Melissa Gilbert’s Birth Dad Knew Her From ‘Little House’ Before They Met: ‘You’re Laura, Aren’t You?’
The Little House star reveals how her birth dad knew her before she even said a word
Finding your birth parents can be a harrowing task for any child who has been adopted and Little House on the Prairie star knows that better than anyone. Melissa Gilbert recently offered some insight into how she found her birth parents and how her biological father knew who she was before ever meeting her.
The actress explained that when she welcomed her first son, Dakota, in 1989, she was taken aback by having someone who looked just like her and that there were likely more people out there. This sparked Gilbert to go in search of her own parents.
Although Gilbert wasn’t able to meet her biological mother before she died, the actress did have success finding her father. Unsurprisingly, she comes from a background of entertainment. Her adoptive parents were both actors, while her birth mother was an exotic dancer and her birth father was a stock car racer and musician.
Gilbert recalls meeting her father for the first time
As America’s sweetheart, it’s hard not to recognize the face of Melissa Gilbert. But her birth father recognized it for a different reason. When she met him for the first time, he asked what she did for a living.
“And I said, ‘Well, here’s the thing.’ And I said, ‘Did you ever watch Little House on the Prairie?’ And he said, ‘You’re Laura, aren’t you? I knew it.’ He knew it. He could see,” she shared. “And when I met my half-siblings, we all look alike. So, you could definitely see it. So, it’s pretty clear.”
Melissa Gilbert opens up about her birth parents
Throughout her journey to find her biological parents, Gilbert learned more about where she came from and how she ended up getting adopted.
“They were each married to other people and had three children each and ran off together and conceived me on a motorcycle trip in the desert,” Gilbert revealed of her origin story. “Explains a lot. And then they left their spouses for each other and got married after [getting] pregnant with me and moved all the kids in, so I was number seven. So the decision was made to put me up for adoption.”
Gilbert is the adopted child of actors Paul Gilbert and Barbara Cowan but her adoptive father died early in the actress’ life, when she was 11 years old.
She has also shared about the father-figure role her Little House co-star Michael Landon took on at the time.
“Michael Landon was like a father figure to many of us, obviously, and a very, very important influence in my life,” Gilbert shared during the show’s 50th anniversary cast reunion. “My own father passed away when I was 11. And I had been working with Michael for two years at that point, and he really sort of stepped in and kind of watched over me in a much more paternal way.”
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