Current:Home > reviewsMelissa Gilbert recalls 'painful' final moment with 'Little House' co-star Michael Landon -TrueNorth Finance Path
Melissa Gilbert recalls 'painful' final moment with 'Little House' co-star Michael Landon
View
Date:2025-04-14 05:26:14
Melissa Gilbert is remembering her late "Little House on the Prairie" co-star Michael Landon, and honoring him decades after his death.
Gilbert recalled the "very painful" moment she visited the actor a week before his death, but the while, Landon managed to provide "a lot of humor."
"There were always funny moments with Michael," Gilbert told Fox News Digital in an interview published Sunday. "Even as sick as he was, he still maintained his incredible sense of humor."
Landon was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April 1991 and died three months later, on July 1. He was 54. The actor played patriarch Charles Ingalls on "Little House on the Prairie," while Gilbert played his daughter Laura Ingalls.
Gilbert, who owns a lifestyle brand, has since teamed up with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to fund research by creating a "lavender bloom" bonnet and accessory collection. Gilbert said it's important as "supporting one cancer research benefits all the others."
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
She remembered Landon's real-life daughter, Leslie Landon Matthews, sharing news of his diagnosis before he announced it publicly.
"Her dad was going to do a press conference, and she didn't want me to just hear about it. So she called and told me … I was gutted," she told the outlet.
Gilbert noted she lost her own father at 11.
"I had been running from the grieving process my whole life and trying to avoid it. But it was really important for me to go and have that goodbye time, which I didn't have with my father," she continued. "This was a chance to gift myself with that goodbye and say to him all the things I needed to say."
Melissa Gilberton anti-aging, Modern Prairie and the 'Little House' episode that makes her cry
Landon Matthews, who appeared on "Little House on the Prairie" as Etta Plum, told Fox News in an interview published in June that her famous dad was stubborn and resisted scheduling physicals during his life. But by the time her dad began experiencing an "uncontrollable pain" in his stomach on vacation, she said he "couldn't ignore it anymore" and had to fly home to see a doctor.
Michael Landon stubbornlyfailed to prioritize his health before cancer, daughter says
The actress, in Sunday's interview, said Landon tried "everything" to fight the disease, from traditional treatments to "holistic and Eastern" options.
"He was always in a hospital, a treatment center, or a holistic medicine center. He even talked about doing coffee enemas. He was constantly searching, trying and fighting," she told the outlet. "It wasn't until very close to the end that everybody realized that it was the end … nothing worked."
Contributing: Brendan Morrow
veryGood! (73)
Related
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra, musicians union agree to 3-year contract
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he will sign climate-focused transparency laws for big business
- What is UAW? What to know about the union at the heart of industry-wide auto workers strike
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Ford and GM announce hundreds of temporary layoffs with no compensation due to strike
- Zimbabwe’s reelected president says there’s democracy. But beating and torture allegations emerge
- Joe Biden defends UAW strike; tells industry they must share record profits
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- Comedian Russell Brand denies allegations of sexual assault published by three UK news organizations
Ranking
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- Lee makes landfall in Canada with impacts felt in New England: Power outages, downed trees
- A Mississippi jury rules officers justified in fatal 2017 shooting after police went to wrong house
- Ukraine is the spotlight at UN leaders’ gathering, but is there room for other global priorities?
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Lots of indoor farms are shutting down as their businesses struggle. So why are more being built?
- Mike Babcock resigns as Blue Jackets coach amid investigation involving players’ photos
- An explosion hits an apartment in northern Syria. At least 1 person was killed with others wounded
Recommendation
How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
UNESCO names Erfurt’s medieval Jewish buildings in Germany as a World Heritage Site
2 pilots killed after their planes collided upon landing at air races in Reno, Nevada
An upsetting Saturday in the SEC? Bold predictions for Week 3 in college football
Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
Inside Deion Sanders' sunglasses deal and how sales exploded this week after criticism
Denny Hamlin wins at Bristol, defending champ Joey Logano knocked out of NASCAR playoffs
Italian air force aircraft crashes during an acrobatic exercise. A girl on the ground was killed