‘Little House on the Prairie’ star reveals ‘resentment and anger’ towards costar Michael Landon

Karen Grassle is looking back at her time in Walnut Grove, Minnesota.

The actress, 83, who starred as the matriarch Caroline “Ma” Ingalls opposite Michael Landon’s Charles “Pa” Ingalls on “Little House on the Prairie,” revealed their off-screen relationship was rocky.

Things went south during Season 2 when Landon, who served as an executive producer on the Western, denied Grassle a raise.

“I ran myself into the ground with resentment and anger and hurt feelings and just pure exhaustion,” she confessed to People in December.

In Grassle’s 2021 memoir, “Bright Lights, Prairie Dust: Reflections on Life, Loss, and Love from Little House’s Ma,” she detailed disliking Landon’s sexist jokes on set and how he made fun of her.

The Emmy-winning series, which aired for nine seasons from 1974 to 1983, also starred Alison Arngrim as Nellie Oleson.

While chatting with People last month, the actress, 63, shared that Landon was “absolutely a force of nature and could be very strong-willed. And he was the director and producer and star and writer.” 

Arngrim noted about the tension between Grassle and Landon, who died of pancreatic cancer at age 54 in 1991: “I did see that if somebody else was really strong-willed [like Landon]…they would absolutely butt heads, heels would be dug in.”

Grassle went on to distance herself from “Little House” after leaving the series in Season 8.

“I had limited my interactions with fans very much,” she said. “I really didn’t go to many events. I didn’t hang out with everybody. I separated myself.” 

After the release of her memoir, Grassle realized the impact the show had on the fans.

“I’ve got to get out there,” she recounted thinking. “So I started with social media and I started going out to these events. I was astonished at what I learned about people’s affection for the character of Caroline.”

Now, Grassle is delighted to revisit the role of Caroline.

“I had no idea the depth of affection that people had for this character. It just filled my heart because I worked so hard to make something special out of that character, and there were many days that I did not look forward to going to work.” 

“What a payoff!…,” added Grassle. “I mean how many people this long after they do a piece of work, get this kind of feedback? Incredible!”

“Little House” also starred Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls, Melissa Sue Anderson as Mary Ingalls, Pamela Roylance as Sarah Carter, Jennifer Donati as Baby Rose Wilder, Dean Butler, who played Almanzo Wilder, and Patrick Labyorteaux who portrayed Andrew “Andy” Garvey.

In December, Arngrim took a moment to reflect on the life of Landon.

While speaking with Woman’s World at the time, she called Landon “one of the funniest people I ever met.” 

“Remember, he’s writing the show, he’s producing the show and he’s directing the show and he’s this ball of energy and just a workaholic cuckoo, but so funny. Michael was a creative tornado. It was absolutely amazing to watch him work, and then he was an absolute laugh riot and couldn’t resist a practical joke.”

Arngrim explained that Landon’s jokes came despite “his home life” not being happy.

“He had a miserable childhood,” she continued, “and he talked openly about how difficult his parents were. He was looking for the kind of real family and real love and connection that the show exemplified.”

Butler, 69, told the outlet that Landon was “not a perfect human being by any stretch.”

“He was a very full, richly diverse human being, but he understood what his job was and that was to create something that multiple generations of people could experience together,” expressed the actor. “Something that would be foundational in terms of its goodness with people, values and morals—that would be crystal clear. There was very little nuance and ambiguity in what he was doing.”