‘Little House on the Prairie’: Dean Butler Makes Bold Declaration About Melissa Gilbert
What To Know
- Dean Butler praised Melissa Gilbert’s exceptional talent as a child actress on Little House on the Prairie.
- Butler emphasized that the relationship between Gilbert’s character Laura and Michael Landon’s Pa was central to the show.
- Melissa Gilbert recently reflected on the challenges of filming her first on-screen kiss at age 15 with Butler.
Little House on the Prairie star Dean Butler recently made a bold declaration about his former costar Melissa Gilbert.
During an interview with People published on December 6, Butler, 69, reflected on Gilbert’s incredible talent as a child actor.
“I’d put Melissa up at that age up against anybody who’s ever stood in front of a camera,” he declared. “She’s the whole package, her emotional life, the way she looked with the buck teeth and the freckles. She was so real and so irresistible because of that.”
In the beloved historical drama series, Gilbert played Laura Ingalls Wilder, while Butler played her eventual on-screen husband, Almanzo Wilder. Although Little House on the Prairie premiered in 1974, he didn’t join the show until Season 6.
He added, “You couldn’t not love her and wanna follow whatever she was going to be doing in any story that you were watching.”
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Butler also said that Gilbert and her on-screen father, Michael Landon — who played Charles “Pa” Ingalls in addition to co-creating, directing, and writing — carried the show.
“The two of them are at the center of this. Laura and Pa’s relationship is at the heart of what makes Little House so unforgettable,” he explained. “The two of them were extraordinary doing this together, particularly in the early years of this, when Melissa was just this completely open book of emotion and authenticity. She was an extraordinary child actress.”
In November, Gilbert, 61, reflected on having her first kiss at 15 with Butler, who was 23, on Little House on the Prairie.
“The girl on vacation in Hawaii with her family, is the same girl who was expected to [be] ‘all in love with’ and kiss a man on film who was several years older than she was,” she captioned a throwback photo of herself shared via Instagram. “Through the lens of today, this is shocking. I have no words other than to say, ‘I WAS A CHILD.’”
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Gilbert continued, “‘I WAS FIFTEEN.”’ And I was the good news. Thank God my mom and Michael and so many others were there to make sure I was safe. Can you imagine if I hadn’t had them all? I am so fortunate (Sort of). Many other young women aren’t. “
Little House on the Prairie, streaming on Peacock, Prime Video, and Philo
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