Melissa Gilbert Shares Lessons from Little House on the Prairie That Will Help Us Get Through Today’s Struggles

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It’s almost impossible to think of Melissa Gilbert without seeing visions of Little House On the Prairie‘s Laura Ingalls having the time of her life running through the fields of Walnut Grove.

Gilbert, who played spunky and wise “Half-Pint” from the time she was 9 until 19, recently opened up to CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Mo Rocca about what it was like behind the scenes and why we could a dose of Laura Ingalls Wilder‘s old-fashioned compassion in today’s world.

The now-56-year-old grandmother she says she was having as much fun behind the scenes as she was on camera. “It was like a really great summer camp,” Gilbert said, “but I also got to play the ultimate game of dress up, and be in those fantastic clothes, and the button-up boots. I don’t remember it ever not being fun.”

And that’s what audiences seem to remember too. The series, which was one of the most-watched TV shows of the 1970s and early ’80s, continues to air in reruns today. In fact, it has never been off the air.

The actress also shared some of the great life lessons she learned from doing the show, especially from Michael Landon who starred as Pa Charles Ingalls who also wrote, directed and executive produced the series. She credits Landon, who died at age 54 after battling cancer, for instilling the good values of Little House.

“He believed that people are always really good at heart,” she said. “And that anyone is redeemable, and that the only way to change things is to do it from a place of love and fairness and understanding. It’s unfortunate, for so many reasons, that he passed away when he did [in 1991], because I think his voice would’ve been an incredibly important voice to have today.”

Gilbert, who began acting professionally in Carter baby clothing commercial when she was 2, credits Little House on the Prairie for making her the woman she is today.

“Little House on the Prairie, then, provided people with the reminder of what we went through when we started this country, and how difficult that was,” Gilbert said of the show that tackled subjects like slavery, inequality and the plague. “…I think we’re at that place again. If we could have done what we did in the 1800s, in the 1970s, we can do this. The keys are gonna be compassion, community, faith—whatever that faith looks like—, love. That’s it. That’s all that matters.”

Melissa Gilbert Shares Lessons from Little House on the Prairie That Will Help Us Get Through Today’s Struggles

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