Melissa Gilbert reveals her biological father recognised her from TV when he first met her
Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert has revealed that her biological father recognised her from TV when he first met her.
Melissa Gilbert's biological father recognised her from TV when he first met her.
The 61-year-old actress was adopted immediately after birth, and by the time she was reunited with her dad, she had achieved fame through her role as Laura Ingalls Wilder on Little House on the Prairie.
Speaking on the Patrick Labyorteaux podcast, she said: "I didn't tell him who I was, and then he asked me, 'Well, who are you? What do you do?'
"And I said, 'Well, here's the thing.' And I said, 'Did you ever watch Little House on the Prairie?' And he said, 'You're Laura, aren't you? I knew it.' He knew it.
"When I met my half-siblings, we all look alike. So, you could definitely see it. So, it's pretty clear."
In the same interview, the former Dancing with the Stars contestant shared what she called the "best Hollywood story" that involved Michael Jackson and the daughters of Judy Garland.
She said: "I had an agent, Michael Black...he was also Rob Lowe's agent. We were together at the time. So Rob had done The Outsiders with Patrick Swayze. And Patrick Swayze was doing a show at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, a dance show, and Rob couldn't go because he was shooting St. Elmo's Fire. And so Michael and I went to the show.
"And then there's like a commotion at the door, and Liza Minnelli came in and beelined and sat down at our table and was hiding alcoholic beverages because she wasn't supposed to be drinking by putting them in front of me.
"So at one point, I had four wines, three screwdrivers in front of me. And then her sister came in, and Liza was like drinking under the table, and Lorna Luft was there.
"And [Michael Jackson] came and sat at our table. In the meantime, I keep looking at Rob going, 'What's going on? Please, I want to go home. I'm scared of all of this.
"So, we finish our meal, Wolfgang [Puck] is bringing his piece that he's made, and he's sitting down, and people are hovering around. Michael Jackson is not saying a word. And then we finish our meal and we're trying to figure out where to go, and Michael Jackson, the only thing he says the whole night, 'You can come to my house, I've got a llama!
Melissa is the adopted child of actors Paul Gilbert - who died in 1976 - and Barbara Cowan but also recently recalled how much of a "paternal" figure Michael Landon had been to her when he played her dad on the hit Western drama.
She said: "Michael Landon was like a father figure to many of us, obviously, and a very, very important influence in my life,” Gilbert shared during the show’s 50th anniversary cast reunion.
“My own father passed away when I was 11. And I had been working with Michael for two years at that point, and he really sort of stepped in and kind of watched over me in a much more paternal way."
