Melissa Gilbert

I saw former child star Melissa Gilbert on Dr. Drew Pinsky’s show a few years back. She looked good but I thought she was wearing a lot of makeup and looked a bit clown like. No one needs all that makeup. I think makeup should be outlawed. Just go with the face you have. I never understood makeup. I did try it once but I looked like a hooker (a sexy one) and my face felt all dirty. Let’s start a movement to ban all makeup.

Melissa Gilbert was born on May 8, 1964 in Los Angeles, California. She said her mom had her doing commercials by the time she was two. I think she’s best known as Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie. She has done many things since then (president of Screen Actors Guild, Dancing with the Stars, running for Congress, etc.), but I think most of us see her as Half Pint.

Melissa has been married three times. Her first marriage was to Bo Brinkman, who is a cousin of Randy and David Quaid. She got married only seven weeks after she broke up with Rob Lowe. Interesting. That marriage lasted four years and then she hooked up with handsome Bruce Boxleitner. She had a pinup of Bruce in her locker when she was a teen. That’s cute. They were married in 1995 but divorced in 2011. She has a son with each of those husbands. She married actor Timothy Busfield in 2013 and they currently live in Michigan. I’ll bet that’s much nicer than Hollywood.

Trivia

• She has almost 80 acting credits on her resume.
• She was Rob Lowe’s girlfriend in the 80’s. Lucky.
• Melissa was engaged to Rob Lowe until he found out she was pregnant. Then he (allegedly) dumped her. Scum. (Melissa miscarried days after Rob dumped her.)
• She dated Tom Cruise when they were teenagers. I’m sorry.
• She dated Scott Baio. Everyone dated Scott Baio.
• Melissa dated Billy Idol. What?
• She is the older sister of Sara Gilbert but they don’t share blood. Melissa is adopted. The woman who adopted her had Sara (with a different man who adopted Melissa). Sounds like a soap opera.
• Her date to her senior prom in 1981 was Michael Landon Jr.
• She served two terms as President of the Screen Actors Guild.
• She and brother Jonathan were adopted.
• Her son Michael is named after Michael Landon.
• She suffers from alcohol and drug addiction.
• Melissa did an Alpo commercial with Lorne Greene before Little House. Lorne Greene played Michael Landon’s father on Bonanza. Michael Landon played Melissa Gilbert’s father on Little House. That’s kind of like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon or something.
• She has remained close friends with Alison Arngrim who played nasty Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie.
• Melissa was one of the youngest actresses ever to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• She had her breast implants removed in 2015 due to health reasons. Boobs are heavy and hurt your back. I would never want more weight added to me. Just sayin’…..

Current Melissa

Melissa Gilbert had back surgery in 2010. She had been working with a broken back for awhile but didn’t realize it until a doctor’s visit. She had been touring with the musical Little House on the Prairie as Ma Ingalls when she went to the doctor. How do you not know your back is broken?

She and her husband along with Jeff Daniels (who all live in Michigan) have recently announced their new film production company which will develop small budget movies. The company, called Grand River Productions, will debut their first movie today [2/9/19] at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

In closing, I think Melissa is a strong person so that makes me like her. I like strong women. I don’t like that she wears too much makeup but that’s sort of petty, don’t you think? My hope is that she continues to be a bad ass and that the new film company is successful.