Originally released in 1974, Little House on the Prairie was a wildly successful film and TV series on NBC. Based on the books, this drama tells the adventurous tale of the Ingalls family in the late 1800s living on their farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Known for its romantic lens on life, bucolic environment, and lovey-dovey family, Little House on the Prairie feels a bit like the Full House of the '70s.

Since its end in 1983, it’s safe to say not many series are like Little House. Largely shot outisde in nature and many children in the cast, it has set itself apart from other shows of the same generation; it's not really a sitcom, and not completely a drama, but more like a weekly loving family lesson. Perhaps this undefinable nature is why the actors of the Ingall family have gone in such different directions; some found a footing in Hollywood and continued to act while others said goodbye to performing after Little House. So, where is the cast today?

Michael Landon (Charles Ingalls)

Originally from Queens, New York, Michael Landon was a successful actor before landing his role as the family patriarch Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie. His most famous roles included Joe Cartwright in Bonanza. After finishing nine seasons of the beloved TV show, Landon went on to star in several TV shows and films, including Sams’ Son, Where Pigeons Go to Die, and Us.

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Continued Television Success

While Little House remains his most famous body of work, his final television role as Jonathan Smith in the TV series Highway to Heaven gained wide attraction. Following an ex-cop and a probationary angel working together to help people in their community, Landon plays the cool, stylish protagonist with a great head of hair and a very big heart. The show ran for five years between 1984 and 1989 on NBC. The show consistently ranked among the top 25 shows on network television.

Two years after the series finale, Landon was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died three months after the discovery on July 1, 1991, in Malibu, California. Landon's final appearance on television on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson mere weeks before his death. On the late-night show, audiences were shocked both by Landon’s physical state and his upbeat attitude. In attempting to take on pancreatic cancer, Landon lost significant weight to the point of being unrecognizable (except for the same beautiful head of hair). And yet, his happy demeanor and playful attitude were as true as ever.

Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls)

A child actress who began her career in the late 1960s, Melissa Gilbert continues to have one of the longest careers in Hollywood. Playing the second-oldest daughter in Little House, Gilbert — while beloved for her role as Laura Ingalls — partook in several other projects while also filming for the TV show. She worked on projects including The Diary of Anne Frank and The Miracle Worker.

An Enduring Hollywood Career

After wrapping up LHOTP, Gilbert was a part of 81 projects, including film and television as well as podcasting. Her first project out the gate was a TV movie Choices of the Heart, a drama telling the story of a young missionary girl killed while living in El Salvador in 1980. Gilbert's projects have expanded the gambit in terms of genre — from dramas to psycho thrillers, romances, comedies, Marvel movies, reality show competitions, and everything in between. She starred in season 14 of Dancing with the Stars, working with Maksim Chmerkovskiy as a partner.

Most recently, Gilbert was a voice in Marvel’s Wastelanders, a podcast story including beloved characters Wolverine, Black Widow, Star-Lord, Dr. Doom, and Hawkeye as they band together to stop the evil Valeria Richards. Gilbert worked alongside other famous actors like Stephen Land, Susan Sarandon, and Jeff Perry.

While Gilbert is part of the hugely successful Marvel franchise, she has been resurfacing on the internet not for her acting career but for her statements about aging in Hollywood. After joining the industry at such a young age, Gilbert uses much of her social media presence to communicate the challenges for women in the industry around aging and beauty. Melissa left Hollywood, now living in the Catskills, in order to embrace herself in her older age, remarking that she is “getting to know this new person.”

Karen Grassle (Caroline Ingalls)

Born in Northern California in 1942, Karen Grassle became an actress after studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and getting her first gig at the Front Street Theater in Memphis, Tennessee. She spent several years working on Broadway, partaking in plays including The Gingham Dog and Butterflies Are Free, before landing the role of Caroline Ingalls — the mother of the Ingall clan — on Little House.

From the Screen to the Stage

After finishing the series, Grassle moved to Santa Fe, where she reconnected with her roots in theater. She founded Santa Fe’s Resource Theater Company, a project so successful she opened another in Louisville. Kentucky. Since then, Grassle has continued her career in stage acting. In 2006, she appeared in plays in the San Francisco Playhouse, TheatreWorks, and Aurora Theater.

Most recently, Grassle starred in the 2021 film Not to Forget, the story that explores the physical and emotional turmoil caused by Alzheimer's. Grassle played alongside Academy Award winner Cloris Leachman (The Last Picture Show), Louis Gosset Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman), and George Chakiris (West Side Story).

Karen Grassle also wrote about her experience working on Little House in her memoir, Bright Lights, Prairie Dust. In the book, Grassle explains her thought process behind her character as the Ingalls' mother, how she had built up Caroline as the backbone of the family, her experience as a struggling actress who was failing to make it in the industry, her experience with the cinematographers and producers for the series, and her own difficulties with mental illness and alcoholism.

Melissa Sue Anderson (Mary Ingalls)