American actress Melissa Ellen Gilbert was born 61 years ago in Los Angeles, California, is married and has 2 children. She is also a TV director, producer, politician and former director of the labour union Screen Actors Guild.
Right after she was born, Melissa was given up for adoption and when she was just one day old, she was adopted by a famous actor and his wife. Melissa started acting when she was still a kid, appearing in numerous TV commercials as from the late 60s.
In 1973, together with more than 500 other girl actresses, Melissa auditioned for and succeeded in getting the role of Laura Ingalls in the famous TV series ‘Little House on the Prairie’, alongside actor Michael Landon who played her father in the series and had also produced many episodes. The series ran for 9 years between 1974 and 1983, during which time Melissa also starred in various made-for-TV movies like ‘The Diary of Ann Frank’, ‘The Miracle Worker’ and ‘The Little House Years’.
Gilbert proceeded with her career as an adult and appeared in several productions, mostly on TV. These include the movies ‘Family Secrets’, ‘The Lookalike’, ‘Babylon 5’, ‘Mistaken Identity’ and ‘Hometown Christmas’, amongst many others. She also starred in various TV series/episodes, voiced animated film characters and performed in a couple of musicals. This year, Melissa acted in 2 episodes of the Western drama series ‘When Calls the Heart’. She also published 4 books: 2 memoirs, a cookbook and a children’s book.
During her career, Melissa received 2 Young Artist Awards, a Golden Boot Award and a TV Land Award plus a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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