Little House on the Prairie’s Melissa Gilbert Says Michael Landon Was a ‘Father Figure’: ‘We Were Very Close’ (Exclusive)

Melissa Gilbert is open about her special relationship with Little House on the Prairie actor Michael Landon.

On Friday, Gilbert, 59, spoke to PEOPLE during Little House on the Prairie 50th Anniversary Cast Reunion and Festival and revealed that the late actor — who played her father on the long-running series — had also taken on a similar role for the cast.

“Michael Landon was obviously a father figure to a lot of us and was a very, very important influence in my life,” Gilbert, who famously landed the role of Laura Ingalls at age 9, tells PEOPLE exclusively.

“My father passed away when I was 11,” she continues. “I had been working with Michael for two years at that point and he really stepped in and looked after me in a much more fatherly way.”

Pictured: (l-r) Melissa Gilbert as Laura Elizabeth Ingalls, Michael Landon as Charles Philip Ingalls.

NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Little House on the PrairieMelissa Gilbert, Karen Grassle and Alison Arngrim are reuniting ahead of their 50th anniversary

“Even though he immediately became fatherly and we were very, very close,” she added, also noting that they “were on vacation together” and that their families “hung out together on New Year’s Eve.”

The Mandate actress shared that Landon – who played patriarch Charles Ingalls and also took on other roles on the show – also went above and beyond for Little House on the Prairie cast and reminded of the specific tradition that the actors had to receive “amazing” gifts.

“Every year he would announce the Rose Parade for NBC and instead of paying for it, he would use that money to buy Christmas presents for the cast and crew every year,” she recalls.

Pictured: (top left) Matthew Laborteaux as Albert Quinn Ingalls, Melissa Gilbert as Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder, Michael Landon as Charles Philip Ingalls, Dean Butler as Almanzo James Wilder, Melissa Sue Anderson as Mary Ingalls Kendall, Linwood Boomer as Adam Kendall, (bottom l-r) Karen Grassle as Caroline Quiner Holbrook Ingalls, Lindsay/Sidney Greenbush as Carrie Ingalls.

NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

‘Little House on the Prairie’ Melissa Gilbert on Aging: ‘I’m Finally Comfortable in My Own Skin’

“So he sacrificed his New Year’s Eve, basically, to be at the Rose Parade at 3:00 in the morning so he could give us all really amazing Christmas gifts,” she adds.

Little House on the Prairie was loosely based on the iconic Laura Ingall Wilder A small house book series about her childhood growing up in the Midwest in the late 1800s and aired more than 200 episodes between 1974 and 1983. There were also several specials during its nine-season run.

And the actress tells PEOPLE that the show — and its success — wouldn’t be possible without Landon.

Pictured: (clockwise from left) Melissa Sue Anderson as Mary Ingalls Kendall, Lindsay or Sydney Greenbush as Carrie Ingalls, Michael Landon as Charles Philip Ingalls, Karen Grassle as Caroline Quiner Holbrook Ingalls, Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

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“It blows my mind that this is all because of him. These people are here because he wrote this show and directed and produced it, and I know he would be incredibly proud if he could see this,” Gilbert says of Landon, who died in 1991. after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

“This is his legacy. One hundred percent,” she adds.

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Source: HIS Education