8 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Star Karen Grassle
Few TV moms were more beloved than Little House on the Prairie matriarch Ma Ingalls, perfectly played by Karen Grassle —who celebrates her 83rd birthday on February 25! Ma was lovely, loving, wise, good-humored and patient, but certainly no push-over. Grassle’s portrayal earned the actress fans worldwide, but there is much more to this talented performer than her time on the prairie. From her early life to her diverse career, here are eight things you might not know about Karen Grassle.
1 She tried several different stage names … before sticking with her real one
Jonathan Exley/TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection
In the late 1960s, fresh out of London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Grassle adopted the name “Kay Dillinger,” after the famous mobster. “I thought that would make me tough and I’ll be able to stand all the rejection,” she admitted in a 2004 interview. By the time she came to Hollywood, she was using the stage name “Gabriel Tree,” which is how she auditioned for the role of Caroline Ingalls. But by the time filming rolled around, she decided to stick with her real name.
2 She beat out 47 other actresses for Ma Ingalls
Though not much is known about the others, we do know one actress who competed with Grassle for the role — the equally sweet-faced Hersha Parady. Parady still made her way to the show eventually, however, and first arrived on the Little House set in the 1976 episode “Journey in the Spring,” playing Charles’ sister-in-law Eliza Anne Ingalls. A year later, she was invited back to play the Ingalls’ neighbor, Alice Garvey, a role Parady held until 1980, when her character was accidentally killed in a fire.
3 Grassle based her character entirely on her own mom
Everett Collection
Grassle took inspiration for her famous character from someone very close to home — her own mother, who overcame the hardships of raising a family during the Great Depression. “I knew [Caroline] was tough, that she’d been poor, that she’d struggled — and my mother had done all of these things,” Grassle told ReMIND. “I said, ‘I’ve got my research right there.’” Though Caroline raised 5 children, Grassle’s mother suffered four miscarriages before Karen arrived. Grassle herself raised an adopted son, Zachary, with whom she is still close
4 Ma Ingalls was famous for her pies … but Grassle is not
Grassle’s mother, she told ReMIND, made fantastic pies. Caroline Ingalls was famous for her apple pie, as well. But Grassle can’t get past the crust. “I just said to my son the other day, ‘My mother made such fantastic pies. How is it that I never learned to make a good pie crust?’” Grassle mused. “I mean, it’s so stupid that I don’t know how, and I’m totally intimidated by it.”
5 She wasn’t as unshakable as her character
Though Caroline Ingalls was the epitome of calm and pulled-together (remember the episode where she performed surgery on her own leg?!), Grassle herself battled alcohol addiction, depression and self-hatred, all of which she inherited from her father.
6 She’s a strong advocate for women and women’s rights, and other social issues
Vertical Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection
Grassle co-wrote and starred in the 1978 television movie Battered, which addressed three very different women’s stories of spousal abuse. Grassle also starred as an Alzheimer’s-afflicted grandmother in the internationally acclaimed 2021 movie Not to Forget. The film addressed both Alzheimer’s disease awareness and the indignities, scams and other horrors Alzheimer’s patients face.
7 Grassle had a complex relationship with Michael Landon
NBC/Everett Collection
Though Ma and Pa Ingalls had a picture-perfect relationship, the real-life relationship between Grassle and Landon was more complicated. Some of this was due to the fact that Landon not only played Caroline’s husband, Charles, but also wrote, directed and produced for the series. Though she recognized his talent, Grassle felt Landon was sexist and bullying, and claimed too much control over her character, her wages and ability to be part of other projects. Landon refused to temporarily release her temporarily from her Little House contract to play Diana Hyland‘s role in the TV film The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.
8 She’s skeptical of the proposed Little House reboot
“There have been lots of attempts to do a Little House on the Prairie again,” Grassle told People magazine. “I think we had a unique experience and it can’t be repeated. … Michael was a genius at casting and writing. He understood things about how to translate that material into television for the public that was beyond what most writers understand.”
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