Melissa Gilbert biography

Synopsis

Profile

Born in Los Angeles, Melissa Gilbert grew up in the entertainment business. She is the adopted daughter of Ed Gilbert and Barbara Crane, actress and dancer. Gilbert's two siblings are also actors; Sara played Darlene in the series Roseanne and Jonathan played Willie Olson on Little House on the Prairie.

The sensitive, delicately pretty actor came to fame as a girl playing Laura Ingalls on the NBC period drama series, Little House on the Prairie (1974-82). It was for her earnest, memorable portrayal of Laura that Gilbert became the youngest person to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Gilbert has made a few feature film appearances, but the majority of her work has been in television. She most often opted for roles as suffering, historically significant teenagers, such as in The Miracle Worker in 1979, The Diary of Anne Frank in 1980, and Splendor in the Grass in 1981. She remained prolific and eventually graduated to adult roles, including Choices in 1986 and A Family of Strangers in 1993. In addition, there were a few failed series attempts, such as Little House: A New Beginning in 1982, Stand By Your Man in 1992, and Sweet Justice in 1994. In 2001, Gilbert was voted in as president of the Screen Actors Guild and won a second two-year term in 2003.

Gilbert later returned to the project that made her famous. Now in the role originally played by Karen Grassle on television, Gilbert starred as "Ma" in the touring production of Little House on the Prairie: The Musical. She also shared her details of her life in A Prairie Tale, a memoir published in 2009.

Returing to television, Gilbert had a role in the 2011 movie The Christmas Pageant. She then branched out in a new direction, signing on to compete on Dancing with the Stars in 2012. Partnered with Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Gilbert is up against television personality Sherri Shepherd, singer Gladys Knight and tennis great Martina Navratilova for the top prize.

During her teen years, Gilbert dated actors Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe. In 1988, she married actor and producer Bo Brinkman. They had one son, Dakota Paul (Cody), and later divorced. In 1995, she married actor Bruce Boxleitner. They have