Melora Hardin Opens Up About Her Time with Michael Landon While onLittle House on the PrairieSet as a Child Actor

Mar. 15, 2025

Melora Hardin’s career as a child actor took her to one of the most loved shows in American history:Little House on the Prairie.

The cast of ‘Little House on the Prairie.’ Clockwise from left: Melissa Sue Anderson, Lindsay or Sydney Greenbush, Michael Landon, Karen Grassle and Melissa Gilbert.Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Melora Hardin (left); Michael Landon in ‘Little House on the Prairie’ (right).Maya Dehlin Spach/WireImage; NBCU Photo Bank/Getty

Maya Dehlin Spach/WireImage; NBCU Photo Bank/Getty

Melora Hardin in 1980.Jim Britt /American Broadcasting Companies via Getty

Jim Britt /American Broadcasting Companies via Getty

Hardin credited Landon — who not only starred in the series but was also an executive producer, write and director — with fostering a “community feeling” on set. “He was just so warm,” she remembered of the actor,who died in 1991 at age 54. “He was so sweet. He made all the kids and adults, everybody, feel like he had really chosen you. And he just let you do your thing.”

Hardin — whose credits also includeThe Bold Type,TransparentandMonk— said that she first started acting because her mom Diane, was an acting teacher who taught young stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, River and Joaquin Phoenix and Molly Ringwald. “She was my stage mom, and she was my first teacher, really,” she said.

Melora Hardin in September 2024.Ilya S. Savenok/Gett

Ilya S. Savenok/Gett

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“She just is so joyful about the craft of acting,” Hardin said. Her mom wasn’t focused on her “being famous,” but on her “learning the craft and being an artist.” She said both her parents (her dad isX-Filesactor Jerry Hardin) allowed her to have a “real childhood” while still working.

“They really believed and understood that you have to have life experience to be a great actor,” she explained. “You can’t be a great actor without great life experience.”

source: people.com