Melissa Sue Anderson

Melissa Sue Anderson (born September 26, 1962) is an American-Canadian actress. She began her career as a child actress. Anderson is known for her role as Mary Ingalls on the NBC drama series Little House on the Prairie.

She is also known for her film roles; Vivian in Midnight Offerings, Ginny in the cult classic slasher Happy Birthday to Me, and Alex in the ABC Afterschool Special, Which Mother Is Mine?.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Acting 1.2 Author

2 Personal life 3 Filmography 3.1 Television 3.2 Film

Career
Acting

Her show business career began when a dance teacher urged her parents to find an agent for her. She began doing television commercials, and soon she was in demand for television roles. Her first came in a 1972 episode of Bewitched entitled "Tabitha's First Day Of School." A memorable early role of hers was of Millicent, a girl who kissed Bobby, which caused Bobby to fear contracting mumps, and induced him to see fireworks on The Brady Bunch.

At the age of eleven, Anderson landed the role of Mary Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie. She would go on to star on the show for eight seasons; beginning in 1974 and leaving after season seven, later appearing in two episodes of season eight in late 1981.

Anderson with Lance Kerwin in the 1977 television film, James at 15 In 1976, Michael Landon asked Anderson if she would appear in his autobiographical film,The Loneliest Runner. Anderson agreed to play Nancy Rizzi, the first girlfriend of John Curtis (based on Landon and played by Lance Kerwin), saying she was very thrilled to have been asked. In 1977, she once again co-starred as the love interest opposite Lance Kerwin in the television film James at 15.

She was nominated for a 1978 Primetime Emmy Award for Best Leading Actress in a Drama Series for her work on Little House on the Prairie and won the Emmy Award for her performance in Which Mother Is Mine?, which aired as an ABC Afterschool Special in 1979. Also in 1979, she played the title role of Dana Lee Gilbert, a North Dakota transfer student to Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, California in CBS's TV movie Survival of Dana.

In 1980, Anderson earned a 'TP de Oro' Award (considered to be Spain's most prestigious award for television) for 'Best Foreign Actress' for her role in Little House on the Prairie. This followed a successful visit to Spain in 1979 to appear as a guest on RTVE's program, 625 Lineas. In 1981, she earned a Young Artist Award nomination for her performance in the Canadian slasher film Happy Birthday to Me.[1] After leaving Little House, she continued acting in television shows like The Equalizer, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1980s), and Murder, She Wrote, and was the associate producer for the next to last TV project Michael Landon made before dying: Where Pigeons Go to Die (1990). In 1998, she was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Author

In 2010 Anderson released her autobiography entitled The Way I See It - A Look Back at My Life on Little House. The book, which is primarily based on her life during her years as a child star on The Little House On The Prairie, contains behind-the-scenes stories and anecdotes about the show itself, its stars, guest stars, and crew members.

Methodically, Anderson takes the reader through each of the first seven seasons of the show (the seasons in which she appeared). She also tells about her pre- and post-Little House career and her side-projects during the Little House years. She is frank and open about her feelings about the projects in which she has been involved, and also writes about her personal life and how it was affected by her career.

Personal life
Anderson was born in Berkeley, California. Anderson's first publicly known romance was with actor Lorenzo Lamas,[citation needed] with whom she made an appearance in the television series The Love Boat in which two friends (Lorenzo and Melissa) resist the matchmaking efforts of their parents. After this short romance, she dated Frank Sinatra, Jr.[citation needed] in the late 1970s, who, at the time, was more than twice her age.

With husband Michael Sloan, Anderson has two children, daughter Piper (born February 1991) and son Griffin (born June 1996). She has lived in Montreal, Quebec, Canada since 2002. She and her husband became naturalized Canadians in 2007.[2]

Filmography
Television

Year

Title

Role

Notes

1972 Bewitched Girl Episode: "Tabitha's First Day of School" 1973 The Brady Bunch Millicent Episode: "Never Too Young" 1973 Shaft Cathy (uncredited) Episode: "The Enforcers" 1974–81 Little House on the Prairie Mary Ingalls 163 episodes 1976 The Loneliest Runner Nancy Rizzi 1977 James at 15 Lacey Stevens Episode: "Pilot" 1977 ABC Afterschool Special Kate Episode: "Very Good Friends" 1978 The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour Director of the musical 1 episode 1978–80, 1986 The Love Boat Jennifer 'Chubs' Smith / Cindy Jerome / Cathy Cummings / Dana Colton 4 episodes 1979 Survival of Dana Dana Lee Gilbert 1979 ABC Afterschool Special Alexandria 'Alex' Benton Episode: "Which Mother Is Mine?" 1979 A New Kind of Family Lisa Episode: "The Overcharge" 1979 Little House Years Mary Ingalls 1979 CHiPs Herself Episode: "Roller Disco" (Part 2) 1980 Fantasy Island Amy Marson Episode: "Rogues to Riches/Stark Terror" 1980 Insight Mary Beth Episode: "Princess" 1981 Midnight Offerings Vivian Sotherland 1981 Advice to the Lovelorn Maureen Tyler 1982 An Innocent Love Molly Rush 1982/83 Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends Katherine 'Kitty' Pryde / Sprite (voice) Episodes: "The Origin of Iceman", "The X-Men Adventure" 1983 First Affair Toby King 1984 Finder of Lost Loves Nikki Gatos Episode: "Pilot" 1984 Murder, She Wrote Eve Crystal Episode: "Hooray for Homicide" 1984 Glitter Elizabeth Episode: "A Minor Miracle" 1984/85 Hotel Cassie Ray / Anne Goldman Episodes: "Lifelines", "Imperfect Union" 1986 Dark Mansions Noelle Drake 1987–88 The Equalizer Yvette Marcel 4 episodes 1988/89 The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents Laura Donovan / Julie Fenton Episodes: "VCR - Very Careful Rape", "Murder in Mind" 1989 Memories of Manon Yvette Marcel 1989 The Return of Sam McCloud Colleen McCloud 1993/94 X-Men Snowbird (voice) Episodes: "Repo Man", "Phoenix Saga, Part 5: Child of Light" 1994 Burke's Law Michelle Ryder Episode: "Who Killed Alexander the Great?" 1998 Earthquake in New York Dr. Marilyn Blake 1999 Partners Cheryl Darrin 3 episodes 2000 Thin Ice Tanya Ferguson 2006 10.5: Apocalypse First Lady Megan Hollister 2007 Marco Polo Mother (voice, uncredited)

Film

Year

Title

Role

Notes

1981 Happy Birthday to Me Virginia Wainwright 1984 Goma-2 Kukki (uncredited) 1984 Chattanooga Choo Choo Jennie 1988 The Suicide Club Laura Donovan on TV 1988 Far North Young Nurse 1989 Looking Your Best 1990 Dead Men Don't Die Dulcie Niles 1991 Manuel 1994 Animated Stories from the Bible: Music Video – Volume 1 Snake (voice) Video 1995 Killer Lady American Lady 2006 Crazy Eights Hospital Patient (uncredited) 2010 Marker 187 Short film 2016 The Brits Are Coming Filming