Karen Grassle, who played Caroline ‘Ma’ Ingalls on the family drama, explains her complicated feelings for her late costar.

Little House on the Prairie star expresses her ‘resentment and anger’ with costar Michael Landon

Karen Grassle, who played Caroline 'Ma' Ingalls on the family drama, explains her complicated feelings for her late costar.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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January 1, 2026 11:30 a.m. ET

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'Little House on the Prairie' starred Karen Grassle, along with Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, Melissa Sue Anderson, and Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush. Credit:

NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty

As Ma and Pa Ingalls on TV's *Little House on the Prairie*, Karen Grassle and Michael Landon shared a deep love. Not so much in real life.

In a new interview, Grassle explained to PEOPLE that their rocky relationship began in the second season, when Landon, who also executive produced and often wrote and directed the show, denied her request for a raise.

"I ran myself into the ground with resentment and anger and hurt feelings and just pure exhaustion," said Grassle, who's now 83.

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The actress wrote in her 2021 memoir, *Bright Lights, Prairie Dust: Reflections on Life, Loss, and Love from Little House's Ma*, per PEOPLE, that she also disliked the crude and sexist jokes that Landon would tell on set. She didn't appreciate him making fun of her either.

And they had many scenes together in the Emmy-winning series, which aired for nine seasons from 1974 to 1983. Based on the *Little House* books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the show was about the Ingalls family's adventures in the town of Walnut Grove in the late 1800s.

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In addition to Grassle and Landon, it starred an ensemble cast that included Melissa Gilbert as main character Laura; Melissa Sue Anderson as Ingalls daughter Mary; Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush (sharing the role of younger sister Carrie); Alison Arngrim as Laura's foe Nellie Oleson, and many more.

Despite the continued love for the show, more than 50 years after its debut, Grassle said her mixed feelings about Landon, who died of pancreatic cancer in 1991, once caused her to stop associating with *Little House*.

Karen Grassle attends a 'Little House on the Prairie' event in 2024.

VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty

"I had limited my interactions with fans very much," Grassle, who went on to appear in the 1994 Kevin Costner movie *Wyatt Earp* and 2021's *Not to Forget* with Louis Gossett Jr., Cloris Leachman, Olympia Dukakis, and Tatum O'Neal, told the outlet. "I really didn't go to many events. I didn't hang out with everybody. I separated myself."

After the publication of her book, Grassle understood what she had been missing. She began interacting with people at fan events and participating in social media.

"I was astonished at what I learned about people's affection for the character of Caroline," she said.

*Little House on the Prairie* is available to stream on Peacock and Prime Video.**

- Family Dramas

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