Michael Landon was born Eugene Maurice Orowitz on October 31, 1936, in Forest Hills, New York. His father, Eli Maurice Orowitz, was an actor and movie theater manager; his mother, Kathleen, was a dancer and comedienne. He had a sister, Evelyn, who was three years older than Michael.
Michael had an unhappy and tortuous childhood. His parents didn’t get along and rarely spoke to each other. His mother was suicidal and once Michael had to save her from drowning.
Michael was also a bed wetter and his mother would hang the soiled sheets from his bod on an outdoor clothes line in an attempt to embarrass him. This experience would later become the basis for a television movie, The Loneliest Runner.
Just before he started acting he changed his last name to Landon, a name he picked out of the phone book. His first acting job was a role in The Mystery of Casper House, which lead to many other roles in such productions as I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Crossroads, The Rifleman, and many others.
In 1959 when Michael was twenty-two years old, he landed the role as Joe Cartwright in Bonanza. In 1962 he talked the producers into letting him write a script for an episode and a few years later he directed several episodes.
After Bonanza was canceled in 1973, he went on to star in Little House on the Prairie, which was another hit series. He was executive producer, writer, and director of this series.
After Little House was canceled, Michael starred in Highway to Heaven, which was a popular series. Again he was executive producer, writer, and director of the show. Michael preferred to direct and write rather than act, but actors got paid more money so he continued to act.
In 1956 Michael married Dodie Levy-Fraser. Michael adopted her son, Mark, from a previous marriage. Mark was only twelve years younger than Landon. They went on to adopt two more boys, Josh and Jason. They were divorced in 1962.
Michael married again in 1963, this time to Marjorie Lynn Noe. They had four children, Leslie, Michael Jr., Shawna, and Christopher. This marriage ended in 1980 in a very bitter and public divorce. It took two years to divide up their community property.
At this time Kodak dropped Michael as their spokesman. They felt he wasn’t living up to his clean-cut, family man image. To which Michael said, “Nobody’s perfect. Not Charles Ingalls, not Michael Landon.”
Michael’s third wife was Cindy Clerico, whom he married February 14, 1983. They had two children, Jennifer and Sean.
April 5, 1991, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had spread to his liver and lymph nodes. Michael had been a heavy smoker (four packs a day) and his doctors felt this may have contributed to him getting cancer.
Michael Landon died July 1, 1991 in Malibu, California. He was fifty-four years old. He was buried in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.
