Melissa Ellen Gilbert is an American actress. Gilbert began her career as a child actress in the late 1960s, appearing in numerous commercials and guest starring roles on television. From 1974 to 1983, she starred as Laura Ingalls Wilder, the second oldest daughter of Charles Ingalls on the NBC series Little House on the Prairie. During the run of Little House, Gilbert appeared in several television films, including The Diary of Anne Frank and The Miracle Worker. As an adult, she continued her career mainly in television films. From 2009 to 2010, Gilbert appeared as Caroline "Ma" Ingalls in the touring production of Little House on the Prairie, the Musical. In 2012, she was a contestant on season fourteen of the popular reality dance competition show Dancing with the Stars on ABC.
Gilbert in 2010
Gilbert as Laura Ingalls, circa 1975
Gilbert at the 1991 Emmy Awards
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American writer. The Little House on the Prairie series of children's books, published between 1932 and 1943, were based on her childhood in a settler and pioneer family.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, circa 1885
Caroline and Charles Ingalls
Surveyor's House, the first home in Dakota Territory of the Charles Ingalls family – De Smet, South Dakota
Rose Wilder Lane birthplace roadside marker – De Smet