Melissa Gilbert is opening up about the “midlife crisis” she experienced after the end of her marriage to Bruce Boxleitner.
In her new memoir, Back to the Prairie: A Home Remade, A Life Rediscovered, the Little House on the Prairie star wrote about the end of her marriage to the Babylon 5 actor in 2011. She shared that following the split, she made physical changes in order to feel better about herself.
“I had Botox, fillers, recolored my hair, and bought a Mustang convertible at the urging of the inappropriately young French dude I began dating,” Gilbert, 58, wrote in the memoir.
That reaction, noted the former Screen Actors Guild president, was about attempting to recapture the “freedom” she felt in her youth. She wrote, “I reacted as many women I encountered did: I attempted to freeze everything in place.”
She added that the experience of “being a single woman in your forties in Los Angeles is a whole different league of pressure.”
“And being an actress looking for work in an industry obsessed with youth ratchets that up even further,” she noted.
It wasn’t until she met her now-husband, Thirtysomething actor Tim Busfield, and moved out of Los Angeles to Michigan after their marriage in 2013, that she stopped focusing so much on what she looked like.
“I can’t move my forehead — and that’s not okay,” she explained. “I have a feeling that I’m going to want to move it more in the future. I’d like to go someplace where that’s possible.”
Gilbert, who now lives in Upstate New York with Busfield, also spoke to Good Morning America this week about making the decision to leave Los Angeles behind — and with it, its challenging beauty standards.
"I had to get out of Los Angeles to actually age, which I wanted to do," she said. "I'm excited about this. I love all these changes and watching what's happening and getting to know this new person."
She shared with People that she has since reevaluated her outlook on her appearance.
“My mindset was, ‘You have to stay thin. You have to be seen in the right places, wear the right shoes and drive the right car,'” she noted. “That was so drilled into me by all the outside forces. But it never sat right.”
by Anonymous | reply 148 | May 20, 2022 2:31 PM |
No mention of the plastic surgery she's had, starting with a nose job in her teens?
Why do women feel free to cop to fillers and Botox but not surgery? I don't get it.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | May 11, 2022 1:18 PM |
Bitch, please!
by Anonymous | reply 2 | May 11, 2022 1:20 PM |
Melissa Gilbert was NEVER good looking, not even attractive.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | May 11, 2022 1:21 PM |
She needs to stop worrying about her forehead and start looking into better wigs than that coiffed broom she stuck on her head.
Not OK to look like a frozen broomstick!
by Anonymous | reply 4 | May 11, 2022 1:22 PM |
Oh halfpint.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | May 11, 2022 1:25 PM |
She’s always been open about the nose job and how it didn’t turn out well.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | May 11, 2022 1:26 PM |
Is this why she beat her kids with the shit bra?
by Anonymous | reply 7 | May 11, 2022 1:29 PM |
[quote] Melissa Gilbert was NEVER good looking, not even attractive.
Tee hee.
Without the plastic surgery, she would basically look like her sister Sara Gilbert.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | May 11, 2022 1:31 PM |
I think Melissa and Sara were both cute when young.
But that was awhile ago.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | May 11, 2022 1:32 PM |
She is owning up to more than most women do in the public eye. The Kartrashians act like we are all morons who cannot tell that they have had a shitton of cosmetic Frankenstienery done to them.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | May 11, 2022 1:32 PM |
Here's a photo of them when they were younger, R9.
Melissa was always the prettier sister.
Ironically, Sara became the more famous sister.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | May 11, 2022 1:35 PM |
Lol @Melissa in R11's pic; she's giving Nancy "Cocksucker" Davis Reagan looks.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | May 11, 2022 1:37 PM |
Melissa seems settled and happy these days, at least going by her Instagram. She has grandchildren now and revels in her "Nana" role. Remember that French cad she was mixed up with before marrying Busfield?
by Anonymous | reply 13 | May 11, 2022 1:38 PM |
You know, good for her for recognizing there is more out there than LA.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | May 11, 2022 1:38 PM |
Sara has been one of the luckier people in showbiz, in my opinion.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | May 11, 2022 1:40 PM |
[quote] You know, good for her for recognizing there is more out there than LA.
I don't think she had a choice.
Poor thing wasn't getting any work.
Same for Busfield.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | May 11, 2022 1:40 PM |
I like her. She’s really frank and I like that in a person.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | May 11, 2022 1:43 PM |
I felt bad for her that ex-boyfriend Rob Lowe figured prominently in her autobiography but she was barely mentioned in passing in his, lumped in with other exes.
Ouch.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | May 11, 2022 1:50 PM |
IIRC, the Gilbert kids were all adopted, so it makes sense that they don't physically resemble each other.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | May 11, 2022 1:52 PM |
She’s gotta be pushing 60, no? She couldn’t come up with a better title? Had to go back to the LHOP well? I’m surprised she didn’t work Michael Landon’s name into the title.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | May 11, 2022 1:55 PM |
Any mentions in the book about Melissa Sue?
by Anonymous | reply 21 | May 11, 2022 1:57 PM |
She looks like NY’s current governor.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | May 11, 2022 2:08 PM |
I can definitely see Gilbert and Busfield getting an HGTV show offer out of this.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | May 11, 2022 2:14 PM |
Call 911 Bitch, don’t come posting this here on DL for help!
by Anonymous | reply 25 | May 11, 2022 2:17 PM |
I for would would love to see Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson do What Ever Happened to Baby Jane in regional dinner theatres. And as an added bonus they switch off playing parts each night.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | May 11, 2022 2:19 PM |
There is an article about the house they bought in upstate NY in NY Times. The comments section is almost a ripoff of a DL thread. Everyone bashing the ugly ass house, decorating and style of Gilbert. And it is pretty awful - a la Michael Musto apartment, not sure why she would agree to let them write an article about it.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | May 11, 2022 2:23 PM |
And here's the house.
It really IS awful!!
Can't two successful actors buy a better home than this?
Maybe she can get a loan from her sister Sara.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | May 11, 2022 2:26 PM |
Wasn't Tim Busfield #metooed not too long ago?
by Anonymous | reply 31 | May 11, 2022 2:27 PM |
^^^ By Melissa?
by Anonymous | reply 32 | May 11, 2022 2:32 PM |
The shitty house and "Nailed It!" DIY decor make them MORE, not less, appealing for an HGTV franchise. People relate to Half-Pint and Elliott from thirtysomething having a sloppy house.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | May 11, 2022 2:45 PM |
They had a rather charming Victorian house when they lived in Michigan.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | May 11, 2022 2:47 PM |
So I did a quick google search of Melissa's and Sara's respective net worth.
Melissa has a supposed net worth of $500,000. Five hundred thousand dollars!
Sara has a supposed net worth of $30,000,000. Thirty MILLION dollars.
Why doesn't Sara loan her sister some money for a better fucking house???
by Anonymous | reply 35 | May 11, 2022 2:48 PM |
Why is she so hated on DL? Someone nutshell it for me so I don't have to read through threads about her.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | May 11, 2022 2:51 PM |
What is Busfield’s net worth?
by Anonymous | reply 37 | May 11, 2022 2:56 PM |
Wow, she has become frau.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | May 11, 2022 2:56 PM |
Her home is cozy with vintage pottery and comfortable couches.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | May 11, 2022 2:59 PM |
I would have skipped the book, the NYT feature on her dump of a home and the announcement of her latest move in life. Was this supposed to pre-empt a tabloid feature about the depths to which the couple has sunk? She doesn't have to tell the world that she's broke.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | May 11, 2022 3:01 PM |
She badly needs a make-under and to scrub that crap off her face.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | May 11, 2022 3:03 PM |
Why is she so hated on DL? Someone nutshell it for me so I don't have to read through threads about her.
She's pretty polarizing.
On one hand people here like her because they have fond memories of her as Half-Pint, and because she tells it like it is. A lot of Datalounge loves high-strung women with no filters.
On the other hand, she holds grudges forever, and is incredibly self-righteous. Her first memoir had pages of vitriol against Melissa Sue Anderson mostly for being cold and unfriendly to her when they were pre-teens, and she talked about it as if it had just happened yesterday. Then there's her hilarious self-serving account of confronting Rob Lowe about cheating on her with Natassja Kinski (memorably dramatized below by Mario Cantone).
There's something clearly quite off about Gilbert no matter how you slice it.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | May 11, 2022 3:07 PM |
I have followed Melissa on Instagram, oddly fascinated, ever since she was seeing the French guy. You want to root for her. She seemed a little hapless and at a low point when she got with Busfield, but since marrying him seems to have fully embraced her cozy, domestic, indeed frau-y nature.
Sara is worth 30 million? She should thank Roseanne every day.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | May 11, 2022 3:08 PM |
Thank you R42.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | May 11, 2022 3:08 PM |
r36 her presidency could be described as conservative in all the wrong places and turning the guild into an utter pile of crap... but both were before that. And in all likelihood, if Rhoda had one, i tprobably would have been bankrupted.
as a ginger, she lacks a soul.
the alcohol and substance abuse years were interesting. And also reflects on this with her inability to take responsibility of her actions as there's always somone dude or dudette to blame. And, the partial truth, revisiing of truth, when a lot of her private life was oh so very public
r42 has it down, and then some.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | May 11, 2022 3:09 PM |
I don't think of Melissa Gilbert as particularly frauey (at least not in the Kate Gosselin, "iron-frau" sense). I think she has had messed-up, slavishly codependent relationships with dudes, like Rob Lowe, like Bo Brinkman (who she married and spawned with after knowing him for 6 weeks), and like Bruce Boxleitner (who reportedly didn't want another kid) IMHO, this sick need for male validation did not do her career any favors.
Somebody mentioned Sara Gilbert's $30mn net worth, another example of a child star who made a very lucrative transition to adult acting is Jodie Foster (net worth $100mn). They didn't get that coin by needing the lead to think they were pretty.
Also, she was SAG president for 4 years. Why couldn't she parlay that into some more lucrative production work, where her age and years of experience would be an asset instead of something to fight?
by Anonymous | reply 46 | May 11, 2022 3:09 PM |
Who is my most bitter enemy, the one person I hate most in the world? Melissa Gilbert! And who opens the door at Mark and Pam's house? That's right, Melissa Gilbert. It was like staring at evil itself. Bring my toast up to my bath and I'll tell you how I made Melissa cry.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | May 11, 2022 3:15 PM |
What's also weird is that Melissa had a production company when she was a teenager called Half-Pint Productions that made an absolute fortune making TV movies. I don't know where all that money went.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | May 11, 2022 3:17 PM |
r46 The campaign was vicious and dirty - go look it up. It created many divides and moved it over too far over in favor of the elite while gutting the bulk of it's social programs and failing to follow through with conessions. Some might also point to her as the queen or at least wayward princess of nepotism. She burned a lot of bridges or just fucked through too many people one way or another.
She had an over inflated sense of her worth and legacy. Which is common enough.. the lack of empathy crosses into the clinical.
same argument could be used for her sister. Which you kind of got this timeline cute (not attractive) kids with popular tv characters growing up in the public eye, teens humdrum starlet drama, young adults surprisingly didn't piss in the gutter more, adulthood raging cunts that perfected the stepford wives smile... both are notoriously vicious, cold and calcalculating. In Sara's case, it worked out being a little younger and the trends shifting as she got older -- her most awkward period was early adulthood. While Melissa seemed to desperate to be a part of the brat pack or these other groups, be recognized as one of the cool kids and otherwise trash her laura ingalls image as well as the many fans of it.. of course, always going back to it for the grift. rinse, cycle, repeat.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | May 11, 2022 3:24 PM |
during her reign (well, and the campaign leading up to it) created conflict with international guilds and quite a few people were blackballed because you know, hollywood is the center of the universe and ruled by the flavor of the day.
moneywise, her net worth is probably higher... but chances are she's pulling a homemaker tax shell here to reduce both of them being taxed at their worth.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | May 11, 2022 3:36 PM |
Which of the Melissas was supposedly a total cunt on the set of "Little House on the Prairie?" Or were they both?
by Anonymous | reply 51 | May 11, 2022 3:42 PM |
Why is everyone shitting on her? As far as money goes. Everyone can't be Kardashian wealthy. Maybe Melissa is content in her life.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | May 11, 2022 3:46 PM |
Did Michael Landon molest her, or wet her bed?
by Anonymous | reply 53 | May 11, 2022 4:10 PM |
That's interesting R48. I had no idea she had a production company.
I agree, something is off if she had that, plus she was SAG President, and came out of it with nothing.
[quote] What is Busfield’s net worth?
Supposedly about $1,000,000.
So together, it puts them at about $1.5 million net worth. And I hope that's not including that house of theirs.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | May 11, 2022 6:51 PM |
Didn’t she play Anne Frank at one point? I’m hoping that’s just a false memory.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | May 11, 2022 6:53 PM |
Maybe she is invoking memories of LHOP with her current home decor.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | May 11, 2022 7:11 PM |
Isn’t prairie granny a big design trope now?
by Anonymous | reply 57 | May 11, 2022 7:15 PM |
R57 Seems so, and Melissa's smart to exploit it. She might as well, she practically owns "prairie," go for it girl!
by Anonymous | reply 58 | May 11, 2022 8:51 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 59 | May 11, 2022 10:10 PM |
[quote]I don't know where all that money went.
Up her nose.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | May 11, 2022 10:13 PM |
R19 Sara is their mother's biological child by her second husband.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | May 11, 2022 10:16 PM |
Do you think Melissa resents Sara for having a career now despite being the ugly one?
by Anonymous | reply 62 | May 11, 2022 10:18 PM |
I hate people who say "and that's not okay" - such a moronic-sounding phrase.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | May 11, 2022 10:18 PM |
R63 deserves a SHIT BRA to its fucking head!!!
Stupid twat!
by Anonymous | reply 64 | May 11, 2022 10:21 PM |
r62 She likely resents not taking lesser opportunities because it wasn't the thing to do in her era -- which was probably made worse by all the crashing and burning other former child stars...
Sara earned more because of the many, many changes to the industry that substantially raised pay and residuals. So, she was on more solid ground out of the gate.
Sara, also, had the benefit that she tried to move into more mature roles, it recognized quickly by everyone she couldn't hack it and likely would never be able to translate that way. Hence, it seems most people have no idea or recall she did any tv/film outside of Roseanne/The Connors, The Talk & BBT.
Melissa, however, was under the impression she could still transition into a mature actress, even a star.
Sara was probably also helped by having lesbian connections as a closeted celebrity dyke for many years. . . Ellen had spoken the most about it and claimed being weary of a young Ms. Gilbert at some of these parties. That's the kind of circle that creates lasting bonds because of all the other shit you're dealing with.
Melissa struggled with knowing where she belonged, so instead we saw her chasing groups she wasn't part of and desperately trying to change her image which was her biggest seller (I vaguely recall her turning down hsn/qvc type of deals as did many other celebs in those days. -- that's the kicker, for many of the older celebs that survived, if not financially thrived, is they weren't as picky with marketing themselves or lending out their IPs, likeness, name.) -
Melissa from the professional side, well, ther were the problems of behavior and addiction issues, but she was professionally messy and tried to control too many things. (Bab5, I'd hear, most were glad she was temp but wouldn't really expand upon it.) But her social reputation wasn't really that damaged by anyting in the 80s/90s especially in contrast to many of her peers... where she burned bridges much more slowly, less dramatically. . . until you get the election campaign. Which I don't know how to emphasize just how dividing it was and the amount of damage it did.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | May 11, 2022 11:28 PM |
She also revealed that the shit-bra had not been laundered since 1992.
by Anonymous | reply 66 | May 11, 2022 11:32 PM |
That's an interesting analysis, R65.
Age certainly has a part to play in this scenario.
Melissa and Sara are from different generations, and different social circles.
Still, it looks like Melissa was just inept in parlaying her connections into $$$$.
For whatever reason, Sara just lucked out.
by Anonymous | reply 67 | May 11, 2022 11:32 PM |
R9 Melissa was adopted and is not biologically related to Sara. There is no reason they would look similar now, as they never have before.
by Anonymous | reply 68 | May 11, 2022 11:36 PM |
[quote] Which of the Melissas was supposedly a total cunt on the set of "Little House on the Prairie?" Or were they both?
Melissa Sue Anderson. Everyone that worked with her talked about her iciness.
by Anonymous | reply 69 | May 12, 2022 2:14 PM |
Didn't she move to suburban Detroit and terrorize the community with her bad behavior? I want to say she ran for some office too.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | May 12, 2022 2:47 PM |
Little House on the Poverty
by Anonymous | reply 71 | May 12, 2022 3:33 PM |
Are Melissa and Sara estranged? Just not close?
Was Melissa ever on The Talk?
by Anonymous | reply 73 | May 12, 2022 10:21 PM |
Wait, she named one of her children Michael? After Michael Landon? Or is he the love child she had with Landon?
by Anonymous | reply 74 | May 12, 2022 10:22 PM |
[quote] Are Melissa and Sara estranged? Just not close?
Melissa kept bugging Sara to borrow money, so Sara cut her off.
by Anonymous | reply 75 | May 12, 2022 10:48 PM |
R74 yes genius. The child born several years after Landon's death was their lovechild.
by Anonymous | reply 76 | May 12, 2022 11:09 PM |
Couldn't she score some alimony from Bruce if she was up the creek?
by Anonymous | reply 77 | May 12, 2022 11:13 PM |
Alimony ends when you get remarried.
They have an apartment in the city (unless they gave that up). This just seems like a country getaway.
by Anonymous | reply 78 | May 12, 2022 11:16 PM |
Did she do away with the shitbra?
by Anonymous | reply 79 | May 12, 2022 11:25 PM |
No. She leaves it hanging from a ceiling fan. Careful where you step.
by Anonymous | reply 80 | May 12, 2022 11:29 PM |
R76 Are you saying Melissa had Michael Landon’s frozen sperm at her ready?
by Anonymous | reply 81 | May 12, 2022 11:33 PM |
[quote] Which of the Melissas was supposedly a total cunt on the set of "Little House on the Prairie?" Or were they both?
Both Alison Arngrim and Melissa Gilbert bitch in their memoirs about Melissa Sue Anderson on the set of "Little House on the Prairie," (Melissa Gilbert nearly obsessively so), but when it comes down to it, the worst they can point to in her behavior is that she was cold and distant, not that she was ever genuinely mean to them. It may have just been she was especially shy (or Canadian) around them since they were so close.
As far as I know, Missy Sue herself has never complained about them. She didn't in her own memoir.
And as far as I know, no one else on the show has weighed in about it. The only person besides the three of them who has written a memoir is the woman who played Miss Beadle (!!!), but I don;' know if she says anything in it about the girls on the set.
by Anonymous | reply 82 | May 12, 2022 11:34 PM |
[quote] The only person besides the three of them who has written a memoir is the woman who played Miss Beadle
Uh, Karen Grassle just wrote a memoir. You know....Caroline Ingalls herself.
by Anonymous | reply 83 | May 12, 2022 11:41 PM |
That house @ R29 and R30 HAS to be prior to their purchase, complete gut and reno of the place. I can't imagine they are living in it that way.
by Anonymous | reply 84 | May 12, 2022 11:42 PM |
I can't move my forehead either. It slapped against the hairy abs of too many men as I sucked their cocks.
by Anonymous | reply 85 | May 13, 2022 12:07 AM |
"Don't hang up, Sara. NO: I promise I'll pay you back this time!! Sara? Sara, are you still there???"
by Anonymous | reply 86 | May 13, 2022 12:12 AM |
All that Roseanne money and still she won't buy me a fucking house!
by Anonymous | reply 87 | May 13, 2022 12:15 AM |
[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]
by Anonymous | reply 88 | May 13, 2022 2:28 AM |
[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]
by Anonymous | reply 89 | May 13, 2022 2:29 AM |
[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]
by Anonymous | reply 90 | May 13, 2022 2:30 AM |
R1 because one is about (supposedly) “this is my natural self but I just want to look younger.”
The other is “I had to change what I was born with” which just implies that you were born with “inferior”features, are not naturally pretty, or whatever.
Then there’s the whole erasing your ethnicity aspect which still remains the reason behind surgery for many people.
by Anonymous | reply 91 | May 13, 2022 2:41 AM |
I never knew they were sisters. Crazy. But it's amazing how having connections might help a person to get a job on a sit com.
I don't like her husband. I know he is an actor, but his character was such a douche on Thirtysomething. I remember the episode where he asks his cancer afflicted wife "when did you stop shaving your legs?" I can't get past that. I know it makes me crazy.
by Anonymous | reply 92 | May 13, 2022 3:03 AM |
I feel that Melissa G and Alison were the mean girls teaming up against Missy Sue
by Anonymous | reply 93 | May 13, 2022 3:36 AM |
R92 Then I'm crazy, too, because Elliot was the worst, and it affected my view of Busfield because he played Elliot with such zeal.
Then there were the allegations of sexual harassment/assault beginning in the early '90s and ending not long before his marriage to Melissa. His ick factor is off the charts.
by Anonymous | reply 94 | May 13, 2022 5:59 AM |
But he was so good in Revenge of the Nerds.
by Anonymous | reply 95 | May 13, 2022 6:08 AM |
Ya all know those Celebrity Worth things are totally pulled out of hot air, right?
I like Half Pint. She's frank and funny and real.
The house is cute. It's a cozy little home in the country. It's a little too hetero for my taste (that rug has to go) but it's super cozy and comfortable looking. Looks like real people live there instead of those fakeass stories you read showcasing the utterly boring and bland professionally decorated rich people shit you see on most home interior websites where everything is grey and white and bland and uncomfortable looking.
by Anonymous | reply 96 | May 13, 2022 6:27 AM |
Her crooked pig nose is not okay!
by Anonymous | reply 97 | May 13, 2022 6:40 AM |
Some people really lean into getting old and she seems to be one of them. It's kind of depressing. She used to be cute and stylish. Now she wears these shapeless, flapping granny dresses and sandals and let the grey grow out in her hair and doesn't wear makeup. You can just imagine her and Busfield calling each other "Mother" and "Pa" eventually and sitting in fucking rocking chairs. What a shame.
by Anonymous | reply 98 | May 13, 2022 8:30 AM |
I can't believe you people are stupid enough to take the word of one of the net worth websites as being in anyway accurate. They don't have the first clue what some star's finances are. You knuckleheads -- R35, R46, R67 -- act like what that stupid site says is verified fact. It isn't even close to fact.
by Anonymous | reply 99 | May 13, 2022 8:37 AM |
[Quote]"I can’t move my forehead — and that’s not okay,” she explained. “I have a feeling that I’m going to want to move it more in the future. I’d like to go someplace where that’s possible.
That place is called self-esteem.
by Anonymous | reply 100 | May 13, 2022 8:46 AM |
HOW DARE she not dye her hair and wear makeup!
by Anonymous | reply 101 | May 13, 2022 8:55 AM |
Loved her in Little House on the Prairie. I have nothing else good to say about her though.
by Anonymous | reply 102 | May 13, 2022 8:58 AM |
Are Melissa and Sara actually bio sisters? It doesn't appear that they are.
From WIKI: "Melissa Gilbert was born in Los Angeles, California, on May 8, 1964, to a newly engaged couple, Kathy Wood and David Darlington, and given up for adoption immediately after birth. She was adopted one day later by actor and comedian Paul Gilbert and his wife, dancer and actress Barbara Crane, the daughter of The Honeymooners creator Harry Crane. They later adopted a son, Jonathan, who co-starred on Little House on the Prairie.
Gilbert's parents divorced when she was 8 years old. Her mother then married Harold Abeles, and together they had biological daughter Sara Rebecca Abeles (the actress known professionally as Sara Gilbert) on January 29, 1975.
On February 13, 1976, Paul Gilbert died. Although 11-year-old Melissa was told that he had suffered a stroke, she found out years later that he had been a VA patient who dealt with constant pain and that he had taken his own life. The marriage of Barbara and Harold Abeles later ended in divorce. According to her biography, Gilbert was raised in her adoptive mother's Jewish religion, but did not have any formal religious education or conversion ceremony."
by Anonymous | reply 103 | May 13, 2022 9:23 AM |
Why did Sara take her mom's ex-husband's last name? Who she didn't even know (since they were long divorced and he died when she was a baby). Wonder how her dad felt about that.
by Anonymous | reply 104 | May 13, 2022 9:58 AM |
The man who adopted Melissa, his real name was Ed MacMahon!
"On May 9, 1964 (the day after her birth), Gilbert and his wife Barbara Crane adopted Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls Wilder, and her brother Jonathan Gilbert, who played Willie Oleson, on the NBC TV series Little House on the Prairie."
"Actress and producer Sara Gilbert (born Sara Rebecca Abeles), the daughter of Paul Gilbert's wife Barbara and her second husband, Harold Abeles, took the Gilbert surname in 1984 although she had no blood or legal ties to Paul Gilbert."
by Anonymous | reply 105 | May 13, 2022 10:05 AM |
She took the name to cash in on her sister’s success, duh.
Has anybody ever located that wayward brother of theirs?
by Anonymous | reply 106 | May 13, 2022 10:32 AM |
I think those Celebrity Net Worth sites are just fantasies and estimates, shitty upstate house aside I find it hard to believe she’s only worth half a million. I’m worth half a million and I didn’t spend my childhood and teen years on a hit TV show, had a production company, or was president of the SAG. Unless she was a coke fiend and spent it all up her nose which I doubt. I’d say she’s in the low millions, certainly not as rich as Sara but not struggling either.
by Anonymous | reply 107 | May 13, 2022 10:58 AM |
I think Sara is adopted, but I'm not sure...not biological sisters.
by Anonymous | reply 108 | May 13, 2022 11:43 AM |
Oops...the answer was already posted ^^...skipped down without reading everything.
by Anonymous | reply 109 | May 13, 2022 11:46 AM |
[quote] Didn’t she play Anne Frank at one point? I’m hoping that’s just a false memory.
Yes and she also played Helen Keller.
by Anonymous | reply 110 | May 13, 2022 12:20 PM |
Has anybody asked her if she’s OK?
by Anonymous | reply 111 | May 13, 2022 1:01 PM |
Anyone who believes "celebrity net worth" probably falls for Nigerian scams. It's all guess work.
Unless you're fucking a celebrity's accountant or business manager, you have no idea what they have.
by Anonymous | reply 112 | May 13, 2022 6:47 PM |
[quote] She took the name to cash in on her sister’s success, duh.
And boy, did she ever!
The fucking coat tail cunt!
I should have knocked her out with my shit bra.
by Anonymous | reply 113 | May 13, 2022 6:52 PM |
How the hell did she land Rob Lowe? She wasn’t ugly, but so far out of his league. Then again, so is his wife.
by Anonymous | reply 114 | May 14, 2022 11:33 PM |
[quote] The fucking coat tail cunt!
is a coat tail cunt anything like a car wash cunt?
by Anonymous | reply 115 | May 14, 2022 11:35 PM |
I will give it to her that she had Rob Lowe in his prime.
by Anonymous | reply 116 | May 14, 2022 11:39 PM |
It's weird that she had fame so long ago but complains about the pressures of LA and how she had to escape it. I mean, does anyone seriously expect her to do anything other than conventions and look like the old lady she is?
by Anonymous | reply 117 | May 14, 2022 11:48 PM |
Those celebrity net worth sites are full of shit. One glaring example was one had Dawn Wells of Gilligan's Island net worth as 7 million, then after it came out that she was struggling financially and friend set up a gofundme, they quicky revised it to 50 grand.
by Anonymous | reply 118 | May 14, 2022 11:54 PM |
[quote]is a coat tail cunt anything like a car wash cunt?
I do know you MUST wear a shit bra while being a car wash cunt!
by Anonymous | reply 119 | May 15, 2022 12:24 AM |
[quote]How the hell did she land Rob Lowe? She wasn’t ugly, but so far out of his league. Then again, so is his wife.
Could be Rob has a small dick.
MG sure was out of his league. Rob was actually much prettier than a lot of women.
by Anonymous | reply 120 | May 15, 2022 12:26 AM |
[quote] One glaring example was one had Dawn Wells of Gilligan's Island net worth as 7 million, then after it came out that she was struggling financially and friend set up a gofundme, they quicky revised it to 50 grand.
What did she spend her money on? Natalie Schaeffer left her some money in her will.
by Anonymous | reply 121 | May 15, 2022 12:37 AM |
Bruce Boxleitner was a super fine man when he was young, tall, cute, and sexy!! Yummy. :-)
by Anonymous | reply 122 | May 15, 2022 12:47 AM |
[quote] I will give it to her that she had Rob Lowe in his prime.
So did hundreds of other women.
And probably some men, too!
by Anonymous | reply 123 | May 15, 2022 1:17 AM |
I can't move my feet. What's the problem?
by Anonymous | reply 124 | May 15, 2022 1:41 AM |
My dick is crooked.
And that's NOT okay!
by Anonymous | reply 125 | May 15, 2022 1:43 AM |
She and Robb were probably all caught up in a wow, we’re practically the brat pack, the cool kids of the 80s, let’s hook up and get our picture taken
by Anonymous | reply 126 | May 15, 2022 1:49 AM |
R126, Rob was in the brat pack she wasn’t.
I was reading more about her.... someone fixed her up with her first ex-husband when he was already living with another woman. Is it any wonder he cheated on her? Well, I think they both cheated. But she married him after 6 weeks, seemed to be a rebound from Rob. She also bankrolled his project or something. He seemed like a user. She really had no luck with men. I read she and Rob got engaged and shortly thereafter she told him she was pregnant and he completely dumped her. Very odd.
by Anonymous | reply 127 | May 15, 2022 1:57 AM |
Maybe Rob Lowe wants to be the prettiest in a couple. Two pretty people would cancel each other out. Maybe he doesn't want the competition.
by Anonymous | reply 128 | May 15, 2022 1:58 AM |
She's starting to look like the Annabelle doll.
by Anonymous | reply 129 | May 15, 2022 2:03 AM |
Busfield seemed to be kind of a rebound too, from the French cad. But it worked out, and good for her.
by Anonymous | reply 130 | May 15, 2022 2:08 AM |
R8, they are sisters but not biologically related to each other so there is no reason they would look like each other.
by Anonymous | reply 131 | May 15, 2022 2:13 AM |
I personally think Melissa's fame/iconic status is more deserved and authentic than the sister's.
by Anonymous | reply 132 | May 15, 2022 2:15 AM |
R8, Barbara Crane married Paul Gilbert. They adopted Melissa first and then adopted Jonathan second. The two kids were not biologically related. They were both on LHOP.
Barbara divorced Paul. Barbara then married Harold Abeles, and together they had biological daughter Sara Abeles, who later changed her name to Sara Gilbert, even though she has no relation to Paul.
Gilbert was born on April 28, 1967.[1] He is the adopted son of actors Barbara Cowen (née Barbara Crane) and Paul Gilbert and the adopted brother of actresses Melissa Gilbert and Sara Gilbert.[2]
In Melissa Gilbert's 2010 autobiography, Prairie Tale, she said Paul took his own life in 1976 due to his suffering from constant pain.[3] Barbara then married Harold Abeles, and together they had Sara Abeles, who changed her name to Sara Gilbert, even though she has no relation to Paul.
In Melissa Gilbert's autobiography, she wrote that when Jonathan was in his early 20s, he moved away from California and she had no relationship with him since then, for reasons supposedly unknown to her. Her autobiography states that he is a stockbroker living in New York City.[4]
by Anonymous | reply 133 | May 15, 2022 2:22 AM |
R114 why does her nose look smaller there , before she got one of her 10 nose jobs? I don’t get it.
by Anonymous | reply 134 | May 15, 2022 3:39 AM |
Oh Manly!!!
by Anonymous | reply 135 | May 15, 2022 5:02 AM |
Did she ask the stockbroker for money too?
by Anonymous | reply 136 | May 15, 2022 6:00 AM |
Her upstate NY house looks like it's a Section 8 rental.
I have several friends and family members who moved upstate NY years ago, their homes look like castles compared to that hovel she lives in.
As two fairly well known performers they should be ashamed to show they live in that awful house.
The bricks on the chimney are a nice touch. Yiiiikes.
by Anonymous | reply 137 | May 16, 2022 4:58 AM |
Don't judge, R137.
Melissa hasn't had any significant work in decades.
It's not easy being an actor.
Everyone expects them to be rich and fabulous.
But when the work dries up, the work dries up.
And there's nothing they can do about it.
by Anonymous | reply 138 | May 16, 2022 5:00 AM |
That house looks like the setting of a horror film. Perhaps they can rent it out, make some extra cash.
The chimney.
by Anonymous | reply 139 | May 16, 2022 5:01 AM |
Don't judge, [R137]. Melissa hasn't had any significant work in decades. It's not easy being an actor. Everyone expects them to be rich and fabulous. But when the work dries up, the work dries up. And there's nothing they can do about it.
Please, many of these performers, if they didn't become alcoholics or druggies, knew how to invest. One of the blonds who replaced Suzanne Somers on Three's Company, bought a couple of apartment buildings. Other performers went into other types of businesses. If anyone waits around for work to come to them, well, that's their problem..
Most of these people made good money, especially if they started acting as children on long running popular TV shows or in films. There is no excuse, unless these performers were ripped off by their parents, their managers, their lawyers or other shady people.
What about her husband? He was a regular on Thirtysomething, a series which was very popular. Didn't he make decent money? The series ran for four seasons and won 13 Emmys.
by Anonymous | reply 140 | May 16, 2022 5:11 AM |
Don't judge, [[R137]]. Melissa hasn't had any significant work in decades. It's not easy being an actor. Everyone expects them to be rich and fabulous. But when the work dries up, the work dries up. And there's nothing they can do about it.
Please, many of these performers, if they didn't become alcoholics or druggies, knew how to invest. One of the blonds who replaced Suzanne Somers on Three's Company, bought a couple of apartment buildings. Other performers went into other types of businesses. If anyone waits around for work to come to them, well, that's their problem..
Most of these people made good money, especially if they started acting as children on long running popular TV shows or in films. There is no excuse, unless these performers were ripped off by their parents, their managers, their lawyers or other shady people.
What about her husband? He was a regular on Thirtysomething, a series which was very popular. Didn't he make decent money? The series ran for four seasons and won 13 Emmys.
by Anonymous | reply 141 | May 16, 2022 5:11 AM |
Sister Sara should help out Melissa.
Melissa is the whole reason Sara got into the business in the first place.
Show a little appreciation!
by Anonymous | reply 142 | May 16, 2022 2:30 PM |
Sara became a nun? I thought she was a lesbian, not that those two are mutually exclusive or anything?
by Anonymous | reply 143 | May 16, 2022 2:42 PM |
R28 OMG, her husband has gayface
by Anonymous | reply 144 | May 16, 2022 3:31 PM |
[Quote]“I have a feeling that I’m going to want to move it more in the future. I’d like to go someplace where that’s possible.”
This sounds so nuts. L.A. *forbids* forehead movement and giving up botox.
by Anonymous | reply 145 | May 16, 2022 8:33 PM |
Weren't there sexual assault allegations against Timothy Busfield or were they pedo allegations?
I do remember there being some type of sexual assault allegations against him.
by Anonymous | reply 146 | May 17, 2022 4:03 AM |
Boxenleiter must have had some serious sizemeats. She seemed dickmatized.
by Anonymous | reply 147 | May 20, 2022 1:36 PM |
Both, R146. He was accused of harassing a teen back in the early '90s. Then years later and shortly before he met Melissa, a woman accused him of assaulting her while on a movie date with him.
So he's a real charmer.
by Anonymous | reply 148 | May 20, 2022 2:31 PM |