What Happened to the Original Andrew Garvey on ‘Little House on the Prairie’ and Who Portrayed Him?

For fans of the original Little House on the Prairie, Patrick Labyorteaux is best remembered as Andrew “Andy” Garvey, the adopted son of Jonathan Garvey (Merlin Olsen). But he wasn’t the first actor to play the role as Andy was formally introduced in Season 4’s “The Wolves,” but the character had actually appeared earlier in uncredited scenes and was played by a different young actor. .

Learn more about who portrayed Andy Garvey on Little House before Labyorteaux, why the actor changed and more about the character.

Who originally played Andrew Garvey?

The folks at Walnut Groovy have discovered the original Andrew Garvey!
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The actor who filled in for the role of Andrew Garvey before Labyorteaux booked it was Rusty Gilligan. The then 12-year old had previously held a few uncredited roles in Family Affair (1971) and Police Woman (1977). Gilligan played the part in two episodes, the Season 4 premiere, “Castoffs,” and the third episode, “My Ellen.” At that point, the character had no speaking lines, so you may not have noticed him just yet, but by the fifth episode, another, more seasoned actor in the form of Labyorteaux had been cast.

After his time on Little House on the Prairie, Gilligan continued to appear in small roles on television and in films, including Thunder (1977), Lucan (1977–78) and Donovan’s Kid (1979). He later transitioned into professional wrestling, where he competed in the late 1980s and held championship titles in promotions such as the United States Wrestling Association and Championship Wrestling League.

Eventually Gilligan went back to his creative roots and began working in the art department for films and TV shows, serving as a storyboard and production artist on projects like Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), The Walking Dead (2010) and The Avengers (2012). Gilligan returned to acting in later years, including voice work, and has appeared in projects such as Bottom Creek (2017), Brazen Impact (2022) and Captain Corpse (2024).

Who took over the role?

Little House on the Prairie fans will, of course, recognize Patrick Labyorteaux, who took over the role of Andy Garvey from Season 4 through Season 7. The actor later recalled that landing the part came as a surprise.

“I’d been a fan of Little House because I was the same age as Melissa [Gilbert, who played Laura], and I loved watching a kid my age go on all these adventures,” Labyorteaux recalled. “On a Wednesday, I had just watched an episode—I think it was “Bunny” or “The Race”—and that Thursday, my mom told me I had an audition for Paramount. I auditioned for Susie Sukman, the casting director. She said, ‘I want you to read for Michael Landon,’ and it turned out it was for Little House. I thought, ‘Great, I love Little House!’”

When Labyorteaux booked the role, he was unaware of the commitment he was about to undertake, expecting it to have only been one episode. He explained that when he “went around to say goodbye and thank everybody, Melissa [Gilbert] goes, ‘What are you doing?’ I’m like, ‘It was great working with you!’ She goes, ‘You’re in the next episode!'”

As it turned out, the actor was in more than just the next episode, appearing in a total of 44 between 1977 and 1981. His real life adopted brother, Matthew Labyorteaux, had already been a character in the series, appearing in one episode of Season 3 as a young Charles Ingalls. Matthew later returned as Albert Quinn, who the Ingalls eventually adopted. However, even though both real life brothers were on the show, their casting was a coincidence.

“I was really happy that my brother and I got to do the show together,” Patrick shared of working with him. “Getting to be on the same show and doing all of our press and appearances together was really helpful for emotional support and for being under the gun.”