Little House on the Prairie had a rotating door of cast members over its nine seasons and three post-show movies.
There really weren’t too many actors in the entirety of the series. Those few were Michael Landon (Charles Ingalls), Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls Wilder), Richard Bull (Nells Oleson), Katherine MacGregor (Harriet Oleson), Jonathan Gilbert (Willie Oleson), Kevin Hagen (Dr. Hiram Baker), and Dabbs Greer (Reverend Robert Alden).
Little House on the Prairie premiered on September 11, 1974, so this year marks the 50th anniversary of the iconic show! To celebrate, there was a huge event where several stars reunited and they even did an interview with Good Morning America.
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During the anniversary event, Johnathan Gilbert – who is the brother of Melissa Gilbert – made a rare public appearance to celebrate the show that changed his life.
Since leaving acting, Jonathan has been quite the recluse and has stayed out of the spotlight. There were many rumors about what he had been up to, but it seemed no one knew for certain.
In her 2010 autobiography, Melissa revealed that after her brother moved away from California in his early 20s, they no longer had a relationship. She did not know why, but they did reunite at the 50th anniversary event.
When asked what he’s been up to since the show ended in 1982, he had a lot to say.
He said he “studied under teachers and masters and wisemen, had a whole spiritual journey for maybe 20 years.”
Jonathan also revealed that he “worked in finance on Wall Street,” which the moderator said confirmed the online rumors about his post-Little House life. That shouldn’t have been too big a revelation, since his sister Melissa revealed this fact in her 2010 autobiography.
Jonathan continued, “Yeah, lived in Manhattan for a long time. But really at the end of the day, there’s nothing better than acting with the ‘Little House’ cast. Of all the things, that feels most like living, which is odd because I spent the whole time after ‘Little House’ trying to figure out how to live. What I didn’t really realize, I suppose until this week, was that I was already home.”
His reply to this question garnered a huge round of applause from fans in the audience, and some even gave him a standing ovation! Alison Arngrim, who played Nellie Oleson, was on the panel with him and she “fell” out of her chair onto the floor and said, “I’m dead!”
That was a good place to end the panel! Watch the video below of him explaining his life after Little House on the Prairie.