Melissa Gilbert Shares the Sweet Nickname Michael Landon Gave Her on the ‘Little House’ Set
Find out the touching reason Michael Landon gave Melissa Gilbert this adorable nickname on set
It seems we’re not the only ones who reminisce about the Little House on the Prairie days. Melissa Gilbert, who famously portrayed the middle daughter, Laura Ingalls, shared that she’s been thinking about the past, specifically her early days on the Western series.
While appearing on The View, Gilbert shared that she’d been remembering some of her favorite memories from the Little House set, likely since the news of the Netflix reboot dropped, and she came across a fond one. She explained how Michael Landon, who portrayed Charles Ingalls, came up with his nickname for her.
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently because it’s just sort of in the atmosphere,” Gilbert explained. “And the one thing that keeps popping in my head was the first day of filming on the pilot when Michael Landon came up to me and he said, ‘Do you have a nickname because there’s two Melissas now,’” she recalled, referencing Melissa Sue Anderson. “And I said, ‘I don’t.’ And he said, ‘Well, what nickname do you want?’”
Gilbert thought about what she wanted Landon to call her so that there was no confusion between herself and Melissa Sue Anderson, who portrayed her on-screen sister, Mary Ingalls. The actress came up with an interesting name, but Landon objected.
“‘I said, ‘Actually, I would like to be called ‘Moishe,’” she continued, referring to the Hebrew name typically given to men. “And he said, ‘What? Why Moishe?’ And I said, ‘I heard it at home, it’s a cool name, right?’ He said, ‘No. You are not Moishe. You are not an old Jewish man. We are going to call you Half Pint.’ And I’ve been Half Pint ever since!”
Michael Landon’s nickname for Melissa Gilbert had a deeper meaning
If you’re thinking you’ve heard the “Half Pint” nickname before, you’d be correct, because this was not only the name for Gilbert, but also for Laura Ingalls herself. In the book series that inspired the show, which aired from 1974-1983, Ingalls explains that her Pa called her Half Pint because she was like “half-pint of sweet cider half-drunk up.”
Laura Ingalls Wilder did end up only hitting 4’ 11” as an adult, though that was a fairly normal height for women at the time. So, it seems that her father’s decision for the nickname was just a sweet one he made for his daughter.
Gilbert, however, explained that Landon’s Half-Pint nickname was meant to differentiate her from her on-screen sister, who was also named Melissa. He also came up with a nickname for Melissa Sue Anderson, calling her Missy, so that there was no on-set confusion.
Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon’s close bond off-screen
The Half-Pint nickname from Landon had much more meaning behind it aside from it being Laura Ingalls’s actual nickname. Gilbert, who portrayed Landon’s daughter on Little House, had a special relationship with her on-screen father. The two instantly clicked and remained close until his untimely passing in 1991.
Gilbert has spoken highly of Landon, explaining how he was like a surrogate father to her and a great influence on her life. She opened up about how he stepped in for her at a young age.
“Michael Landon was like a father figure to many of us, obviously, and a very, very important influence in my life,” Gilbert shared. “My own father passed away when I was 11,” she continues. “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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