Prairie Tale: A Memoir by Melissa Gilbert is the new book about the life of the actress in a tell all book. Prairie Tale was published in June of 2009 by Simon Spotlight Entertainment. We knew her as Half Pint on the long running beloved historical television show, Little House on the Prairie, that also starred Michael London. What we did not know is the problems that she has been having for a long time. In this book, she comes clean with the public that watched her grow up on the television that she has long been an alcoholic. She tells about how her life has long spiraled out of control until she finally made the decision to stop and take a look at her life.
Melissa Gilbert long knew she was adopted but did not know who her biological parents were. Her adoptive mother did not tell her much about her biological parents, but gave her version that she accepted for many years until the birth of her first child, in which she made the decision to find them. Her grandfather was Paul Gilbert, who apparently was a renowned actor that everyone knew and loved. She was one of the five children in this family. Her father was a man who was a performer and was married many times before and after his marriage to Melissa’s mother. He had two children from a previous marriage and two children with Melissa’s mother. I was surprised to learn that the Jonathan that Melissa talked about in this book was the young man that played Willie Olsen on Little House on the Prairie. I did not realize this and was intrigued. She was able to get her job on Little House from hard work and the help of her grandfather. Melissa also gives in detail of her life on the set and growing up on this show. She also states that she was terrified when her character was to be married and she lets us know that she was also not happy with the situation. She lets us know that she was a virgin until she had an affair and this set her free. She was very close to Michael London, who treated everyone with respect unless you did something he did not like and he would give you a look that made you cringe. She also states that she was not close to Melissa Sue Anderson and they often did not get along.
Melissa also tells in detail about her life with Rob Lowe, the marvelous actor we all know today as playing on the Television show, Brothers and Sisters. She details her life rocky romance and life with Rob, how they fell in love and she became part of the “Brat Pack” that Rob and others were known as. At times, they had some hard times and would break up several times, before Rob would ultimately propose to her. She accepted but then she got pregnant. It was then, she would tell us that Rob backed off, making all sorts of excuses and tragically, Melissa would lose her baby. Melissa would have some hard times after this and she would have numerous affairs and flings. Melissa would state that she was insecure and not sure how to react since in her world, emotion was not usually allowed growing up. She managed to get past the hard times and she would tells us about the numerous roles that she would have over the years. She was one of the lucky actresses in Hollywood and New York. She was able to have steady work as an actress all her life. She was devastated to learn about Michael London’s illness and ultimate death. He had taught her almost all that she had knew and would always remember him as her Pa on the show.
Melissa would also tell about her romance and marriage to Bo Brinkman. She would marry her first husband six weeks after they met and was soon pregnant with his baby. They would have a rocky marriage that would last about five years. They would have their problems but she was determined to stay in the marriage until finally she could not take anymore. She also tells us about her romances with many other men, including Billy Idol, until she was introduced to Bruce Boxleitner by his ex-wife, Kitty Ogilvy. They were friends first before anything started and they would also have a rocky romance. They would have many problems in their relationship over the years, even breaking up a few times, mainly due to Bruce and his problems with failure and commitment. Finally he asked her to marry him and she accepted. They still had problems but they were able to get passed their problems and marry. She would surprise him when she got pregnant with her son, Michael. Her pregnancy with Michael was not easy especially after her ex went after her in the National Inquirer. She would end up having the baby earlier than expected because of the stress and the baby almost did not make it. Michael made it and he is a thriving young man today. Melissa also tells about her spiraling out of control drinking that started out as social and then became a part of get through the day and also to halt the problems in her life. She was able to stop once and live a normal life until something happened and she spiraled down again. It took her son, Michael, to wake her up to the fact of where her life was going and she made the effort to get help. She and Bruce still had problems but they always managed to get past them. She also talks about being the President of the SAG and the problems associated with it. Today, Melissa is still working on her life, but she is doing better and feels like someone who has made it.
