Little House on the Prairie Cast Says They Felt 'Very Protected' on Set as Child Actors

The cast Little House on the Prairie looks back on their time together as child actors.

Ahead of the beloved NBC series’ 50th anniversary in September, several of the show’s stars — including Karen Grassle, Alison Arngrim, Melissa Sue Anderson, Matthew Labyorteaux, Leslie Landon and Wendi Lou Lee — reunited at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival in Monaco.

During the performance of the actors on Saturday, June 15, in Little House on the Prairie record, they took time to reflect on the wild culture that many 1970s TV hosts shared – complete with smoking and drinking on set. Grassle, 82, who played Ingalls’ matriarch Caroline on the show, revealed that she and the late Michael Landon, who played her character’s husband, Charles Ingalls, would often smoke on set.

“Michael smoked. We smoked around the kids,” she revealed.

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Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon on the set of ‘Little House on the Prairie’.

NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

“Nobody thought it was weird at all back then,” said Arngrim, 62, who played Nellie Oleson. “No, we put out our cigarettes in the dust of Little House on the Prairie. Can you imagine?” Grassle added. “Sacrilege.”

Although Arngrim pointed out that this might seem scandalous in 2024, the culture on television in the 1970s was much different. Back then it was also common for cast and crew to drink behind the scenes – at Christmas parties, parties and after filming was over.

The PEOPLE Puzzler has arrived! How fast can you solve it? Play now!”It was the 1970s,” Arngrim added. “Now you go on set, and craft services where they have snacks and food, there’s organic food, there’s gluten-free options. We had donuts and coffee, big sweet donuts and a lot of strong coffee.” “That’s right. There was junk food, and we had cigarettes and beer, so it was very normal for us,” she continued.

“But by today’s standards, you’d absolutely say, ‘What’s this, expensive Crazy people? How can this be Little House on the Prairie if they drink beer and smoke?’ ” she added.

Melissa Gilbert, Michelle Steffin and Dean Butler in ‘Little House on the Prairie’.

NBCU/NBCUniversal/Getty Photo Bank

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According to Grassle, much of the party-like atmosphere on set was carried over from on-set culture like cowboy westerns Bonanza. But at the same time, everyone in the cast and crew was respectful of the fact that there were a lot of child actors. a much more relaxed atmosphere and there was a lot of respect, very … no following required,” Grassle recalled.

“[It was just] politely, there was no swearing. There was a real respect for the fact that we have children all around us. And I was very happy about that,” she added.

Arngrim noted that she “always felt very protected” on set Little House on the Prairie.

“I always felt that our crew was very protective of us kids,” she said, while Labyorteaux, 57 (who played a young Charles Ingalls), added that he felt the same way. set treated children much better than some other movies or TV shows.

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Remembering the work he did before A small house — including John Cassavetes’ 1974 film A woman under the influence — he discovered that “A small house it was unlike any set I’ve ever been on.”

“They were protective, they were caring and nurturing, they indulged the young actors to give them a safe place to do their best,” he said of the atmosphere on set.

“It’s like a young athlete, or a young actor, only you can’t go to the call every time,” he continued. “And they would be quiet and respectful and respectful and help you do your best. And that was incredibly unusual.”

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Acknowledging that not all child actors had positive experiences as children in the cast A small house did, Arngrim dryly joked that if someone did something inappropriate on set, “you wouldn’t find the body.”

“You’ve seen so much media now that some terrible, terrible things have happened on sets,” said the former child star, who advocates for an organization called the National Association for the Protection of Children.

“I always spoke further A small houseif someone had really bothered me or if the girls and crew had found out, you wouldn’t have found the body,” Arngrim continued. “That was the atmosphere I had there, that we were very protected to a certain degree.”

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