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Melissa Gilbert
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| Melissa Gilbert | |||||||
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 Melissa Gilbert at the 1991 Emmy Awards |
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| Born | Melissa Ellen Gilbert May 8, 1964 Los Angeles, California |
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| Spouse(s) | Bo Brinkman (1988-1992) Bruce Boxleitner (1995-present) |
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Melissa Ellen Gilbert (born May 8, 1964) is a American actress, writer and producer, primarily in movies and television. The naturally red-headed Gilbert is best known as a child actor who co-starred as Charles Ingalls's (played by Michael Landon) second daughter, Laura Ingalls Wilder, on the 1970s dramatic television series Little House on the Prairie (1974-1983). Not long after that she played Gerda in the Faerie Tale Theatre adaptation of The Snow Queen. She also provided the voicework for the roles of Clara in the Sanrio film, Nutcracker Fantasy and later Barbara Gordon in Batman: The Animated Series. More recently, she served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild.
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[edit] Family and early career
Gilbert was born in Los Angeles, California, to a Jewish family. She was adopted by actor Paul Gilbert (born Paul MacMahon) and his wife, Barbara Crane. She also has 2 siblings, Sara Gilbert, who played Darlene Conner on the popular television series Roseanne, and Jonathan Gilbert, with whom she co-starred in "Little House" and The Miracle Worker. She won the role of Laura Ingalls Wilder on Little House over 500 other young actresses in part because she bore a remarkable resemblance to both Karen Grassle and Michael Landon. When Melissa was eight, her parents divorced, and when she was 11, her adoptive father died. She was very close to co-star Michael Landon until his death on July 1, 1991. She attended school with Landon's daughter Leslie, went to her prom with Michael Jr. and often spent weekends with at the Landon home. She was also reunited with Landon in late 1983 to reprise her role in a Little House TV movie.
[edit] Career after Little House
Gilbert has continued to work regularly, mainly in television. She starred as Jean Donovan in the biopic Choices of the Heart (1983), and as Anna Sheridan in two episodes of Babylon 5 with husband Bruce Boxleitner in 1996. In 1998, she was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
In 2006, Gilbert appeared as Shari Noble, a patient looking to reconstruct her nipples after committing zoophilia with her dog in a season 4 episode of Nip/Tuck.
Gilbert regularly keeps in contact with her friend Alison Arngrim, who played her nemesis and sometimes best friend "Nellie Oleson" on Little House on the Prairie.
She currently is playing Caroline "Ma" Ingalls in a musical adaptation of Little House on the Prairie. This world premiere production at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis was directed by Francesa Zambello and also stars Kara Lindsay as Laura. The show will run through October 19 and is rumored to go on tour and potentially Broadway. [1]
For her contribution to the television industry, Gilbert has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6429 Hollywood Blvd.
[edit] Screen Actor's Guild Presidency
Melissa won the Screen Actors Guild presidency in 2001 after a contentious election in which she ultimately beat her opponent, Valerie Harper, 21,351 votes to 12,613 votes after a second vote was taken. In 2003, she was re-elected, defeating Kent McCord with 50% of the vote to his 42% [2]. In July 2005, she announced that she would not seek a third term and she was succeeded by Alan Rosenberg, who assumed the Guild presidency on September 25.
[edit] Marriages
- Bo Brinkman (February 21, 1988-1992) (divorced), one son, Dakota Paul, born May 1, 1989.
- Bruce Boxleitner (January 1, 1995-present), one son, Michael Garrett, born October 6, 1995.
Melissa is also stepmother to Bruce's two sons from a previous relationship, Sam (b. 1980), and Lee (b. 1985).
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Films
[edit] TV series
| Year(s) | Title | Role | Seasons | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974-83 | Little House on the Prairie | Laura Ingalls Wilder | 1-9 | Won two Young Artist Awards. Also nominated for a Golden Globe Award |
| 1992 | Stand By Your Man | Rochelle Dumphy | 1 | |
| 1992-95 | Batman: The Animated Series | Barbara Gordon/Batgirl | - | Voice |
| 1994-95 | Sweet Justice | Kate Delacroy | 1 |
[edit] TV appearances
| Title | Season | Year | Role | Episode titles | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gunsmoke | 18 | 1972 | Spratt's Child | The Judgement | Episode 4 |
| Emergency! | 2 | 1972 | Jenny | Dinner Date | Episode 10 |
| The Love Boat | 2 | 1978 | Rocky | Julie's Dilemma/Who's Who/Rocky | Episode 3 |
| Faerie Tale Theatre | 4 | 1985 | Gerda | The Snow Queen | Episode 2 |
| The Hidden Room | 1 | 1991 | - | Spirit Cabinet | Episode 4 |
| Babylon 5 | 3 | 1996 | Anna Sheridan | War Without End: Part 2 | Episode 17 |
| Babylon 5 | 3 | 1996 | Anna Sheridan | Shadow Dancing | Episode 21 |
| Babylon 5 | 3 | 1996 | Anna Sheridan | Z'ha'dum | Episode 22 |
| The Outer Limits | 4 | 1998 | Teresa Janovitch | Relativity Theory | Episode 6 |
| Touched by an Angel | 5 | 1998 | Michelle Tanner | The Peacemaker | Episode 10 |
| Providence | 4 | 2002 | Lorna Berlin | Smoke and Mirrors | Episode 21 |
| Presidio Med | 1 | 2002 | Grace Bennett | Once Upon a Family | Episode 7 |
| 7th Heaven | 9 | 2005 | Marie Wagner | Honor Thy Mother | Episode 18 |
| Nip/Tuck | 4 | 2006 | Shari Noble | Shari Noble | Episode 4 |
[edit] External links
- Melissa Gilbert at the Internet Movie Database
- Prairie star wins union race
- Adoption
- Briefly mentions when she met her biological father
[edit] References
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