Melissa Gilbert shares thoughts on ‘Little House’ and her advocacy for pediatric hospices
Melissa Gilbert recalled that for the 10 years she played Laura Ingalls Wilder on the NBC series “Little House on the Prairie,” it seemed that she had a crying scene in every episode.
What fans didn’t know was the weeping came from a very real and painful place: grief over the death of her adoptive father when she was 11.
“Every time you saw tears running down my face on Little House on the Prairie — which was every episode — all that emotion was fueled by the loss of my father,” Gilbert told an audience of 800 Thursday at the 11th Annual Tidewell Hospice Signature Luncheon at The Ritz Carlton - Sarasota.
Compounding the problem was Gilbert’s family did not properly mourn the death of her father, show their grief, or even truthfully share the circumstances of his death.
What Gilbert was told at the time was that her father had suffered a stroke, and later, while in the care of the Veterans Administration, suffered a second stroke and died.
Not until she was 45 did Gilbert learn the truth. Her father had not suffered a second stroke. In excruciating pain, he had shot himself to death.
As painful as that discovery was, it actually gave Gilbert a chance to grieve.
“I could have used the Blue Butterfly program,” she said, referring to Tidewell Hospice’s family grief center.
The Tidewell program helps grieving children and teens, ages 5-18, through peer-support groups and activities. The free sessions bring children together with others who are experiencing the loneliness, sadness, anger and guilt that accompany grief.
In addition to her “Little House” role as Laura Ingalls Wilder, second oldest daughter of Charles Ingalls, played by Michael Landon, she has starred in more than 50 television movies and feature films in her career, including “Stand by Your Man,” “Sweet Justice,” and “Secrets and Lies.”
Gilbert’s resume includes two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild. She has also served as vice president of the AFL-CIO Executive Council and the California Labor Federation.
Now 55, she serves as a children’s hospice advocate, striving to ensure that “all chronically and terminally ill children get to live and die with gentleness, dignity and the grace they deserve.”
It’s a hard fact to accept, but too many children die, and more than 90 percent of them die in uncontrolled pain, she said.
Currently, there are only three pediatric hospices in the United States, Gilbert said, encouraging Tidewell and its supporters to open a fourth in Florida.
“Hopefully there will be one here. It’s time to step up,” she said.
Jonathan Fleece, president and CEO of Tidewell Hospice, said that upon learning Gilbert would be this year’s keynote speaker, he stumbled upon a “Little House” marathon on TV.
There were more than 208 “Little House” episodes, and Fleece tuned onto a three-part series on death and dying.
“Melissa Gilbert’s understanding of living and dying started at such a young age,” Fleece said.
Her performances on “Little House” continue to pass along lessons on important topics to viewers decades later, he said.
In an interview with the Bradenton Herald prior to her address to the Tidewell Hospice crowd, Gilbert talked about Michael Landon and what he meant to her.
“Michael Landon was the most amazing mentor, father figure, friend, co-worker, boss. He was very funny. I don’t know if people realize what an incredible sense of humor that he had,” she said.
“He imbued our set with that humor and the sense that hi-jinks were OK as long as we buckled down and did the work. So he made that set a really great environment for everybody to work in as long as we remained professional. As soon as there was remotely anything unprofessional going on — and it very rarely happened because none of us ever wanted to disappoint him. When we excelled and did well, he just heaped praise over all of us and made us feel extraordinarily loved and capable and appreciated. He was an enormous influence on my life and the reason my youngest son is named Michael,” Gilbert said.
Landon, who died from pancreatic cancer in 1991, came to prominence in 1959 as Little Joe on “Bonanza.” After that series was canceled, he began a decade long run on “Little House,” before starring in a third series, “Highway to Heaven.”
Asked about her fondest memory from her time on “Little House,” she said that is the hardest question ever asked of her.
“There was so much about working on that show that was so glorious for me. The work part was great because I, as a child and young adult-adolescent, was functioning at a level that was absolutely on par with my adult peers. We worked together and worked really hard and were very focused. It was a job. And as soon as the camera cut, I was kid. I would to do whatever activity I could find. Whether it was making pot holders, or riding my horse or gathering eggs in the chicken coop. I can’t tell you how many times in my childhood I heard ‘Half Pint go to school’ because I would blow off going to the school room to do my studies in order to play,” Gilbert said.
Tidewell Hospice started in 1980 with one nurse. Today, it has 1,000 staff, 1,200 volunteers, and serves 25,000 people a year. For more on Tidewell Hospice, visit https://tidewellhospice.org/home/
This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
