LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE Star Recalls Losing ‘Father Figure’ Michael Landon
By Movieguide® Contributor
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE star Melissa Gilbert is recalling the final days she spent with TV dad Michael Landon and sharing her fight to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer.
“His daughter Leslie Landon Matthews, someone who has been a very dear friend of mine for 50 years, called me because she wanted me to know [his diagnosis] before it hit the press,” Gilbert told Fox News. “Her dad was going to do a press conference, and she didn’t want me to just hear about it. So she called and told me…I was gutted.”
Landon died just three months after publicly announcing he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“My first thought was, ‘This is horrible — I’m going to lose a mentor and father figure,’” Gilbert shared. “I’d already lost my own father to suicide when I was 11. I was staring down the barrel of losing another important male influence in my life. It really shook me.”
She explained that she initially “watched from a distance,” not wanting to intrude on Landon’s time with his family. Eventually, she “made the decision that I really had to go see him.”
“I ended up going and spending time with him,” Gilbert said. “And it turned out to be just a week before he died.”
The actress said it was “very hard” but added that it was “really important” to say goodbye to her former co-star.
“It was a very difficult and sad time,” Gilbert continued. “[But] I promised I would allow myself to grieve and not deny my feelings this time around. And I did, but it was hard.”
Now, Gilbert is working to raise awareness and funds for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), whose mission is “to take bold action to improve the lives of everyone impacted by pancreatic cancer by advancing scientific research, building community, sharing knowledge, and advocating for patients,” per its website.
Gilbert and her business partner Nicole Haase’s lifestyle brand, Modern Prairie, recently launched a new collection of products, with sale proceeds going towards PanCAN.
Julie Fleshman, the president and CEO of PanCAN, said, “Like so many others, I grew up watching Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert on LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, so it’s such an honor to get to work with Melissa, Nicole and their company on this initiative. We are so grateful to her and this opportunity to pay tribute to both Michael and Patrick by spreading awareness and raising money to create progress for pancreatic cancer patients.”
“It’s really important for people to understand that supporting one cancer research benefits all the others,” Gilbert said. “As research develops, as treatments and cures are developed, it can eventually be applied to other cancers…Pancreatic cancer is a horrible thing to experience, but we can detect things earlier as research grows.”
She continued, “Make no mistake, all cancers are cruel. But the survival rate for pancreatic cancer is abysmal. And the reason for that is that it’s so hard to detect, and it goes fast. This cancer is particularly bad because it is so sneaky…But I’m still going to fight.”
