It’s been over half a century since audiences first traveled back to Walnut Grove, yet the legacy of Little House on the Prairie continues to captivate fans and cast members alike. As the beloved series marks its 50th anniversary, former stars are opening up about their earliest roles, bittersweet goodbyes, and the unique bonds forged under the California sun—sometimes under less-than-comfortable conditions.
Melissa Sue Anderson, now 63, is still best known for her powerful portrayal of Mary Ingalls on the NBC drama from 1974 to 1981. But just before landing the role that would earn her an Emmy nomination, Anderson made her television debut in a rather unexpected—and, for her, embarrassing—way. In a candid 2025 interview on Harvey Brownstone Interviews, Anderson reminisced about her first speaking part: a guest spot as Millicent on the classic sitcom The Brady Bunch, which aired in October 1973.
“And I was quite mortified that my first speaking role with any—I guess I maybe had a few lines in some commercials—but my first big role on a show was having to kiss a boy,” Anderson confessed, according to Harvey Brownstone Interviews. The episode, titled “Never Too Young,” featured Millicent planting a kiss on Bobby Brady (played by Mike Lookinland) after he defends her from bullies. “I was just, oh, I was so embarrassed because of my age. And then when I arrived on the set, the director saw my long blonde hair and he added that slow motion spinning, running together, and clasping hands and spinning around that whole, I think it at the time it was supposed to be a takeoff on the Clairol. I believe it was Clairol shampoo commercial and so that was even worse.”
Despite her embarrassment, Anderson formed a lasting friendship with Lookinland. “Mike Lookinland, who played Bobby, was a doll, and we kind of kept in touch a bit,” she recalled. Their connection came full circle when Lookinland guest-starred on Little House on the Prairie in 1977, playing Patrick, a man on a train in the episode “Times of Change.” Lookinland, now 65, shared in a 2025 interview that he was initially promised a recurring role as a love interest for Anderson’s character. “Michael Landon actually cast me because we were together occasionally on the set when I was filming The Brady Bunch. He was there, so he knew of me, and he knew about me. And there was the Melissa Sue Anderson connection, of course. But anyway, he came to me after that after we shot that scene, and said, ‘Hey, listen, Mike, you’re going to be a recurring character. You’re going to live in the town, the next town over. And you’re going to be a love interest for Melissa Sue Anderson in the next season.’ And her character promptly went blind and moved to Chicago. And so that, what he said, never happened. But he was a joy to work with.”
While Anderson’s journey to Walnut Grove began with embarrassment and surprise, for others, leaving the show proved even more emotionally taxing. Rachel Lindsay Greenbush, who, along with her twin sister Sidney, played Carrie Ingalls for the first eight seasons, reflected on the challenges of saying goodbye. During the show’s 50th anniversary reunion in Simi Valley, California, earlier this month, Greenbush, now 55, spoke candidly about her departure in 1982 at the age of 12. “I don’t think I really realized how much it affected me until I was much older and went on the journey of reconciliation and self-discovery,” she shared at the event, as reported by Entertainment Weekly. “Everybody separated, and I didn’t see anybody. And that was really hard for me personally because I didn’t realize how connected I had been to everybody until years later.”
Greenbush and her sister began their run as toddlers in 1974, credited together as Lindsay Sidney Greenbush. The show eventually shifted focus to Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert) and her new family, leading to the twins’ departure. “It’s almost a tragic loss, but I wouldn’t let myself acknowledge it, because I was like, ‘But this is the profession. This is what we do,’” Greenbush explained. “You make these really deep, intense bonds working with each other every single day, and then when it’s over, you’re just supposed to be like, ‘Okay, that was nice. Bye.’ And it’s really hard that way.”
The experience was so profound that Greenbush retired from acting in 1983 to focus on her education. She described the uncertainty of the profession: “It’s a really strange thing about acting, and all actors know it, that it’s not forever, that you don’t know if it’s going to get renewed for another season. You’re always on pins and needles, ‘Are we coming back? Are we not coming back?’ Your heart feels like it’s never going to end. This is never going to end.”
Despite the emotional farewells, the spirit of Little House lives on. Greenbush has publicly endorsed the upcoming Netflix reboot, which began production earlier in 2025. “I think there’s room in the ‘Little House’ universe for all different kinds of stories to be told—just like there was always room in the ‘Little Women’ universe to keep retelling that story,” she told Entertainment Weekly.
Behind the scenes, the cast’s memories are colored by more than just emotional highs and lows. Jennifer Donati, who played Baby Rose Wilder in the show’s eighth and ninth seasons, offered a lighter perspective during a recent reunion on The Patrick LabyorSheaux podcast. Donati, who shared the role with her late sister Sarah, described herself as “the most pampered cast member there. They didn’t let me get hot.” Filming in Simi Valley, California, was notoriously brutal, with cast members frequently fainting from the heat. Alison Arngrim, who played Nellie Oleson, remembered, “You know how people say the first day of spring [is] when you see a robin? First day of summer is when Alison hits the ground because I was out like that. It was that hot.”
To cope, the crew kept buckets of ice water and sea breeze on hand so actors could cool down with damp cloths. Pamela Roylance, who played Sarah Carter, recalled Michael Landon’s flexibility when she was struggling in the heat during the episode “Sins of the Fathers.” “And Michael let me unbutton the blouse, and he let me roll up my sleeves, which kind of just wasn’t done, but it’s in the shot. You can see it in the episode, and I was so grateful for that.”
Jennifer and Sarah Donati began acting on the show at just seven weeks old, but their careers ended with the series in 1983 after their mother opted out of the subsequent films. Tragically, Sarah passed away at age nine. Jennifer spoke about the difficulty of processing her sister’s death: “When she died, I didn’t fully process it. Being a twin means that you’re always sharing the spotlight with someone else… it’s never just you. It took a few years before it finally hit me, going into junior high and high school and realizing how much different life would've been had she been there, for the better or for the worse.”
Even decades later, the cast’s relationships continue to evolve. Melissa Gilbert, 61, and Melissa Sue Anderson, 63, recently reconciled after years of estrangement, posing together backstage at Gilbert’s off-Broadway show “Pen Pals.” Gilbert’s Instagram post summed it up: “Reconnection with a sister. Long, healing talks. Lots of reminiscing. Lots of catching up. Lots of laughter and a few tears. 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 enduring appeal of Little House on the Prairie lies not just in its storytelling, but in the real-life stories of its cast—stories of embarrassment, loss, resilience, and reunion. As a new generation prepares to return to Walnut Grove, the past lingers as a testament to the bonds that outlast even the hottest days on set.
