Melissa Gilbert’s Biological Father Acknowledged Her as a Star of Little House on the Prairie
Melissa Gilbert shared that her biological father “knew” she was his daughter upon seeing her on television.
The Little House on the Prairie actress, aged 61, disclosed during the Tuesday, July 8, episode of the “Patrick LabyorSheaux” podcast that she reached out to her birth father as an adult to discuss their relationship — but he was already aware of the truth.
“I didn’t reveal my identity, and then he asked me, ‘So, who are you? What do you do?’” she recounted to host Patrick Labyorteaux during the podcast. “I said, ‘Well, here’s the thing.’ I asked him, ‘Did you ever watch Little House on the Prairie?’ And he said, ‘You’re Laura, aren’t you? I knew it.’ He knew it.”
Referring to Gilbert’s character, Laura Ingalls, her father later introduced her to his other children. “When I met my half-siblings, we all resembled each other,” Gilbert explained. “So, it was quite evident. It’s pretty clear.”
The actress was raised by her adoptive parents, Barbara Cowan and the late Paul Gilbert.
Melissa, who portrayed her role on the historical drama from 1974 to 1983, mentioned that, as a parent, she too noticed shared physical traits in her children. “When I first saw [my son Dakota], I thought, ‘Oh, my God,’” she remarked about her firstborn in 1989. “He had my eyebrows and my lips, and I had never seen anyone that looked like me. Then I realized there had to be more.”
Melissa has two children: Dakota, with her first husband, director Bo Brinkman, and another son, Michael, born in 1995, with her second husband, actor Bruce Boxleitner. She later married Timothy Busfield in 2013.
Little House on the Prairie premiered on NBC over 40 years ago in September 1974 — and the cherished show remains relevant today. The series is based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, chronicling the Ingalls family’s adventures in Walnut […]
In her podcast appearance, the actress also mentioned that her birth mother, who passed away before Melissa embarked on her search for her biological parents, was a former exotic dancer, while her birth father was a stock car racer and musician.
After spending a significant amount of time on the long-running series and subsequent projects including Nip/Tuck, Melissa disclosed in January that she stepped back from the Hollywood spotlight for a more straightforward life, occasionally pursuing theater.
“I just didn’t feel that [Hollywood] was a safe environment for aging. It’s so anti-aging, which is one of my least favorite phrases,” she stated in an interview with Page Six published on January 25. “Anti-aging implies death.”
Melissa expressed feeling pressured to “not get any older” while in Hollywood and to maintain a size 2 or 4, leading her to relocate to New York City. “I went from, ‘Oh, God, I better not get older!’ to ‘Oh, God, I’m so glad I’m older!’” she said at that time. “I love the age I am currently. Sixty has been an amazing year, allowing me to reflect on everything I’ve achieved and to recognize my worth, wisdom, and value.”
