Little House on the Prairie’s “Pa” Ingalls was a very dirty person, according to his on-screen spouse.
In her upcoming memoir, Karen Grassle — who played ‘Ma’ Caroline Ingalls on the hit show — writes that her co-star Michael Landon was uncomfortably candid about his sex drive on set.
According to the 79-year old, Landon died in 1991. He boasted of his “revived sexuality” after taking bee pollen supplements.
She says that Mike arrived at the makeup counter jubilant, boasting about bee pollen’s benefits for an aging man.
R-rated: Karen Grassle, who played ‘Ma Caroline Ingalls’ on the Little House on the Prairie sets, writes that Michael Landon’s sexy behavior was something she found uncomfortable about.
He was not a fan. The 79 year-old revealed that Landon died in 1991 and boasted of his “revived sexuality” after taking bee pollen supplements.
The behind-the-scene tidbits are revealed in her book, ‘Bright Lights, Prairie Dust: Reflections on Life, Loss, and Love from Little House’s Ma’
According to The New York Post, Grassle’s book, titled ‘Bright Lights, Prairie Dust, Reflections on Love, Loss, Life, and the Future of Little House’s Ma’, reveals these behind-the scenes tidbits.
Grassle is most known for her role as Caroline Ingalls on the NBC drama, which ran on NBC from 1974 to 1982.
Based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s autobiographical series of the same title, the show tells the story about family life at a Minnesota farm in the 1870s to 1890s.
Though the series dealt with some very serious subjects including alcoholism, poverty, racism, addiction, cancer, and even rape, it’s considered wholesome family viewing — which makes some of Grassle’s revelations about what went on behind the scenes quite shocking.
Landon — who starred as Caroline’s husband, Charles Ingalls, and also directed and produced much of the show — created the series after starring in Bonanza.
Grassle, in her memoir, recalls Landon’s crude comments on the set. using nasty language like ‘c**t’ and making ‘These are disgusting jokes about the smell of sex after it’s over.
Mike started to appear jubilant at makeup, bragging about the bee-pollen benefits for the elderly male’, she said.
R-rated chatter is unwelcome, as ‘I didn’t wish to think about his penis’
Reported: Little House on the Prairie’s Ma & Pa are the perfect picture of marital bliss on screen – but off-camera there wasn’t any love between Landon and Grassle
His boasting about his own libido also fell in line with his behavior: In the mid-70s, he began having an affair with then-18-year-old Cindy Clerico, who served as a stand-in for Melissa Francis’s character Cassandra Cooper Ingalls.
Clerico was two decades older than Landon and reportedly loaned him a book. The two then began to flirt.
Grassle recalled, “Then, they began to move further away from all the action, engrossed with conversation, each other.” It was embarrassing for everyone in the company. All of them saw. Everybody looked away.
This was especially awkward as Landon had already been married to Marjorie Lynn Noe for more than 10 years.
Grassle states that he was acquainted with his wife. I was a guest in their house. She had been kind to me, And I thought about her children — there were three of them still at home … and younger than Cindy.’
Landon’s scandal would soon make national headlines. Later, star Melissa Gilbert would write in her memoir, Prairie Tale, that her mother broke the news of the separation to her by saying that ‘Auntie Lynn had thrown a bottle of vodka at Mike’s head.’
Cheater: While still married to his second wife, Landon began an affair with Cindy Clerico, a teen more than 20 years his junior on set (pictured 1992)
Unfaithful: Grassle said it was awkward because ‘everyone saw’ them together on set and many knew his wife, Marjorie Lynn Noe Landon (left in 1978)
Landon married his mistress 1983, and she got a new job at the makeup studio.
Clerico found a new position as a make-up artist and got married to Landon in 1983.
Landon claimed that the 1985 relationship was not based on wanting to have sexual relations with another woman.
‘You don’t dissolve a relationship to go to bed with someone 20 years younger. “You have to have serious differences and a deep-rooted need for a breakup after as many years of marriage,” he stated.
“I would do anything for that relationship to continue. But I couldn’t.” It’s not just difficult for the wife. It can be painful for both the wife and husband. However, it’s better than leaving it the same way.
Regardless, much of the Little House on the Prairie cast was put off by his affair, and would refer to Clerico as ‘that makeup artist’ on set.
Gilbert famously fell out with him, and Katherine MacGregor — who played store owner Harriet Olsen, found it another reason to dislike him, the first being her low pay.
The marriage between MacGregor and Landon became so fraught that MacGregor refused to participate in Little House: The Last Farewell. This 1984 television movie was made after MacGregor had left the show.
Katherine MacGregor played Harriet Olsen the store owner. She also had a turbulent relationship with Landon. The relationship was so fraught that Katherine MacGregor even declined to be in Little House: The Last Farewell (the 1984 television movie) that followed the end of the original series.
Grassle told the New York Post that she ‘didn’t want to have anything to do with him and the reunion.’
Grassle also shares some other revelations from her memoir. She says Landon might be very cruel to her.
Though she describes him as an ‘amazing, multi-talented person,’ she also says he ‘was very highly strung, but he was carrying the weight of the show on his shoulders.’
She doesn’t believe that that is a valid excuse for his behaviour.
After Grassle requested a raise for her second season, she appears to be in a difficult place.
Landon said no, reportedly insisting she should be making as much as the child actors — and insisting she wasn’t as popular as she believed she was.
She said that she felt insulted by her co-star in a popular series. “I did not want to exploit anyone, but I was expecting a fair salary.”
She said that he cut her scenes, leaving her out entirely of the storylines.
Is Vindictive? Vindictive?
Not nice: He could also be cruel, mocking her body and facial expressions to crew members -but Grassle didn’t feel she could call him out
He could also be cruel, mocking her body and facial expressions to crew members — but Grassle didn’t feel she could call him out.
It was almost as if I were frozen. “But as a female in 1970s Hollywood film, I had grown up with these takedowns and it didn’t occur to me to rebuke him. The professionalism was maintained. I’d be the good girl, play the part and hope.’
Many of Landon’s co-stars and colleagues have had kind words about him over the years, but Grassle is not the first to make critical remarks.
Melissa Sue Anderson was Mary Ingalls’s character and had her own thoughts in her memoir, ‘The Way I SeeIt: A Backwards Look at My Little House Life’.
According to her, Mike was an excellent father. Although he had a great father, at work he was a controlling man and sometimes could get mean. He used to pick out specific people, tease them openly and persistently.
He could be vindictive. He told me that the reason he wanted to destroy Walnut Grove, the last town in Little House, was to ensure no other person would be allowed to ever use our sets.
And most recently, Alison Arngrim — who played Nellie Oleson — told DailyMail.com that Landon was ‘more mad, bad, and dangerous to know’ than the wholesome family man he played on screen.
Alison Arngrim (right), who played Nellie Oleson in the 1970 hit show, called Landon’manic’, and said that he drank, smoked, and made ‘terrible jokes on the set of the NBC series
She said, “I was able to get along very well with him, but I always thought he was extraordinarily odd, remarkable, and crazy,”
“People see him as a wholesome farmer, but he was madder and more dangerous than they realize. He did not smoke, but he did drink and smoke.
He drove a Ferrari and was not Charles Ingalls. Three marriages were his. He was also an incredibly talented and funny man.
She was reminded of Landon’s impression that he rarely went to sleep and was constantly fueled with a “manic creative energy”.
He was driven. That kind of manic and driven creative energy that is available 24/7 can, I believe, drive many people crazy,” she stated.
She played the part of the bad girl in the series and described the scene as a mix between Mad Men from 1950s Madison Avenue, and referred to it as an old boys’ club.
The star had many fallouts, she explained. But they were able to put them aside in the “demilitarized area” of the makeup department.
Arngrim called Grassle’s book ‘fair.’ She also said that Grassle has admitted her own alcoholism, as well emotional issues, to prevent her from resolving her problems with Landon before he passed away in 1991.
According to DailyMail.com, Grassle’s and Landon’s feud did not reach the point of becoming fiery enough for ‘Ma’ to quit her job or be fired.
She claimed that Grassle was only given her job because Landon stood by her at casting sessions.
Arngrim stated that Landon never had a conflict with her, and she instead enjoyed Landon’s ‘wild’ behaviour when Arngrim was a teenager.
She said, “I remember being a teenager. I thought it was an amazing riot.” “He wasn’t everyone’s cup, but that’s absolutely right.
Arngrim claimed she understood that her friend’s book would not sugarcoat any details and presented the truth for women who worked in Hollywood in 1970s Hollywood.
“The fact is, it was in 1970s. She said it was similar to Mad Men. “It was an alternate era, and an old boys club. Michael did swear.
«[Grassle]Growing up, I was very religious. But the food at my table reminded me of Deadwood.
“She’s very honest. She talks in the book about her alcoholism and all she has been through.
She says that she once thought she might have been able to get sober and deal with her own issues. However, her and her issues collided. It was like two pieces of sandpaper. It is all very clear for her.
“The fact is, it was the 1970s. She said it was similar to Mad Men. It was another time and an older boy’s club. Michael did swear,’ Arngrim said
Arngrim, who wrote her own best selling book, Confessions of A Prairie B****: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated, said that the cast always pushed aside tensions the minute cameras rolled.
“That is what makes it so crazy. It was like we had a large family. Even though we weren’t all on the same page, we still kept in touch.
“People from different sets would come to visit and say that their idea of fighting is to eat with you. Did you realize that people on other sets have restraining order? This set is so nice!
“Even if you were having a private issue with someone, the makeup area was used as the demilitarization zones. Then you would reply, “I suppose I’m going to leave it there and start a TV series.” It was so easy.
She would not have stayed if she was on another show. She would have quit, been fired, or quit. She was with us for nine years.
When asked if she would have allowed the cast feud to take place in today’s Me Too or Time’s Up movement, she replied: “Today’s shows make a lot more.” It’s possible she could have stayed if she was paid more.
Arngrim said, “It was something I thought was hilarious as a teenage,” “He wasn’t everyone’s cup, but that’s absolutely right.”
“Things are now different. Today, the expected behaviour on a group is politer and more professional. You don’t do the same things people used to say in 1970s.
“People smoke and drink openly at the set. This was Little House on the Prairie. You can see what the scene was like in other programs.
It was difficult for women. This was an entirely different time and a very male-dominated atmosphere.
Arngrim believes Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated Landon is pivotal to Grassle’s career.
“She wouldn’t have been on the program if it wasn’t for him. It would have been completely different if it were up to the suits and network. He was determined to get her on the program.
“She claims that her emotional issues and alcoholism were major contributors to their relationship.