‘I Have Never Had Children’: The Truth Behind ‘Little House’ Star Charlotte Stewart’s Choice
She may play a schoolteacher on ‘Little House,’ but having her own children just wasn’t in the cards
Key Takeaways
- Charlotte Stewart starred as Miss Beadle in 'Little House on the Prairie'
- Charlotte Stewart has opened up about her decision to never have children
- Charlotte Stewart based her character, Miss Beadle, on her sister
Little House on the Prairie fans remember Charlotte Stewart as the beloved schoolteacher, Miss Beadle. As a kind and dedicated presence in Walnut Grove, she helped guide and nurture students like Mary and Laura Ingalls.
On screen, Miss Beadle embodied a gentle, almost maternal warmth. Off screen, however, Stewart took a different path. The actress has spoken candidly about the fact that motherhood simply wasn’t part of her life, a personal choice that stood in quiet contrast to the nurturing figure she portrayed each week.
Learn more about Charlotte Stewart’s decision not to have children as well asher marriage and who she based her maternal character on.
Why Charlotte Stewart never had children
Although Miss Beadle decided to have a child on Little House with her husband, Stewart knew it wasn’t something she wanted for herself. Despite being married, the actress has been confidently set in her decision.
“I have never had children, by choice,” Stewart shared in a 2024 interview. “I just didn’t think I would be a good mother. I chose my career first, and I’m not sorry about that. My sister had seven children, so that was enough. I have my family around me, all the holidays, all my nieces and nephews. I’m wonderful with kids. I’m very good with them. It just wasn’t my calling.”
About Charlotte Stewart’s love life
The actress is currently in a happy, loving marriage with her husband, Michael Santos, whom she reconnected with years after their first meeting.
“We met, oh gosh, over 30 years ago,” Stewart shared in 2016. “His sister married my brother, and we met then.”
Although the two had a connection, nothing ever came of it and both Stewart and Santos went on to marry other people. But one Christmas Eve, after both of their spouses had passed on, they reconnected.
“We met Christmas Eve, three years ago, when I opened the door and there was an old friend,” she said in that 2016 interview. “Michael was standing there and my brain went, ‘Ya-hoo!!’ I think his did the same thing… We’ve literally been together ever since.”
Stewart and Santos tied the knot in 2015 and have been happily married ever since. Prior to their union, Stewart was married to My Three Sons star Tim Considine from 1965 until 1969, followed by actor David Banks from 1992 to 2012.
Who is Miss Beadle based on
The character of Miss Beadle is very much a motherly figure, but the idea for her voice and personality wasn’t based on Stewart’s own life. In 2019, the actress recalled how she created her on-screen persona.
“As I read through my first script for the episode ‘Country Girls,’ the voice and personality that came through most clearly was that of my sister Barbara Jean,” she shared. “Where I had no children of my own, Barbara Jean had seven, aged two years apart.”
Stewart explained that she felt her sister through the character of Miss Beadle and channeled her while acting on the series.
“When I would visit her family, I was always in awe of how Barbara Jean could keep it together. She’d be nursing an infant while a three-year-old was pulling the dog’s tail and someone else was falling down the stairs, and she would keep her cool, remain in charge, and run the show. She was unfailingly kind, firm, loving, and never seemed too rattled by any of it.”
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