Melissa Gilbert Reflects on Michael Landon's Impact 50 Years After Little House on the Prairie: 'He Set the Tone' (Exclusive)

Michael Landon left a lasting impression on the cast and crew of Little House on the Prairie but perhaps no one more so than Melissa Gilbert.

During a recent interview to commemorate Little House on the Prairie’s 50^th anniversary, Gilbert, 60, spoke with PEOPLE about her experiences working on beloved show with Landon and the special friendship they shared.

“Michael was the quarterback, right? So he set the tone of what we were doing,” Gilbert says of Landon, who died in 1991 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. “Mine was unique in that I was the only cast member who regularly socialized with him and his family.”

“We all vacationed together during spring break to Hawaii — the same hotel every year,” she continues. “Mike's kids went to the same school I went to. I slept over at their house all the time. They slept over at my house.”

Landon also found ways to make her laugh, even during their slightly more awkward moments working together. During the photoshoot for the cover of PEOPLE’s Sept. 11, 1978 issue, for instance, eking out a smile from Gilbert required some effort.

“I don't like doing still photography, so it can be uncomfortable for me,” she explains. “But as a kid, it was even worse, and Michael hated it as much as I did. So he would do everything in his power to make me laugh while we were shooting pictures … I'm laughing, and it's because he had just taken one of my pigtails and shoved it up my nose.”

Landon’s kindness extended elsewhere, too. The actress shared with PEOPLE in March that Landon — who played patriarch Charles Ingalls and also took on other roles on the show — also went above and beyond for the Little House on the Prairie cast and recalled a specific tradition he had to get the cast “amazing” gifts. 

“Every year for NBC, he would announce the Rose Parade and instead of taking a payment for that, he would use that money to buy the cast and crew Christmas presents every year,” said Gilbert then, adding, “So he sacrificed his New Year's Eves, basically, to be at the Rose Parade at 3 a.m. so that he could give us all really amazing Christmas presents.”

While her successful acting career continued over the years with appearances in shows and TV movies like Sweet Justice, Tenure and Hometown Christmas, Gilbert also branched out into business. In 2022, she launched the lifestyle brand Modern Prairie for “seasoned women,” which she co-owns and runs with cofounder Nicole Haase, a former Williams Sonoma executive who now serves as Modern Prairie's CEO.

But even now, Little House on the Prairie holds a significant place in her life. The actress frequently keeps in touch with Alison Arngrim, who portrayed Nellie Oleson — “Alison is a sister from another mister,” Gilbert muses — along with Leslie Landon and Matthew Labyorteaux.

She’s also reminded of the show’s enduring place in the cultural zeitgeist every time she attends Little House events, like the 50th Anniversary Cast Reunion and Festival in Simi Valley, California in March, which was attended by thousands of people.

“There were a lot of tears," Gilbert recalls. "People burst into tears. ‘Oh, my god, my whole childhood was you’ and ‘thank you so much’ ... for being there for them whatever they were going through.”

Gilbert’s husband Timothy Busfield is also a “huge fan” of the show and enjoys watching Little House on the Prairie when it's on.

“If we're flipping channels and it happens to be on, he will land on the channel and watch, so I consequently will watch with him,” she explains.

Revisiting the show in this way still gets Gilbert emotional even five decades later.

“The show itself is just so special and so wonderfully well written,” she continues, adding, “but also because that's my childhood and that's my surrogate family. I have these wonderfully elaborate ‘home movies’ with many people who are not with us anymore, and I get to revisit them now when I watch a rerun of Little House.”

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All nine seasons of Little House on the Prairie can be streamed on Prime Video and Peacock.