Nellie Oleson

Nellie Oleson is a fictional character that appeared in the children's books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her character was later adapted for the NBC television show, Little House on the Prairie. She also stars in the book Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls, by Heather Williams.

Nellie was a wealthy girl who had long blonde curly hair and always wore fashionable dresses. She could also be very cruel, callous and thus a bully.

Historical influences

The fictional character of Nellie Oleson was a composite character based on several school girls from Laura Ingalls Wilder's childhood. Most of the events involving the character of Nellie were heavily fictionalized and the girls she was based upon did not necessarily do the things Laura attributes to them in her books.^[1][2]

Nellie Owens

The girl named Nellie Owens was about the same age as Laura and had a younger brother named Willie, just as the character of Nellie Oleson did in the books. Her parents, William and Margaret Owens (renamed Nels and Harriet Oleson in the television series; called only "Mr. and Mrs. Oleson" in the books), did, as Laura describes, run the local mercantile in Walnut Grove. Nellie Owens is the basis for Nellie Oleson in On the Banks of Plum Creek. Later in her life, Owens moved to California and then on to Oregon, where she married Henry Kirry and had three children, Zola, Lloyd, and Leslie. Her brother Willie went blind from a firecracker explosion, attended a school for the blind, married, and also had three children. There seems to be no indication that Laura ever saw Nellie Owens again after Laura's family left Walnut Grove in 1879.

Nellie died in 1949.^{[citation needed]}

Genevieve Masters

The second girl, Genevieve Masters, was the spoiled daughter of a former teacher of Laura's. Genevieve wore beautiful tailored clothes and had striking blonde hair (in curls), just as "Nellie Oleson" had. Genevieve was originally from New York and boasted about the city. With her superior attitude, Genevieve was far nastier than Nellie Owens had been, and Laura and Genevieve became keen rivals, both academically and socially. Gennie's family moved to De Smet not long after the Ingalls family, but the Owens family did not move. Therefore, the "Nellie" of Little Town on the Prairie is Genevieve Masters. In her "Letter to Children" written late in her life (a sort of form letter sent to the hundreds of children who wrote her monthly), Laura states that "Nellie Oleson . . . moved back East, and did not live many years". She was evidently referring to Genevieve Masters in this letter. Genevieve died of pneumonia in 1909. She had one daughter.^{[citation needed]}

Stella Gilbert

The third girl, Stella Gilbert, was a poor girl who lived on a claim north of the Ingalls in De Smet. Though poor, she was reportedly very attractive and was interested in Almanzo Wilder. She convinced him to take her on several buggy rides, which were described in These Happy Golden Years. Almanzo, who was not aware of a conflict between Stella and Laura, eventually became aware of Stella's fear of horses (which greatly disappointed him). In addition, Laura eventually gave Almanzo an ultimatum regarding Stella, and Almanzo's invitations to Stella to join them on the rides stopped. This was the last appearance of a "Nellie Oleson" in the series.

Stella's older brother was Dave Gilbert, the brave young man (he was 17 at the time) who made the very risky run to Lake Preston, Dakota Territory on his horse drawn sled between blizzards to take the outgoing mail, and bring back the incoming mail as described by Laura in The Long Winter.

Stella died in 1944.^{[citation needed]} She was 80 years old.

Fictional Nellie

Little House books

Nellie Oleson appeared in three books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (On the Banks of Plum Creek, Little Town on the Prairie, and These Happy Golden Years).

Little House on the Prairie television series

Nellie Oleson
Little House on the Prairie
Portrayed by	Alison Arngrim
First appearance	1.02 Country Girls
Last appearance	9.08 The Return of Nellie
Profile
Relationships Parents Harriet and Nels Oleson Sibling(s) Willie Oleson (brother) Nancy Oleson (adopted sister) Spouse(s) Percival Dalton Children Jennifer and Benjamin Dalton

The Little House books were later adapted into a long-running television series. Played by actress Alison Arngrim, Nellie Oleson was a manipulative, witty, sharp-tongued character on the NBC television show, Little House on the Prairie. Her parents, Nels and Harriet Oleson, owned the mercantile in the small town of Walnut Grove, set in post-Civil War Minnesota.

Early in the series, the character of Nellie closely resembled her counterpart from the books - mainly as portrayed in On the Banks of Plum Creek. She had long, elaborately curled hair, acted very prissy and spoiled - yet underneath, she could display a vicious and manipulative personality. Nellie took after her doting mother Harriet (Katherine MacGregor), while father Nels (Richard Bull) tended to be stern with his two children and had little tolerance for Nellie's often cruel antics. Nels and Harriet frequently conflicted on the rearing of both Nellie and Willie; Harriet's assertiveness frequently won out, although Nellie was not always allowed to get away with her behavior. For example on the episode called "The Cheaters", Mrs. Oleson finds out Nellie has cheated, and Mrs. Oleson started hitting Nellie with her jacket.

Arngrim's character grew in importance during the series (as did the roles of the entire Oleson family) as she served as a perfect antagonist to honest, tom-boyish Laura Ingalls, played by Melissa Gilbert. Nellie and Laura feuded during their school years together, which was at times comically paralleled with quarreling between the two girls' mothers, Harriet and Caroline Ingalls (Karen Grassle).

After Nellie graduated from school, her mother, Harriet, bestowed her with a restaurant and hotel. At first, Nellie balked, showing great incompetence in the hospitality business. Eventually, Nels and Harriet hired Percival Dalton (played by Steve Tracy) to help Nellie learn how to cook and run the restaurant. During this time, Nellie began maturing — thanks to Percy's work with her and Nels' values winning out over Harriet's — and fell in love with Percival. The two eventually married, and Nellie gave birth to twin children (Benjamin and Jennifer). Nellie ended up becoming close friends with Laura in her adult years and Laura was present at her wedding. Before Nellie takes off for her honeymoon, she throws the bouquet to Laura. And in the episode "Come Let us Reason Together", Laura's mother Caroline helped deliver Nellie's twin babies.

Arngrim left the series at the end of the seventh season. Nellie's resulting departure was explained by having her move with Percival and their children to New York to run the family business when Percy's father falls ill; the move is made permanent when Percival's father dies. After Nellie's departure became permanent, the Olesons adopted a daughter named Nancy (played by Allison Balson), who bore a striking resemblance to Nellie, although she had a much nastier and meaner disposition than Nellie. Nellie — who retained her pleasant personality seen in her later years — returned in the ninth season and met Nancy, who briefly ran away from home when she (mistakenly) believed that her adoptive parents loved Nellie more than her. When Nellie first meets Nancy and see how she acts, she asks her parents in shock: "I know I was temperamental at her age, but I wasn't THAT bad....Was I?" They all start to laugh, then they realize she was as bad.

As compared to the book On the Banks of Plum Creek, Nellie Oleson was a much more prominent character on the series. Likewise, while in the books Nellie's family members are only very minor characters, the Olesons on the series all ended up becoming major figures, and several episodes concentrated almost exclusively on Nellie and/or her family. Eventually, the "villainous duo" of mother Harriet and daughter Nellie proved to be very popular with viewers for their often evil, yet humorous, antics.

Still running daily in syndication across the United States, as well as in many other countries, the series continues to have a popular following, and the character of Nellie, as portrayed by Alison Arngrim, has become a cultural icon of sorts. ^[3]

Beyond the Prairie

Although Nellie does not appear in either of these movies, there is a character named Patsy Robbins (played by Jenny Dare Paulin) in the first movie that is clearly referring to Nellie.

Cultural impact

The sketch comedy group The Nellie Olesons took their name after the character.

References

1. ^ "Nellie Oleson". Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frontier Girl. http://frodo.marshall.edu/~irby1/laura/nellie.html. Retrieved 2008-03-23. 
2. ^ "Nellie Oleson Biography". Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie. http://www.laurasprairiehouse.com/family/nellieoleson.html. Retrieved 2008-03-23. 
3. ^ http://www.americanprofile.com/article/19857.html

External links

• Genevieve Masters
• Stella Gilbert
• Little House Wiki: Nellie Oleson Dalton