21 Little House On The Prairie Facts: A Great Historical Drama

'Little House On The Prairie', based on Laura Ingalls Wilder's stories about being a young girl and growing up on a frontier farm in Minnesota, have inspired many people.

The show and books are based on Wilder's life, but there are some differences between the show and reality. The books themselves are only a semi-autobiography which means that some of it is fictitious.

Set in the Midwest in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the nine part screen adaptation only loosely follows the storyline of the series of nine books. Major elements such as location, time, and characters were borrowed while the rest is mostly based on Laura's other book 'On The Banks Of Plum Creek'.

Let's take a look at some of the interesting facts about 'Little House on the Prairie'.

The Cast Of 'Little House On The Prairie'

The main characters in the book and movie are the members of the Ingalls family and the Oleson family. If you have read the books or watched the show then you know that there are many Ingalls.

The characters are all based on author Laura Ingalls' true story. Many of the actors in this show became very popular after this series as it created a huge buzz across the nation.

It soon came to be known beyond just the USA and was released in many other countries too.

Because of its growing popularity, many of the actors from the show stayed for most of the seasons. Another reason for its fame is how relatable it is, as you grow up alongside the characters from the series.

Michael Landon acted as Pa Ingalls, Charles Ingalls, who is the head of the family and is a farmer. He appeared in all episodes except four until the end of season 8.

Wife and mother, Caroline Ingalls, was played by Karen Grassle. She too left the series after season 8 premiered. Her stage name was Gabriel Tree.

Melissa Gilbert acted the part of Laura Ingalls, who is one of the daughters. Melissa Gilbert appeared the most in the series. Out of the 204 episodes she was in 190 of them.

The part of Carrie Ingalls was played by Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush who were twins.

Mary Ingalls was played by Melissa Sue Anderson. Her character becomes blind in the later seasons of the show and since there was no more to her story she left the show.

The show introduced many new actors into the field, one of whom surprisingly enough is Jason Bateman who acted as James Ingalls, one of the adopted sons of the family.

Although the books didn't focus on the Olesen family, the show did. Nels Olesen and Harriet Olesen are owners of the town's hardware store named 'Olesen's Mercantile'. Harriet is known for being a gossip-queen.

Nellie Oleson is also known as Nasty Nellie in the show owing to her manipulative and spoiled nature. Nellie Oleson was played by Alison Arngrim.

Willie Oleson is the brother of Nellie Oleson. He is very mischievous and spoiled like his sister, but unlike her he doesn't get punished and his mother always supports him. The actor Jonathan Gilbert is the brother of Melissa Gilbert.

Dean Butler acted as Almanzo Wilder who marries Laura Ingalls. He is a hard worker and loves both farming and horses.

Production Of Little House On The Prairie

Production of the series took place when the producer and executive of the NBC network at the time, Ed Friendly, wanted to fulfil his wife and daughter's wish of adapting the books into a movie. The series was not the only production of the book.

It has been made into many movies after the series. There are some pretty interesting facts in this section, so you can find out which actor struck a deal with Ed Friendly to act in the series and other details.

A two hour movie based on the story of the 'Little House On The Prairie' book, the third in the series, was released before the series.

The film was directed by Michael Landon who was requested to do so by Ed Friendly on a deal that he'd play Pa Ingalls in the series.

All the shots indoors in the series were taken in Paramount Studios and the outdoor ones were set in Big Sky Ranch, Simi Valley and Old Tuscon Studios. A small old town, Sonora, was part of it too.

Both Michael Landon and Karen Grassle decided to leave the show after season 8 and this led to the series 'Little House: A New Beginning' which didn't too well with the fans as they missed the Ingalls. It aired on a different network.
 

Episodes Of 'Little House On The Prairie'

'Little House On The Prairie' ran for a total of 9 seasons through nine years, from 1974 until 1983. Each season had an average of about 23 episodes.

They kept the fan base throughout many of the seasons, as the storyline was so entertaining it had its millions of viewers on their toes. 'Little House On The Prairie' was so well-liked that some of the people that worked on the episodes even got nominated for awards.

Michael Landon directed the most number of episodes. Out of 204 he directed 87.

Landon also wrote many episodes and their names and storylines were similar to that of his previous series 'Bonanza'. For example, the episode 'He Was Only Twelve' was formed on the 'Bonanza' episode 'He Was Only Eight'.

'Craftsman' episode was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for a Series and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series.

'I'll Be Waving You As You Drive Away', episodes 21 and 22 in season 4, was ranked at number 97 on 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time by TV Guide in 1997.

Two time Oscar winner and two time Oscar nominee, Sean Penn acted as an extra in the series.

Ernest Borgnine also an Oscar winner for Best Actor in 1956 was one of the famous guest stars to appear in the 'Little House' show. He was in episodes 13 and 14 in the first season.

Singers, musicians, actors and even husband and wife Johnny and June Cash were on the first episode of the third season.
 

FAQs

What is the message of 'Little House On The Prairie'?

The message of 'Little House On The Prairie' is that we have to move through our struggles as those are part of life too and good will come.

Why did Landon leave 'Little House'?

Michael Landon left the show because the show's rating showed a declining trend.

Did Laura and Mary get along?

The two actors, in spite of being sisters on the show, were never close friends and there are rumors that it's because they were jealous of each other, but nothing has been confirmed by the actors themselves.

How old was Mary on 'Little House On The Prairie'?

Mary was 11 when she started and left at the age of 18. She was one of those child actors that the whole country watched grow up.

How did Laura Ingalls fix her teeth?

Due to the age the show was set in, the actor who played Laura Ingalls could not wear braces as they would not have been invented yet.

There was a constant battle of putting them on and removing them in between filming, so it took her five years to straighten her teeth, rather than the two years it usually takes.