Melissa Gilbert Reveals What First Day on ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Set Was Really Like
What To Know
- Melissa Gilbert fondly recalled her first day filming Little House on the Prairie.
- She shared that she learned new skills and enjoyed the immersive atmosphere of playing Laura Ingalls Wilder.
- On that first day, Michael Landon gave her the nickname “Half Pint,” a moniker that was iconic both on the show and in the original books.
Melissa Gilbert recently shared what she remembers from her first day on the set of Little House on the Prairie as Laura Ingalls Wilder.
On October 21, the former child star, now 61, opened up about the first day of filming the beloved historical drama series, which aired for nine seasons from 1974 to 1983. She did so in a video shared to her Modern Prairie lifestyle brand’s Instagram account.
“First day on location, the first day on the actual set, it was like the best game of pretend anybody ever played,” Gilbert recalled as she wore a green-and-orange floral dress while leaning against a fence on a farm. “I was in the costume. I learned how to use a button hook to button up my boots. There were horses and cows and all these people.”
Of the pilot episode filming in 1973, she continued, “And yet, it was still kind of intimate. It was just the Ingalls family, and we were all getting to know each other.”
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In the clip, Gilbert mentioned that it was the day Michael Landon, who played Charles “Pa” Ingalls, gave her the nickname “Half Pint.” She detailed that story in a different Instagram post on September 29.
“So my nickname, Half Pint, came from the first day on Little House because there were two Melissas,” Gilbert explained. “Melissa Sue [Anderson] was Missy, and I didn’t actually have a nickname, so [Landon] asked me if I had a nickname. And I said, ‘I don’t know, why don’t you call me Moisha?’”
She added, “And he went, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘I think it’s cool. I heard it somewhere.’ And he said, ‘No, we’re not calling you an old Jewish man’s name. There’s no way. You’re going to be Half Pint.’”
Of course, Half Pint was also Laura’s nickname in the books, too. So the moniker was truly perfect for Gilbert!