Background and career
Melissa Ellen Gilbert (born May 8, 1964) is an American actress. Gilbert began her career as a child actress in the late 1960s, appearing in numerous commercials and guest-starring roles on television. From 1974 to 1983, she starred as Laura Ingalls Wilder, the second-oldest daughter of Charles Ingalls (played by Michael Landon) on the NBC series Little House on the Prairie. During the run of Little House, Gilbert appeared in several television films, including The Miracle Worker (1979) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1980). As an adult, she continued her career mainly in television films. From 2009 to 2010, Gilbert appeared as Caroline "Ma" Ingalls in the touring production of Little House on the Prairie, the Musical. In 2012, she was a contestant on season fourteen of the reality dance competition show Dancing with the Stars on ABC. Gilbert served as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) from 2001 to 2005. She briefly ran for the U.S. Congress in 2016, but withdrew her candidacy before the election. She is the author of several memoirs, a children's book, and a cookbook.
Gilbert was born in Los Angeles, California on May 8, 1964, to a newly-engaged couple, exotic dancer Kathy Wood and stock car racer and mechanic David Darlington. She was placed for adoption immediately after birth. She was adopted the next day by actor and comedian Paul Gilbert and his wife, dancer and actress Barbara Crane, the daughter of The Honeymooners creator Harry Crane. Gilbert was raised in her mother's Jewish religion. The Gilberts later adopted a son, Jonathan, who co-starred on Little House on the Prairie. Gilbert's parents divorced when she was 6 years old. Her mother then married attorney Harold Abeles, and together they had daughter Sara Rebecca Abeles (the actress known professionally as Sara Gilbert) in 1975. In 1976, Paul Gilbert died. Although 11-year-old Melissa was told that he had suffered a stroke, she found out years later that he had been a VA patient who dealt with chronic pain, and that he had taken his own life. The marriage of Barbara and Harold Abeles later ended in divorce. When Gilbert introduced herself to her biological father for the first time, her biological mother had already died, but he said "You're Laura, aren't you? I knew it.’" In 2026, Gilbert learned that she had three older biological siblings on her birth mother's side (Matthew, Steven, and Mark, who had already died). She also has four half-siblings on her biological father's side.
Gilbert's earliest television appearances were in dozens of commercials, including one for Alpo dog food with Lorne Greene (Michael Landon's television father on Bonanza). She also attended school with Landon's daughter, Leslie Landon. It was Leslie who informed her that she had won the role of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the second oldest daughter, on Little House on the Prairie, beating out over 500 child actresses for the part. The pilot was shot in 1973 and was a ratings success. Almost a year later, Gilbert began filming the series. During the show's run, Gilbert appeared in several television films, including The Diary of Anne Frank and The Miracle Worker. Gilbert became close to the Landon family after her adoptive father died. However, a rift developed between Michael Landon and Gilbert after the revelation of Landon's affair with Little House's young makeup artist, Cindy Clerico. Gilbert had limited contact with Landon after Little House ended during the 1983–84 season. Seven years later, following his May 9, 1991, appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson where he discussed his pancreatic cancer, she was contacted by Landon's family and visited him at his Malibu home. Landon died one week later. When Gilbert gave birth to her son with second husband Bruce Boxleitner on October 6, 1995, they named him Michael, in honor of Landon.
Gilbert has continued to work regularly, mainly in television. She starred as Jean Donovan in the biopic Choices of the Heart (1983), and as Anna Sheridan in three episodes of Babylon 5 with then-husband Boxleitner in 1996. She also provided the voice of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl on the 1990s Batman: The Animated Series, though she would be replaced by Mary Kay Bergman for the movie Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero and by Tara Strong for the series' follow-up The New Batman Adventures. For her contribution to the television industry, Gilbert received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6429 Hollywood Blvd in 1985. Her then-fiancé, Rob Lowe, was present with her when her star was unveiled during the ceremony. In 1998, she was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 2006, Gilbert appeared as Shari Noble, a patient looking to reconstruct her nipples after committing zoophilia with her dog in a season four episode of Nip/Tuck. In 2008 and through 2009, Gilbert played Caroline "Ma" Ingalls in the musical adaptation of Little House on the Prairie. This world premiere production at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis was directed by Francesca Zambello and also starred Kara Lindsay as Laura. The show ran through October 19 and was on a US National tour for 2009–10. The tour ended in June 2010 at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. In March 2012, Gilbert joined the cast of celebrity contestants on season 14 of Dancing with the Stars. She was paired with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. During week four's show, while dancing the Paso Doble, she fell and hit her head on Maksim's leg and suffered a mild concussion and was taken to a hospital. She went home to recuperate, but returned to continue in the competition. In week eight of competition, she was eliminated, finishing in fifth place. In March and April 2018, Gilbert starred in an Off-Off-Broadway, limited-run production of Geraldine Aron's 2001 one-woman play My Brilliant Divorce.
Gilbert was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in 2001 after a contentious candidacy, in which she ultimately beat her opponent, Rhoda actress Valerie Harper. In 2003, she was re-elected, defeating Kent McCord with 50% of the vote to his 42%. In July 2005, she announced that she would not seek a third term.
On August 10, 2015, Gilbert announced her campaign for Michigan's 8th congressional district in the 2016 elections to the United States House of Representatives. Gilbert, who was the presumptive Democratic nominee in the district, dropped out of the race in May 2016, citing health issues. In 2022, Gilbert launched a lifestyle app aimed at women called Modern Prairie.
