Book of the Week: Half-Pint, We Hardly Knew Ya!

Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert

A sprained wrist and family vacation offered a fine opportunity to catch up on some mindless summer reading in the form of the ever-popular celebrity tell-all biography.

Many hens are well familiar with Melissa Gilbert, having grown up watching her as Laura "Half-Pint" Ingalls on the Little House on the Prairie television series. Of course, we also read all of the Little House books, a staple of girlhood life before moving on to Nancy Drew and Judy Blume. Laura, and thus Melissa, was like one of our friends. Like her, we secretly envied Mary's beauty and perfect behavior, but inwardly preferred "Half-Pint's" spunk and misadventures. Although Gilbert grew up to become queen of cable television movies and president of the Screen Actors Guild, she has never been able to shed her association with Laura Ingalls. To her credit, she's okay with that. Unlike many former child stars (I'm talkin' to you, Tatum!), Melissa has apparantly avoided most of the pitfalls of post-superstar adulthood to build a rather normal life with husband Bruce Boxleitner, and successful career.

Much of the buzz about Prairie Tale has centered on the more scandalous revelations, such as the juicy details about Melissa's longterm relationship with Rob Lowe, including the relevation of an unexpected pregnancy that resulted in miscarriage. To sum up: he was a serial cheater ill-prepared for adulthood, as was her first husband, Bo Brinkman. No big shock there, really. Many readers may be shocked by her candid admission of numerous flings with famous and non-famous men, but still nothing compared to most Hollywood tell-alls. To me, the most surprising revelation was that Melissa is Jewish. Oy! Who knew?

In fact, the most refreshing thing about this celebrity bio is how much it reinforces Melissa Gilbert's "everygirl" appeal. For a former child star whose upbringing was far from normal, she comes across as spectacularly grounded and relatable. Even her challenges, from poor choices in men to recent alcohol addiction and therapy, come across as problems faced by millions of average women. None of her issues have been the result of early fame and fortune.

Credit for her normality rests primarily with Melissa's mother, who loved and protected her child unconditionally. First a little background: unlike many child stars, Melissa was not pressed into the business by some overbearing stage mom seeking fame and fortune. At one day old, she was adopted by Paul Gilbert and Barbara Crane Gilbert, both actors themselves. Her grandfather, Harry Crane, was already a well-known Hollywood powerhouse (he created the Honeymooners, among other projects). For Melissa, becoming an actor wasn't so much a shot at fame and fortune, but merely stepping into the family business at an early age. Hob-knobbing with the likes of Harry's pals Frank Sinatra and Groucho Marx was normal for her and her siblings, Jonathan (Willie Oleson on Little House) and Sara (Darlene onRoseanne).

Melissa' parents divorced around the same time she got her big break on Little House. Her father died early during the show's run. Partly for that reason, Michael Landon stepped in as her surrogate father for many years. The familial chemistry between "Half-Pint" and "Pa" was quite real. That wasn't the only part of Little House that reflected reality. She had a strained relationship with Melissa Sue Anderson, which enhanced the sense of sibling rivalry between Laura and Mary. Despite Laura's on-screen rivalry with Nellie Oleson, Melissa's best friend on the set was Alison Arngrim, as "naughty" in real-life as Nellie was mean on screen. One suggested alternative title for the book: Nellie's Not a Bitch, Mary Is.

Were it not for Alison, "Half-Pint" would probably never have learned about the facts of life. Throughout the years of Little House superstardom, overprotective Barbara kept her daughter very sheltered by Hollywood standards, so much so that Melissa remained innocent for longer than many of her peers. She was a self-professed "dork," terrified of her first on-screen kiss with Dean Butler (who played Laura's love, Almanzo) because she had never even held hands with a boy in real life! The awkwardness showed through. If you are ever reviewing DVDs of the show, see if you can spot the change in Melissa's comfort level between the seventh and eighth seasons. Let's just say that Melissa's summer hiatus "matured" for performance in many ways.

Upon reaching age 18, there were the obligatory years of partying with the Brat Pack, still not that shocking given her age and context. As Melissa rightly explains, she and her Hollywood peers were essentially living the same life as many college students in the (pre-AIDs scare) 1980s. Instead of going to classes all day, then partying all night, they worked on sets all day, then partied all night. Despite dabbling in the wild side, Melissa was grounded enough to avoid the most dangerous excesses of the times and grew out of the phase by her mid-20s. Marriage and parenthood does that to most people.

In recent years the now 44-year-old Gilbert has come to terms with many of her personal issues, including alcoholism and issues with men stemming in large part from confusion over her adoption, parents' divorce, and idolization of her very imperfect father (mirrored in the very imperfect surrogate Michael Landon, whose affair and divorce proved more disillusioning than that of her own parents). Love---from mom, children, friends, and her second husband, has continued to keep Melissa grounded.

In many ways, Prairie Tale read less like a tabloid-style bio and more like a self-help book about one woman's journey to peace during the hen years. Despite living in the Hollywood glitz, "Half-Pint" still comes across as an easily relatable everygirl, just like we thought when we were girls. She struggles with the same issues many of us do.

Somehow, that's comforting to know.

Yours in Sisterhood - VB