Entertainment

Melissa Gilbert remembers Michael Landon, who would be 90

On what would have been his 90th birthday, the Little House star says her TV father helped raise her and taught her to be brave.

By NewsCubby Newsroom · Published October 31, 2026 at 11:09 PM EDT

Reviewed by Josh Kaplan · Prepared with AI assistance

Michael Landon in a tuxedo on the Emmy Awards red carpet in September 1990. — ARCHIVE PHOTO: Michael Landon at the Emmy Awards, September 1990. Photo by Alan Light / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped). Credit: Alan Light / Wikimedia Commons. Photo source · License: CC BY 2.0

What to know

**Who:** Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls on *Little House on the Prairie*, and Michael Landon, who played her father, Charles Ingalls.
**When:** October 31, 2026, the 90th anniversary of Landon's birth in Forest Hills, New York (Television Academy).
**What she said:** Landon taught her to be brave, to trust herself and to find humor in hard moments, and he "did help raise" her even though he was not her father.
**His legacy:** Bonanza, *Little House on the Prairie* and *Highway to Heaven*, plus work as a writer, director and producer. The Television Academy inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 1995.

Melissa Gilbert marked what would have been Michael Landon's 90th birthday on Saturday, October 31, with a long Instagram tribute to the man who played her father on *Little House on the Prairie* (Instagram). Landon, who starred as Charles "Pa" Ingalls opposite Gilbert's Laura Ingalls, died in 1991 at age 54 (Parade via AOL).

Her message is less a career retrospective than a personal letter. Gilbert writes about the little girl who met Landon on set, the lessons he taught her and the family he left behind.

Gilbert's birthday message

Gilbert opened by imagining Landon's reaction to the milestone. "Ninety years. I wonder what you would think of that," she wrote, adding that she could "almost hear your laugh" and see "that enchanting twinkle in your eyes" (Parade via AOL).

She described meeting him as a child. "I was just a little girl when you took my hand and changed my life forever," she wrote. In her telling, Landon taught her far more than how to work in television: he taught her "to be brave, to trust myself, to find humor in the hardest moments, and to lead with my heart."

Gilbert was careful about how she described the relationship. "You weren't my father, but you did help raise me," she wrote. "So much of who I am began with you." She also noted that the girl "with the braids" now has silver in her hair and is a wife, mother and grandmother, but still misses him.

The tribute closed with the nickname Pa used for Laura on the show: "Happy birthday, Pa. I love you. Your Half-Pint."

More than a TV dad

Gilbert's post also pointed to Landon's work behind the camera. On *Little House on the Prairie*, he was one of the executive producers and also wrote and directed episodes, Parade reported. The drama ran for nine seasons, ending in 1983.

Rather than dwelling on how long he has been gone, Gilbert wrote that she was thinking "more about how much of you remains," including "the legacy of your wonderful work" and "the beautiful family you created." She added: "Oh Mike, you would be so proud of all of them."

Fans responded in the comments with their own memories. Several wrote that Landon had felt like a father figure to them too, and one viewer in England said reruns still air there daily (Parade via AOL).

Landon's career beyond the prairie

Before *Little House*, Landon became a household name as Little Joe Cartwright on *Bonanza*. After it, he starred as Jonathan Smith, an angel sent to help people, in *Highway to Heaven* (Television Academy).

The Television Academy lists him as a performer, producer, director and writer. It also notes that he appeared on the cover of TV Guide 22 times, second only to Lucille Ball. He was inducted into the academy's Hall of Fame in 1995, four years after his death on July 1, 1991.

Gilbert has shared lighter memories of him before. In a February 2025 interview on *The Edify Show*, she recalled that Landon loved pranks on set and would ask her to fetch frogs from a pond, which he hid in his mouth to startle visitors, Parade reported.

Why this tribute stands out

Anniversary posts about classic TV stars are common, but Gilbert's carries extra weight because she grew up alongside Landon on one of television's longest-running family dramas. Her message frames him not just as a co-star or boss, but as one of the adults who shaped her as a person. For longtime viewers of *Little House on the Prairie*, it is also a reminder of how closely the on-screen father-daughter bond tracked a real one.