'Little House on the Prairie' Memoirs
Two new memoirs by former young actresses recount tales from the set of Little House on the Prairie. Melissa Sue Anderson played sweet Mary Ingalls; Alison Arngrim, that devil in blond curls Nellie Oleson. Here's how the books stacked up.
How I See It
Melissa Sue AndersonConfessions of a Prairie Bitch
Alison ArngrimOn Meeting Fans"I have been recognized here and there over the years (people seem to think I look the same -- what a compliment)."A pair of girls once attacked her for being Nellie: "I don't even know these people, and they kicked me in the butt. Really hard."On Each Other"Eventually, she had a lot of fun being Nasty Nellie, but when we first started working together, she was quite shy.""Someone I never did get to take a swing at (and would have liked to) was Melissa Sue Anderson."On Michael Landon"Crossing Michael Landon was not a good idea. He could make your life miserable if he wanted to.""His image was of a big, protective father figure, but he was really more of a cute, cuddly, giggling little thing."The Bottom LineIn The Way I See It, Anderson can't shake the spirit of dull, biddable Mary Ingalls.Confessions of a Prairie Bitch says it all: Neither Arngrim nor Nellie could ever be called boring.
See also our list of young actresses who've published memoirs.