- Melissa Sue Anderson
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Melissa Sue Anderson Born September 26, 1962
Berkeley, California, U.S.Occupation Actress Years active 1972–present Melissa Sue Anderson (born September 26, 1962) is an American-Canadian actress. She played the role of Mary Ingalls on the NBC television series Little House on the Prairie. She starred on the show from 1974 until 1981, leaving after Season 7, but later appeared in 2 episodes of Season 8 in late 1981. She won an Emmy Award for her performance in Which Mother Is Mine? (1979). One of her more recent performances was as First Lady Megan Hollister in the 2006 television mini-series 10.5: Apocalypse.
Contents
Biography
Anderson was born in Berkeley, California. Her show business career began when a dance teacher urged her parents to find an agent for her. She began doing TV commercials, and soon she was in demand for television roles. One of those included that of Millicent, the girl who kissed Bobby and induced him to see fireworks on The Brady Bunch. At age eleven, she won her role in Little House on the Prairie ahead of hundreds of competitors. She left in 1981 and continued acting in television shows like The Equalizer, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Murder, She Wrote.
She has been described as mild mannered and unpretentious, similar to her Mary Ingalls character. Her first publicly known romance was with actor Lorenzo Lamas, with whom she made an appearance in the film series The Love Boat in which two friends (Lorenzo and Melissa) resist the matchmaking efforts of their parents. After this short romance, she dated Frank Sinatra, Jr., who at the time was more than twice her age. She says, "It was fun, but never really wild. That's just not me."[citation needed]
She won an Emmy Award for her performance in Which Mother Is Mine?, an ABC Afterschool Special (1979), and was nominated for a 1978 Primetime Emmy Award for Best Leading Actress in a Drama Series for her work on Little House on the Prairie. In 1976, Michael Landon asked Anderson if she would appear in his autobiographical film,The Loneliest Runner. Anderson agreed to play Nancy Rizzi, his first girlfriend, saying she was very thrilled to have been asked. She also secured a Spanish 'TP de Oro' Award for 'Best Foreign Actress' for Little House (1980). She was the associate producer for the next to last TV project Michael Landon made before dying: Where Pigeons Go to Die (1990).
In 1998, she was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
With husband Michael Sloan, she has two children, daughter Piper (born February 1991) and son Griffin (born June 1996).
She has lived in Montreal, Quebec, Canada since 2002. She and her husband became naturalized Canadians in 2007 [1]
Filmography
Films
Year Film Role Notes 1974 Little House on the Prairie Mary Ingalls TV movie 1976 The Loneliest Runner Nancy Rizzi TV movie 1977 James at 15 Lacey Stevens TV movie 1979 Survival of Dana Dana Lee TV movie 1981 Midnight Offerings Vivian Sotherland TV movie Happy Birthday to Me Virginia 'Ginny' Wainwright Nominated for a Young Artist Award 1982 An Innocent Love Molly Rush TV movie 1983 First Affair Toby King TV movie 1984 Chattanooga Choo Choo Jennie Goma-2 Kukki Uncredited 1986 Dark Mansions Noelle Drake 1988 Memories of Manon Yvette Marcel TV movie / As Melissa Anderson The Suicide Club Laura Donovan on TV Far North Young Nurse As Melissa Anderson 1989 The Return of Sam McCloud Colleen McCloud TV movie / As Melissa Anderson 1990 Forbidden Nights Marie Shapiro TV movie / As Melissa Anderson Dead Men Don't Die Dulcie Niles As Melissa Anderson 1998 Earthquake in New York Dr. Marilyn Blake TV movie / As Melissa Anderson 2000 Thin Ice Tanya Ferguson TV movie 2006 10.5: Apocalypse First Lady Megan Hollister TV miniseries / As Melissa Anderson Crazy Eights Hospital patient Uncredited 2007 Marco Polo Mother TV miniseries / Voice / Uncredited TV series
Year Title Role Seasons Notes 1973 The Brady Bunch Millicent 5 Never Too Young 1984 "Murder, She Wrote" Eve Cristal Episode 6, Season 1 1974–81 Little House on the Prairie Mary Ingalls 1–8 Nominated for an Emmy Award 1988 The Equalizer (TV Series) Yvette 3 The Mystery of Manon Producer
- Where Pigeons Go to Die (1990) — associate producer
External links
Categories:- 1962 births
- Living people
- People from Berkeley, California
- American child actors
- American television actors
- American television producers
- American voice actors
- People from Montreal
- Western (genre) film actors
- American expatriates in Canada
- Naturalized citizens of Canada
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