True fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder know that there were no mountains in the distance in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. That disparity came from the filming location. It was an L.A. show, thus the mountainy goodness. The character of Laura wasn’t too far off real, though, at least not the one in the books. That said, the stories were not all from Ingalls (the writer and real life Laura). Michael Landon, who controlled much of the show’s direction all while playing Charles Ingalls, borrowed stories from the show Bonanza to craft Little House episodes. If you like that morsel, keep going to read 25 more secrets about Little House on the Prairie.
Melissa Gilbert was 15 when she kissed Dean Butler on screen
The story starts with a young Laura Ingalls, but in later years she is old enough to date and even marry. The show’s producers intentionally cast Melissa Gilbert for her flexible age, but she was a little young for kissing. Then they asked her to kiss her costar, Dean Butler. He was 23, but Gilbert was only 15 years old. Needless to say she survived, but scary.
Alison Arngrim passed out once from heat exhaustion
The actress who played the super-annoying Nellie Oleson once took a dive from exhaustion. The problem was the costumes, which were traditional 1800s clothing. They filmed much of the show in Simi Valley, California, on a ranch. Some days the temperatures would exceed 90 degrees. Arngrim wasn’t alone. Once an assistant director also passed out from heat.