By Joe Puccio

Transforming into vile, detestable characters is difficult enough for most actors. Yet playing those parts while still a young child would seemingly prove to be even more daunting. Unless you’re Alison Arngrim, that is.

“When I filmed “The Music Box” with Katy Kurtzman, she was so good doing the stammering and crying while I stared at her and tormented her. She doesn’t stutter in real life, but she was deep into the process of the scene, method acting,” Arngrim recounted, during a recent chat with Generation X Wire. “Me? I don’t know. Demonic possession? I could turn it on and off. I was freaking her out because as soon as I heard “cut,” I’d just casually ask her if she’d like to go to 7-11 when we were done. Then it’d be “action,” and I became somebody else again. She was terrified.”

Arngrim’s description of the episode, which aired during the third season of Little House on the Prairie, NBC’s popular Western historical drama, was hardly an anomaly. Instead, it was par for the course for her and her portrayal of ultra spoiled Nellie Oleson – a role so loathsome that it secured her the “Character Most in Need of a Time-Out” award three decades later at the TV Land Awards in 2006.

Set in the late 1800s, the series centered on the morally upright Ingalls family of Walnut Grove, Minnesota – parents Charles and Caroline, along with their three daughters Mary, Laura, and Carrie. But as with all successful television programs, conflict in the form of an antagonist is needed and Nellie (and her overbearing mother Harriet) provided this necessary component seamlessly. Rounded out by amiable father Nels and mischievous brother Willie, the Olesons were the wealthy, upper crust, antithesis to not only the Ingalls clan but to the entire agrarian town.

Arngrim, who spent just as much time with her onscreen family as she did with her biological one, has nothing but fond memories of their time together. “Katherine (MacGregor, who played Harriet) and Richard (Bull, who played Nels) both tried to be real parents to me. She was absolutely mother hen and very eccentric and opinionated. ‘What are you eating? What are you wearing? What boy are you dating? Where do you think you’re going, young lady?’ She was hilarious but she did want to be my mom,” Arngrim explained. Richard, on the other hand, was unanimously thought to be the most like his character on Little House and often the calm voice of reason. “He was so fatherly and such a great man. He was really Mr. Oleson, even in his old age. My husband and I went to dinner with him and when my husband took out his credit card to pay, Richard yelled, ‘absolutely not!’ and shook his fist, insisting on taking care of the bill.”

As for TV sibling Willie, brought to life by Jonathan Gilbert, the actual brother of Melissa Gilbert (Laura), while their relationship was a solid one, it differed from the others due to his introverted nature. “Jonathan never liked publicity,” Arngrim shared. “Even when he was on the show, he wouldn’t go to any events.”

Arngrim and (Melissa) Gilbert’s almost lifelong friendship, ironic considering their arch rival status on Little House, has been well documented ever since the pair first met over a half-century ago, in everything from Arngrim’s mostly light-hearted autobiography, Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated to her beloved solo stage shows in New York, Paris, and everywhere in between.

“There was a huge cast party one time and Melissa and I were going together so I went to her house. When we were leaving to go, I asked her where Jonathan was and she said that he was in his room, playing pinball,” Arngrim smiled. “He never liked that stuff. It just wasn’t his thing.”

(Jonathan) Gilbert’s dislike for the spotlight bled into his adulthood. While the rest of the still living cast, like Arngrim, Karen Grassle (Caroline), (Melissa) Gilbert, Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder), and Charlotte Stewart (Eva Beadle) reveled in the countless fan conventions that have become commonplace nowadays, it wasn’t until last year that he finally showed up to one, at the 50^th anniversary reunion in Simi Valley, California. “He had a blast and really enjoyed seeing everyone, but he was also a little overwhelmed. He had never been to anything like it,” Arngrim acknowledged. “But we had 18,000 people over three days! So, I was floored too. We were all saying that we hoped we didn’t scare him from doing it again.”

Although he’s not currently scheduled to appear, Arngrim is confirmed for the next big event in Simi Valley. Taking place on December 12, 13, and 14, the Little House on the Prairie Cast Reunion at Strathearn Historical Park will bring together cast members and guest stars for meet-and-greets, photo opportunities, autographs, screenings, and more. “They preserved some actual 1800s buildings and brought them over to Strathearn Park. So, it’s actually an 1800s site, which is so cool. Everyone from Miss Beadle to Hester-Sue (Ketty Lester) will be there, we have panels, presentations, entertainment, and even a Friday night party with Santa Claus,” Arngrim stated. “It’s going to be huge and it’s back to the scene of the crime, in Simi, where we all met.”

Initially considered for the roles of Laura or Mary (“Thank God I didn’t get either of them because that would’ve been so wrong – I am not a country girl”), Arngrim landed the pivotal part of Nellie at the age of 12 after cutting her teeth as a child actress for several years prior, although had it not been for her father, Hollywood manager Thor Arngrim, it might never have happened. “After I read Nellie’s lines, I turned to him and said she was an awful bitch,” she chuckled. “He cracked up and convinced me to go forward with it. So, I did, and Michael Landon (Charles) and Kent McCray (producer) were there, loving it and were falling over, laughing. By the time we got home that day, the agent had already called and told me that I was cast.”

It wasn’t just Arngrim’s father who helped the starlet become acclimated to show business. Her mother, Norma MacMillan, provided the voices for characters such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Gumby, and Davey on Christian clay-animated children’s series Davey and Goliath. “In the 60s, I could watch TV for over an hour in the morning, and it’d just be my mother’s voice on different shows. It was normal to me,” she conceded. “After I told my friends in the first or second grade, my mother would do the voices for them while she walked us to school. If she was around today, she’d be at all the Comic Cons making bank.”  

In addition to being the star of the show, Landon served, at times, as executive producer, writer, and director. Considered to be a genius for all of his achievements, he passed away from pancreatic cancer at only 54 in 1991. Arngrim firmly believes that if he was still alive today, the prolific entertainer would still be active in the industry. “He’d probably have three or four shows in production at the same time,” she remarked. “I can’t believe I’m older now than Michael got to be. It’s so sad.”

Landon’s untimely death wasn’t the only tragedy that befell the Little House troupe. Arngrim’s dear friend Steve Tracy, who portrayed her husband Percival Dalton in the program’s later years, succumbed to AIDS-related complications on Thanksgiving Day in 1986. The painful occurrence prompted her passion for AIDS activism. “When you get married on TV, you’re either going to hate each other or love each other. You don’t get to pick. It’s an arranged marriage,” she kidded. “Luckily for me, Steve showed up. So kind, so nice, so funny, such a brilliant actor. We hit it off right away. I loved him.”

In the 1980s, being diagnosed with AIDS generally resulted in death in well under a year. Tracy, however, lived for another two years. “He was on an experimental drug, but he was aware that it was too late to save him,” Arngrim clarified. “He let them give it to him so that people could be saved after he was gone. And it worked because the research they did on him eventually led to treatment that has allowed people to live indefinitely. He was such a brave, wonderful person.”

Despite being off the air for over 40 years, Little House on the Prairie, loosely based on the cherished series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, remains an undeniable force in popular culture, from the aforementioned fan gatherings, to the many memoirs released by not only Arngrim but (Melissa) Gilbert, Melissa Sue Anderson (Mary), Grassle, and others, to the free, 24/7 channel of nothing but the show on Pluto TV.

Additionally, a 2026 Netflix reboot is on the way. With filming nearly complete in Canada, it will feature a variety of emerging performers like Alice Halsey, Crosby Fitzgerald, and Skywalker Hughes. Could a cameo by Arngrim be in the cards? “I’m at the age where I can always play Mrs. Oleson now,” she joked. “It won’t be the same as the original show. And that’s fine because it shouldn’t be. I’m really looking forward to seeing it.”

For more information on the Little House on the Prairie 50th Anniversary Podcast on November 22, click here.

For more information on the Little House on the Prairie Cast Reunion at Strathearn Historical Park on December 12, 13, and 14, click here.

Follow Alison Arngrim at her website here.

Follow Alison Arngrim on Instagram here.