Originally released in 1974, Little House on the Prairie was a wildly successful film and TV series on NBC. Based on the books, this drama tells the adventurous tale of the Ingalls family in the late 1800s living on their farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Known for its romantic lens on life, bucolic environment, and lovey-dovey family, Little House on the Prairie feels a bit like the Full House of the ’70s.
Since its end in 1983, it’s safe to say not many series are like Little House. Largely shot outisde in nature and many children in the cast, it has set itself apart from other shows of the same generation; it’s not really a sitcom, and not completely a drama, but more like a weekly loving family lesson. Perhaps this undefinable nature is why the actors of the Ingall family have gone in such different directions; some found a footing in Hollywood and continued to act while others said goodbye to performing after Little House. So, where is the cast today?
Michael Landon (Charles Ingalls)
Originally from Queens, New York, Michael Landon was a successful actor before landing his role as the family patriarch Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie. His most famous roles included Joe Cartwright in Bonanza. After finishing nine seasons of the beloved TV show, Landon went on to star in several TV shows and films, including Sams’ Son, Where Pigeons Go to Die, and Us.
Continued Television Success
While Little House remains his most famous body of work, his final television role as Jonathan Smith in the TV series Highway to Heaven gained wide attraction. Following an ex-cop and a probationary angel working together to help people in their community, Landon plays the cool, stylish protagonist with a great head of hair and a very big heart. The show ran for five years between 1984 and 1989 on NBC. The show consistently ranked among the top 25 shows on network television.
Two years after the series finale, Landon was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died three months after the discovery on July 1, 1991, in Malibu, California. Landon’s final appearance on television on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson mere weeks before his death. On the late-night show, audiences were shocked both by Landon’s physical state and his upbeat attitude. In attempting to take on pancreatic cancer, Landon lost significant weight to the point of being unrecognizable (except for the same beautiful head of hair). And yet, his happy demeanor and playful attitude were as true as ever.
Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls)
A child actress who began her career in the late 1960s, Melissa Gilbert continues to have one of the longest careers in Hollywood. Playing the second-oldest daughter in Little House, Gilbert — while beloved for her role as Laura Ingalls — partook in several other projects while also filming for the TV show. She worked on projects including The Diary of Anne Frank and The Miracle Worker.
An Enduring Hollywood Career
After wrapping up LHOTP, Gilbert was a part of 81 projects, including film and television as well as podcasting. Her first project out the gate was a TV movie Choices of the Heart, a drama telling the story of a young missionary girl killed while living in El Salvador in 1980. Gilbert’s projects have expanded the gambit in terms of genre — from dramas to psycho thrillers, romances, comedies, Marvel movies, reality show competitions, and everything in between. She starred in season 14 of Dancing with the Stars, working with Maksim Chmerkovskiy as a partner.
Most recently, Gilbert was a voice in Marvel’s Wastelanders, a podcast story including beloved characters Wolverine, Black Widow, Star-Lord, Dr. Doom, and Hawkeye as they band together to stop the evil Valeria Richards. Gilbert worked alongside other famous actors like Stephen Land, Susan Sarandon, and Jeff Perry.
While Gilbert is part of the hugely successful Marvel franchise, she has been resurfacing on the internet not for her acting career but for her statements about aging in Hollywood. After joining the industry at such a young age, Gilbert uses much of her social media presence to communicate the challenges for women in the industry around aging and beauty. Melissa left Hollywood, now living in the Catskills, in order to embrace herself in her older age, remarking that she is “getting to know this new person.”
Karen Grassle (Caroline Ingalls)
Born in Northern California in 1977, Karen Grassle became an actress after studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and getting her first gig at the Front Street Theater in Memphis, Tennessee. She spent several years working on Broadway, partaking in plays including The Gingham Dog and Butterflies Are Free, before landing the role of Caroline Ingalls — the mother of the Ingall clan — on Little House.
From the Screen to the Stage
After finishing the series, Grassle moved to Santa Fe, where she reconnected with her roots in theater. She founded Santa Fe’s Resource Theater Company, a project so successful she opened another in Louisville. Kentucky. Since then, Grassle has continued her career in stage acting. In 2006, she appeared in plays in the San Francisco Playhouse, TheatreWorks, and Aurora Theater.
Most recently, Grassle starred in the 2021 film Not to Forget, the story that explores the physical and emotional turmoil caused by Alzheimer’s. Grassle played alongside Academy Award winner Cloris Leachman (The Last Picture Show), Louis Gosset Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman), and George Chakiris (West Side Story).
Karen Grassle also wrote about her experience working on Little Housein her memoir, Bright Lights, Prairie Dust. In the book, Grassle explains her thought process behind her character as the Ingalls’ mother, how she had built up Caroline as the backbone of the family, her experience as a struggling actress who was failing to make it in the industry, her experience with the cinematographers and producers for the series, and her own difficulties with mental illness and alcoholism.
Melissa Sue Anderson (Mary Ingalls)
Like Melissa Gilbert, Melissa Sue Anderson was also a child actress. At 11 years old, her role as Mary Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie was the start of her prolific career. Her first project after the series ended was actually spearheaded by co-star Michael Landon, who asked her to be a part of his autobiographical film The Loneliest Runner — an account of an Olympic marathon runner who struggles with his family trauma.
Stepping Away from the Spotlight
Like her fellow cast members, Anderson reflected on her experiences in the hit primetime show Little House in her autobiography The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House. The book gives behind-the-scenes stories and personal anecdotes behind chosen TV episodes, as well as her personal experience with the cast, guest stars, and crew of the series.
Today, Anderson lives a relatively quiet life in Montreal, Canada, moving away from acting so that she could raise her family. While Anderson maintains she has retired from her Hollywood career, she has participated in the film industry in small roles in several big films, including the Veronica Mars movie, where she plays Stosh’s mother, and The Con Is On, a heist comedy film directed by James Oakley.
Sidney and Lindsay Greenbush
Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush both started their Hollywood careers in Little House. Since they were just toddlers, the two twins alternated the role of Carrie Ingalls in order to ensure the two girls were not overworked during their time on set. Their career as actresses was expected as their father, Billy Greenbush, was a Hollywood legend, known for his roles in Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and M*A*S*H. Check out how they look today:
Difficulties Shedding Child Actor Image
The twins have openly discussed the challenges of being child actors. “They wanted [us] to stay a little girl, so they would write things for Carrie that would have been for a much younger child.” When Little House ended, the two girls were in high school and looked forward to finding newer and more age-appropriate roles. However, this hunt came to no avail — neither able to get any new jobs — and so the two sisters simply moved on.
The two partake in reunions for fans of the series but have moved on from their acting careers. Sidney works as a sales system administrator for a residential builder, while Lindsay is an accountant. While these jobs do not sound luxurious, nor exciting like their work on camera, the two are happy, each of them participating in the arts in their own smaller ways. Lindsay partook in the star-packed production of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, while Sidney partakes in amateur boxing.
Matthew Labyorteaux (Albert Quinn Ingalls)
Famous for a thick head of hair that could rival his on-screen father, Matthew Labyorteaux has gone on to make a prolific life in the entertainment industry since his role as Albert Quinn Ingalls in Little House. A Los Angeles native, Labyorteaux’s first role out of Little House was Billy in NBC’s Special Treat, an anthology series geared toward teenagers.
From there, he continued on to make guest appearances on multiple primetime television shows that were quite hot at the time of their filming. Some of these projects included Most Wanted, Mary Hartman, and Here’s Boomer. Most of his projects included comedy and light drama. Since the turn of the millennium, Labyorteaux has expanded his creative portfolio, moving on to several animated series whose names are still recognizable today.
In 2005, he voiced Scott Abernathy in G.I. Joe Sigma 6, followed by Jaden Yuki and The Supreme King in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, and last but not least, Nabu in Winx Club. His lucrative career in voice acting was successful enough that he moved on to narrate in hit video games including Star Wars: The Old Republic as well as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links.
Brenda and Wendi Turnbaugh (Grace Ingalls)
The youngest actors on Little House, Wendi and Brenda Turnbaugh played the role of baby Grace at just six months old. Like their co-stars Sidney and Lindsay, the two twins shared a single role. In an interview, Lou explained that the casting directors were after their exact looks of blonde hair and blue eyes. And while the girls grew up on set, after the wrap of Little House, their acting careers dialed back quite a bit. At just about the age to head into school, Wendi and Brenda’s family realized the negative nature of child acting. Unlike Little House, most film projects were quite toxic.
Goodbye to the Entertainment Industry
So, what did the young girls do? They put the industry behind them, went to kindergarten, and never looked back. Brenda Turnbaugh is now a history teacher, married with two children. Wendi Lou Lee is married as well with two kids, and in 2019 published a memoir, A Prairie Devotional: Inspired by the Beloved TV Series.
That same year, Wendi returned to the limelight when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After experiencing several years of headaches, dizziness, mental confusion, and memory loss, she described feeling a sense of peace when receiving the diagnosis.”I just wanted an answer. When I found out there was a brain tumor, and it was operable, I was so relieved.” Devout Christians, both Wendi and Brenda describe relying on faith to get them through these difficult times. The tumor was successfully removed in 2020, and the sisters continue to enjoy their quiet lives.
Jason Bateman (James Cooper Ingalls)
Since his role as James Cooper Ingalls on Little House, Jason Bateman has certainly had the most canonically successful career. So much so, there’s a big chance viewers didn’t even know Bateman was on Little House, as many of his current projects are even more popular. A fellow child actor like his co-stars, Bateman played alongside his sister as orphans on the series who are adopted by Caroline and James Ingalls.
After the series wrapped, Bateman went on to star in multiple eighties sitcoms including Silver Spoons, It’s Your Move, and most famously Valerie. Impressively and criminally undiscussed, Bateman went on to direct three episodes, becoming the youngest member to join the Director’s Guild of America.
Dominating the Big & Small Screen
Perhaps this is what separated Bateman from his fellow childhood actors. In addition to having the physical characteristics that were appealing to a very biased Hollywood, Bateman also had the actual desire to be a part of the film industry. After his tour of the sitcoms, he moved into feature films, debuting his acting chops in Teen Wolf Too in 1987, a movie that was not received well critically but has gone on to become a cult classic.
In the ’90s he returned to television, whereby in 2006, he picked up a certain underrated gem: Arrested Development. Playing a widowed father, Michael Bluth is forced to partake in the crazy antics of his rich family in order to keep the family business alive. The show was critically successful but never got a huge audience until the rise of streaming services. Since then, Netflix brought the show to life so much so the cast came back together to make a follow-up season.
The rest is history. A talented comedy actor, Bateman made many successful comedies like Horrible Bosses, Identity Thief, Zootopia, and Game Night. In 2017, he officially transitioned away from comedy-centered narratives with his hit TV series Ozark. Playing a strung-out financial planner who moves his family from Chicago to a community in the Ozark, Marty Byrde begins a money laundering scheme that goes wrong when he comes into debt with a Mexican drug lord. The show has been hugely successful — winning a Golden Globe, Emmy, American Cinema Editors Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award.
Regardless of where they are today, the cast of Little House on the Prairie brought to life a beautiful mosaic of a family learning to live in a new environment. Watching back on the series, viewers are all hit with a romantic nostalgia from the ’70s that helps them relax and feel good in their own lives.
Stream Little House on the Prairie on Prime Video
