Melissa Gilbert is an American actress who is known for her roles in the series Little House on the Prairie and the television films The Diary of Anne Frank and The Miracle Worker. She is also a director for television shows. She was appointed the President of the Screen Actors Guild in 2001 and she continued that post for four years. Recently, she has entered politics as a Democratic candidate. She is contesting for Michigan’s eighth congressional district. Gilbert also writes. She has written a children’s book titled Daisy and Josephine and a cookbook titled My Prairie Cookbook. This is a brief biography of her.
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Early Life and Beginning of Career
Melissa Gilbert was born to her parents on May 8, 1964 when they were only recently engaged. As soon as she was born, her biological parents put her up for adoption and she was taken up by the actor Paul Gilbert and his wife Barbara Crane. Her half-brother was Jonathan Gilbert who turned out to be an actor too. She had another half-sister Sara Gilbert, who is also an actress.
Gilbert did not grow up with any religious training, but she had some exposure to the Jewish faith on her mother’s side.
Given that her adoptive parents were both actors, Gilbert began appearing in acting roles, especially commercials, from a very young age. She acted in a commercial for Alpo dog foods. She was still in school when her classmate Leslie Landon informed her that she had been selected for the role of Laura Ingalls on the show Little House on the Prairie. She started filming for the show in 1973.
Acting Career
Gilbert worked on Little House on the Prairie for almost 11 years, from 1973 to 1984. After that, she appeared on several TV movies around the same show. She also acted in one episode of Faerie Tale Theater. In 1992, she had a brief spell in the show Stand by Your Man and she also voiced Batgirl in Batman: The Animated Series. In 1994, she performed the role of Kate Delacroy in Sweet Justice.
In 2012, Melissa Gilbert was part of the celebrity lineup on the dance reality show Dancing with the Stars. Her partner was Maksim Chmerkovskiy. During the show, she had an injury too, which led to her hospitalization. She was back on the show after a brief workout and recuperation. She was eliminated in the fifth position.
She worked in several TV movies in the late 90s such as A Vision of Murder: The Story of Donielle, The Soul Collector, and Switched at Birth. She was also present in Hollywood Wives: The Future Generation. Recently, in 2015, she has begun acting in a new TV show titled Secrets and Lies.
Personal Life
Melissa Gilbert has been married thrice. Her previous two husbands were Bo Brinkman and Bruce Boxleitner, with whom she has one child each. Currently, she is married to Timothy Busfield since 2013. She is currently a popular social media personality and updates her blog frequently. She speaks about her views and writing on her blog. Her current net worth is estimated to be around $500 thousand.
Last Modified: Apr 7, 2020
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