrim wasn’t the only actor in her family. Her mother Norma MacMillan was a famous actress who voiced a lot of different move characters, like Casper the friendly ghost.
25. Etta Plum.
Etta Plum, played by Leslie Landon was Michael Landon’s daughter. She had a few different guest roles on the show until she was finally cast as Etta Plum.
26. The rules were pretty strict.
Melissa Anderson was forced to use her full name Melissa Sue Anderson due to the screen actor’s guild rules about having a unique acting name. She has since dropped her middle name.
27. Cigarette habits.
Michael Landon had a nasty habit of smoking constantly. Some of the actors recall him constantly having a cigarette in his mouth. He even used to hide his smokes in his gloves.
28. Lack of chemistry.
A lot of people wrote into the show to say that Laura and Almanzo’s love didn’t look real and that they’d needed to act more in love because it wasn’t believable. They obviously fixed any problems they might’ve had. What do you think?
29. Karen Grassle.
When auditioning for the role of Caroline Ingalls auditioned under her stage name Gabriel Tree. Michael Landon made her change it back to her original name Karen Grassle.
30. Michael and Melissa fell out not long after filming ended.
Melissa Gilbert’s father died when she was just 11 years old, she described Michael Landon as a second father who took her in. He and his wife looked after Melissa a lot, but when Michael fell for the on-set makeup artist who was 20 years his junior, Melissa cut all ties with Michael when she found out he’d cheated on his wife with her.
