For legions of viewers, “Little House on the Prairie” was must-see television from the mid-1970s to the early ’80s. However,,” Butler opens up about being cast as Almanzo Wilder on the show’s sixth season when he was 23 years old. Co-starThough audiences at the time seemingly overlooked the age gap between the characters at the time “Little House on the Prairie” was on the air, Butler doesn’t think that would be the case in 2024.in an interview published Sunday.
“That was still all ahead of her,” he explained. “So to ask her to step into that when she had no real life experience? It does speak to Melissa’s gumption and her courage. She just did it. She put all of her anxieties aside and just stepped in. She knew what she had to do to be the Laura that she was supposed to be.”One person who did have some reservations, however, was Gilbert’s mother, Barbara Abeles.
“I had a sense that Barbara was not fully supportive of my presence in the show,” Butler wrote in his book,. “Her unhappiness culminated, perhaps, in not being able to bear seeing me kiss her daughter. It was a protective displeasure; Barbara knew her daughter. I didn’t, and in some sense, I’m glad.