‘Little House on the Prairie’ Stars Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson Finally End Decades-Long Feud
Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson have finally reunited and healed a decades-long rift.
The former “Little House on the Prairie” co-stars, who played sisters Laura and Mary Ingalls on the NBC series, shared a heartfelt moment this past weekend.
Gilbert, 61, posted an Instagram photo from backstage at her off-Broadway show, “Pen Pals,” where the reunion took place. “Worlds collide. Blessings abound. Hearts heal and reunite. Magic happens,” she wrote.
She added that the evening included a special surprise from a co-star, and that she had a personal secret to reveal: reconnecting with Anderson. “One I’ve been keeping close to my heart for a while now. Reconnection with a sister. Long, healing talks. Lots of reminiscing. Lots of catching up. Lots of laughter and a few tears,” Gilbert shared.
She also expressed her joy at having Anderson back in her life, saying, “Just us Ingalls girls. The best part is, the past is now just that and we can move forward as the sisters/friends we always wanted to be. What a wonderful Christmas gift.”
The actresses had a famously tense relationship while filming “Little House on the Prairie,” which ran from 1974 to 1983. In past interviews, Anderson admitted, “I honestly do not have a lot of memories of the two of us. We were very, very different.”
Gilbert also recalled how Anderson often took charge on set, joking that Anderson “took that absolutely seriously. She was two years older than me, which, you know, when you’re nine and 11 is a big deal … She was tough. I mean both off and on camera, but on camera especially.”
One specific moment Gilbert remembered involved a scene with Ma and some fabric. “One of the first episodes … when Ma comes home with fabric and I reach out to touch it. Melissa whacked me so hard and you can see [where] I almost started to laugh and you can see the whole spectrum of emotion on my face,” she said.
“Little House on the Prairie” followed the Ingalls family living on a Minnesota farm in the 1800s and starred Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush, Dean Butler, and Richard Bull alongside Gilbert and Anderson.
With a Netflix reboot of the series in the works, fans of the original show may get to see a new chapter in the Ingalls story. Gilbert and Anderson’s reconciliation shows that even decades-long conflicts can be healed with time and understanding.
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