Alison Arngrim, known for her role as Nellie Oleson on the beloved “Little House on the Prairie” series, recently revealed a lesser-known side of the show. She described a behind-the-scenes atmosphere teeming with drinking, smoking, and what she called “insane” parties.
In a candid conversation on the “Here’s What Happened” podcast last week, Arngrim shared that many of the crew members exhibited behavior reminiscent of the characters in “Mad Men.” The set, she noted, was populated by an “older” generation with a penchant for indulging in certain vices.
Arngrim remarked on the era’s cultural norms, saying, “They came from a time when smoking and drinking were nearly constant companions. Healthy dining options and things like gluten-free muffins simply didn’t exist back then.”
She painted a vivid picture of the set’s social dynamics, revealing, “The prop men managed the supply of both alcohol and cigarettes, not to mention candy, which made their truck a popular hangout spot for everyone.”
Importantly, Arngrim made it clear that the antics did not extend to the show’s younger cast members. At 64, she emphasized that none of the child actors were involved in smoking activities during filming.
But some of her adult co-stars, including Michael Landon, “were puffing Marlboros all over the place” with the crew, who she said “went through a couple cases” of beer every day.
Arngrim also claimed Landon, who played the show’s patriarch, Charles Ingalls, “often would have a shot of whatever he was drinking that day” — usually whiskey.
Despite that, Arngrim insisted “no one was drunk on the set.”
“They were burning it off or something, because these guys were going on ladders and hanging lights and I’m going, ‘I know they’re living on beer,’” she shared.
Arngrim also said when the crew was “running low” on beer, they’d send somebody out to restock.
“The prop truck had a whole bar and at the end of each day when they were done they’d put up like a bar with a board on a couple of saw horses and then start really drinking,” she recalled.
The crew, according to Arngrim, also had “insane” Christmas and wrap parties that involved everyone having a designated driver.
Arngrim said she couldn’t believe the crew members were “still awake” to party after such heavy drinking.
“Their tolerance was God knows what,” she shared. “Because they were out of the ’50s where you drank and you smoked. They did not think this was weird.”
Based on the popular book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, “Little House on the Prairie” followed the pioneer Ingalls family living their rural frontier life in Walnut Grove, Minnesota.
The series, which aired for nine seasons between 1974 and 1983 on NBC, had multiple scandals including Landon’s affair with teenage stand-in actress Cindy Clerico and stars Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson’s decades-long feud.
A “Little House on the Prairie” reboot series with a new cast premiered on Netflix last week.