Melissa Gilbert’s Love Life: From Rob Lowe to Timothy Busfield—How She Finally Found Happiness
The actress has dated some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Learn more about her high-profile relationships and three marriages
Melissa Gilbert became America’s sweetheart while portraying Laura Ingalls on the 1974 to 1983 Western drama series, Little House on the Prairie, from age 10 to 19. After becoming the star of the hit show, Gilbert was everywhere and everyone knew her name.
From her early teen years to the present, she’s dated and married some of the biggest stars, from Rob Lowe to Timothy Busfield. Learn more about the loves and relationships of Melissa Gilbert’s life and how she’s finally found the happiness she always deserved.
Michael Landon Jr.
In her teen years, Gilbert found a connection with Michael Landon Jr., the son of her co-star and father figure, Michael Landon. The two began seeing each other around 1979, but the union didn’t last very long, ending in 1980. However, Gilbert and Landon remained friends for life as she was very close with his father.
Rob Lowe
Not long after her split from Landon, Gilbert began dating movie actor Rob Lowe. The two had briefly met when they were 14 in 1978, but it wasn’t until they were both 17 in 1981 that Lowe and Gilbert fell hard and fast for one another.
“I fell instantly, hopelessly and stupidly in love,” Gilbert wrote in her 2009 memoir, Prairie Tale. “We went from first date to instant couple. I felt like I was starving for Rob.”
Gilbert and Lowe were together for a total of six years, though the relationship was on and off. But as Little House on the Prairie was winding down, Lowe’s career was just beginning to skyrocket. Thanks to the success of his film, The Outsiders (1983), he began booking movies left and right, which meant a steady stream of new co-stars.
Lowe admitted to cheating on Gilbert multiple times throughout their relationship, with actors like Demi Moore and Nastassja Kinski. After Gilbert learned about his affair with Kinski, she got revenge of her own with John Cusack, a good friend of Lowe’s.
“We ended up having a little fling, which I kept from Rob,” she wrote in the book. “It was my own private ‘screw you.’ Only John and I ever knew about it. He was very sweet and funny.” But Gilbert and Lowe ended up going back to one another.
The couple ultimately got engaged in 1986 and soon after, Gilbert became pregnant accidentally. Lowe, however, told the actress he was not ready to be a father and they split up for good in 1987. Gilbert later had a miscarriage. In her book, she recalled the pain, writing, “I had lost my baby and my relationship with Rob. It hurt like hell.”
Gilbert and Lowe both shared years later that they believed they were just too young to be in a committed relationship.
Bo Brinkman
Following the end of her torrid relationship with Lowe, Gilbert wed actor Bo Brinkman in 1988. The actress described in her memoir that she was infatuated with him after meeting during a group dinner.
“I turned around and saw this long-haired, very handsome man … He introduced himself as Bo Brinkman,” she wrote. “He was gorgeous and had danger written all over him.”
Throughout their six-year marriage, Brinkman had an issue with alcoholism, which caused problems for the newlyweds. In 1989, the couple welcomed their son, Dakota Brinkman, but not long after, Gilbert caught Brinkman cheating on her. Eventually, in 1994, the couple divorced.
Bruce Boxleitner
Following her split from Brinkman, Gilbert crossed paths with actor Bruce Boxleitner. The pair married in 1995 and were together for 16 years before calling it quits. During their union, Gilbert and Boxleitner welcomed one son, Michael, in 1995.
In 2011, Gilbert filed for divorce from her second husband, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason.
Timothy Busfield
The Little House on the Prairie star finally found her happily ever after with actor Timothy Busfield, who she met at a bar in 2012. Busfield would often go to a normally empty bar across the street from Universal Studios to enjoy some peace and quiet before the crowd picked up. One night, there was one other person there: Melissa Gilbert.
“There was one person sitting at the bar and she had a fedora on, and I couldn’t tell who it was, but I knew it was problematic,” Busfield explained. “I knew she was the one. It felt so real.”
By December of that year, the couple was engaged and married by April 2013. In 2021, after eight years of marriage, they became grandparents after Gilbert’s son, Dakota Brinkman, welcomed daughter Ripley. A year later, Gilbert and Busfield decided to expand the family by adopting a rescue puppy.
The year 2022 also marked the couple’s 10-year anniversary of their first meeting. Gilbert shared a sweet Instagram post on the day, which read, “I was instantly, completely and madly besotted and remain completely and madly besotted to this day.”
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