Share and Follow
Melissa Gilbert is turning the page on an old story, welcoming a fresh beginning with Melissa Sue Anderson, her former co-star from Little House on the Prairie.
Known for her role as Laura Ingalls in the cherished NBC drama, Gilbert has disclosed that she and Anderson have quietly reconnected. Anderson, who played Mary, Laura’s older sister on the show, had previously shared a distant relationship with Gilbert during the series’ original run.
On December 27, Gilbert took to Instagram to post a backstage snapshot from her off-Broadway production, Pen Pals. The photograph captured a poignant moment with Anderson, current co-star Veanne Cox, and theater icon Betty Buckley. Gilbert described this reunion as an emotional experience that had been a long time in coming.
“Worlds collide. Blessings abound. Hearts heal and reunite. Magic happens,” Gilbert, now 61, expressed. “Last night after @penpalsplay my genius costar @veannecox had a surprise in the audience. Boy am I glad I didn’t know in advance that the remarkable @blbuckley was there.”
She went on to unveil the heartfelt surprise she had been cherishing in private.
“But I had a secret of my own. One I’ve been keeping close to my heart for a while now. Reconnection with a sister. Long, healing talks. Lots of reminiscing. Lots of catching up. Lots of laughter and a few tears.”
Gilbert went on to explain how meaningful the reunion has been, given the unique bond the two actresses share from growing up together on television.
“I’m so happy to have Melissa Anderson back in my life. We share such an important history that no one else on earth truly understands. Just us Ingalls girls. The best part is, the past is now just that and we can move forward as the sisters/friends we always wanted to be. What a wonderful Christmas gift.”
Gilbert and Anderson, now 63, starred as Laura and Mary Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie from 1974 to 1983. While the sisters’ relationship onscreen was warm and affectionate, both actresses have been candid over the years that their real-life dynamic was far more distant.
In her 2009 memoir A Prairie Tale, Gilbert described their relationship as complex and largely professional, shaped by age differences and contrasting personalities.
She has also spoken openly about feeling intimidated by Anderson during their early years on set.
“Melissa Sue Anderson was the boss of me,” she said in a filmed interview about her time on the show. “She took that absolutely seriously. She was two years older than me, which, you know, when you’re nine and 11 is a big deal … She was tough. I mean both off and on camera, but on camera especially.”
Anderson echoed that sense of distance in a March 2010 interview with The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, noting that the two were simply very different people at the time.
“I honestly do not have a lot of memories of the two of us,” she said, adding that they were “very, very different.”
Now, decades later, Gilbert says that history no longer defines their relationship — and that the two former Ingalls sisters are finally moving forward on their own terms.
