Little House On The Prairie: Then & Now

Karen Grassle Now

Karen continued to act even after the end of the show, and she still performs to this day. Karen has appeared in several films and TV shows since moving on from her role as Caroline Ingalls. Among her credits are Hotel and two episodes of the hit crime show Murder, She Wrote. She also appeared alongside Kevin Costner in his 1994 Western Wyatt Earp. Additionally, Karen reprised her role as Ma Ingalls in the TV movie Little House: The Last Farewell. It was the last of three Little House movies and centered on the family reuniting against a development tycoon. Since the turn of the millennium, Karen has started to explore her love of theater and has been endorsed as the face of Premier Bathrooms.

Melissa Sue Anderson as Mary Ingalls

When she took the role of Mary Ingalls, Melissa was already a pretty established name in the acting world. She won the part at the tender age of 12, but she had already appeared in Bewitched and The Brady Bunch! That’s a CV any seasoned actor or actress would be proud of, never mind a child who was not yet a teen. Though she was successful prior to the show’s debut, there’s no doubt that Little House on the Prairie turned Melissa into a household name. The 163 episodes of the show that she appeared in developed her craft and enhanced her reputation. During the run of the show, she also managed to secure roles on The Love Boat and The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour.