Prairie Tale: A Memoir »

Melissa Gilbert starred as Laura Ingalls on the hit television show Little House on the Prairie. Post-Little House, Gilbert appeared in numerous Lifetime movies and recently served as president of the Screen Actors Guild for two terms. She currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Children's Hospice and and Palliative Care Coalition, where she works directly with chronically and terminally ill children to provide them with care and comfort. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Bruce Boxleitner.

A FASCINATING, HEARTBREAKING, AND ULTIMATELY UPLIFTING TALE OF SELF-DISCOVERY FROM THE BELOVED ACTRESS WHO EARNED A PERMANENT PLACE IN THE HEARTS OF MILLIONS WHEN SHE WAS JUST A CHILD

To fans of the hugely successful television series Little House on the Prairie, Melissa Gilbert grew up in a fantasy world with a larger-than-life father, friends and family she could count on, and plenty of animals to play with. Children across the country dreamed of the Ingalls’ idyllic life—and so did Melissa.

With candor and humor, the cherished actress traces her complicated journey from buck-toothed Laura "Halfpint" Ingalls to Hollywood starlet, wife, and mother. She partied with the Brat Pack, dated heartthrobs like Rob Lowe and bad boys like Billy Idol, and began a self-destructive pattern of addiction and codependence. She eventually realized that her career on television had earned her popularity, admiration, and love from everyone but herself.

Through hard work, tenacity, sobriety, and the blessings of a solid marriage, Melissa has accepted her many different identities and learned to laugh, cry, and forgive in new ways. Women everywhere may have idolized her charming life on Little House on the Prairie, but Melissa’s own unexpectedly honest, imperfect, and down-to-earth story is an inspiration.

Foreword Patty Duke xi

Revelations and Realizations

1 Fairy Dust 3

2 With Pardons to Darwin, The Origin Is Specious 13

3 Showtime 23

4 Something Better 34

5 Little House 45

Love, Loss, and Love

6 Growing Pains 57

7 What the Hell Happened? 65

8 Oh Shit, They Got a Real Man! 79

9 Not So Sweet Sixteen 90

10 Once, Twice, Three Times a Woman 101

11 Meet Cute 112

12 I'm Eighteen, and I Like It 124

13 Choices of the Heart 136

Hollywood Is the Devil's Toilet

14 The World According to? 149

15 Andy Wants to Know If Any Famous People Are Here 164

16 Wait a Minute, Who's the Princess in This Love Story? 173

17 What Fresh Hell Is This? 184

A Brand-New Start of It

18 The Heart of the Matter 199

19 New York Stories 209

20 Newsflash: This Person Doesn't Yell, "Do Me, Daddy" 223

21 No, No, No, We're Not Going to Do That 235

22 Gettysburg Was My Waterloo 247

Exactly Where I Need to Be

23 Gable and Lombard: The TV Version 261

24 Dates We Will Never Forget 273

25 Days of Miracles and Wonder 283

26 Inappropriate Behavior 299

27 All Kinds of Crazy 312

28 Madam Half Pint 322

29 A Pain in the Neck 335

30 The Sweet, Simple Things 348

Acknowledgments 361