Stardust And Spurs: Exploring Santa Clarita’s Walk Of Western Stars – Melissa Gilbert

Saddle up for a trip through entertainment history with a weekly highlight from Santa Clarita’s Walk of Western Stars! This week, actress Melissa Gilbert!

Melissa Gilbert was born in Los Angeles, California on May 8, 1964, to newly engaged couple, Kathy Wood and David Darlington and placed for adoption immediately after birth.

Gilbert was adopted one day later by actor and comedian Paul Gilbert and his wife, dancer and actress Barbara Crane, the daughter of The Honeymooners creators Harry Crane.

The Gilbert’s later adopted a son, Jonathan, who co-starred on Little House on the Prairie, according to officials.

When Gilbert was only 6 years old, her parents divorced, and her mother married attorney Harold Abeles. Together, they had biological daughter Sara Rebecca Abeles (the actress known professionally as Sara Gilbert ) on Jan. 29, 1975.

When Gilbert was only 11-years-old her father Paul had died and was told that he had suffered a stroke and found out years later that he had been a VA patient who dealt with constant pain that he had taken his own life.

The actress’s earliest television appearances were in dozens of commercials, including one for Alpo dog food with Lorne Greene (Michael Landon’s television father on Bonanza).

Gilbert also attended school with Landon’s daughter, Leslie Landon and it was Leslie who informed her that she had won the role of Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie, beating out over 500 child actresses for the part.

The pilot was shot in 1973 and was a rating success and almost a year later, the actress began filming the series.

Gilbert became extremely close to the Landon family after her adoptive father died, however, a rift developed between Michael Landon and Gilbert after the revelation of Landon’s affair with the show’s makeup artist, Cindy Clerico.

Gilbert had limited contact with Landon after the show ended in 1984 she was contacted seven years later by Landon’s family and, upon the news of his condition, paid him a heartfelt visit following his May 9, 1991 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson where he discussed his pancreatic cancer.

Landon died a week later and Gilbert gave birth to her son with the second husband, Bruce Boxeleitner, on Oct. 6, 1995, and named him Michael in honor of Landon.

Gilbert has continued to work regularly, mainly in television and starred as Jean Donovan in the biopic Choices of the Heart (1983) and as Anna Sheridan in three episodes of Babylon 5.

The actress also provided the voice of Batgirl in the 1990s Batman: The Animated Series though she would be replaced by the voice actress Tara Strong for the series’ follow-up The New Batman Adventures.

Officials added that Gilbert received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to the television industry.

In 1989, the actress was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

In March 2012, Gilbert joined the cast of celebrity contestants of season 14 of Dancing with the Stars.

The actress was paired with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. During week four, while dancing the Paso Doble, she fell and hit her head on her partner’s leg suffered a mild concussion and was taken to a hospital.

Gilbert went home to recuperate but returned to continue in the competition. In week eight of the competition, she was eliminated, finishing in fifth place.

Gilbert was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in 2001 after a contentious candidacy, in which she ultimately beat her opponent, actress Valerie Harper.

In 2003, she was re-elected, defeating Kent McCord with 50 percent of the vote to his 42 percent.  In July 2005, she announced that she would not seek a third term.

On August 10, 2015, Gilbert announced her campaign for Michigan’s 8th congressional district in the 2016 elections to the United States House of Representatives.

Gilbert, who was the presumptive Democratic nominee in the district, dropped out of the race in May 2016, citing health issues.

In 2022, Gilbert launched a lifestyle app aimed at women called Modern Prairie.

The actress was married to her first husband, Bo Brinkman, from February 1988 until Valentine’s Day of 1994, when they divorced. The two shared one child together.

One year later, Gilbert married her second husband, Bruce Boxleitner, in January 1995. The two divorced on Aug. 25, 2005. The couple shared one child.

In 2013, the famous actress married her third husband, Timothy Busfield. They are currently married and have no children.

Where is Melissa Gilbert Walk of Western Stars Plaque?

Melissa Gilbert was honored with a plaque on the Walk of Western Stars in 2004. The plaque sits on the east side of Main Street, south of Market Street, in front of El Trocadero.

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