Melissa Gilbert rose to fame nearly 40 years ago while starring in Little House on the Prairie, continuing to make headlines since.
Gilbert starred as Laura Ingalls Wilder as a teen in the series, which centered around a family building a life in the midwest in the late 1800s. The show aired its final episode in 1983.
Gilbert went on to tie the knot with Timothy Busfield in 2013. More than one decade later, Us Weekly confirmed that Busfield surrendered to police in New Mexico after two twin child actors alleged that the director touched them inappropriately.
Busfield is facing two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. Busfield has denied the allegations. Gilbert, for her part, is standing by her husband.
“During this period, her focus is on supporting and caring for their very large family, as they navigate this moment,” Gilbert’s rep told Us in January 2026. “Melissa stands with and supports her husband and will address the public at an appropriate time.”
Scroll down to learn about Gilbert’s life now:
Melissa Gilbert left Los Angeles in 2013, moving to Michigan for five years. She went on to tell People that she felt she had to leave Hollywood “in order to age.”
“When you live in Los Angeles, it’s like living at the mall when you work at the mall,” she said in a September 2024 interview with People. “It puts a lot of pressure on staying thin and staying young and really it makes it hard to feel comfortable in one’s own skin, because [of] the aging process.”
She continued, “I had to get out of there [L.A.], because it felt like I was not being authentically myself. In the five years that I was in Michigan, all of that stopped. … I stopped everything and just focused on being as physically and emotionally healthy as I could. And I think that shows, ‘Yes, I’m aging, but it’s not a curse — it’s a blessing.'”
In 2018, Gilbert and Busfield moved to New York City, eventually purchasing a home upstate. The pair refer to the house as “the cabbage,” a mix of “cabin” and “cottage,” per The New York Times.
Melissa Gilbert made a guest appearance on Hallmark’s When Calls the Heart in 2025, while also continuing to act on stage. She starred in off-Broadway plays like Still, which opened in 2025.
She has also released a handful of books, including 2009’s debut memoir Prairie Tale.
After leaving Hollywood, Melissa Gilbert ran for Congress in Michigan’s 8th district in 2016. She had to withdraw from the race due to a spinal injury.
She went on to cofound the lifestyle brand Modern Prairie with Nicole Haase, a former executive at Williams Sonoma, in 2022. Gilbert explained to People that the brand is for the “modern seasoned woman” who has gone through “huge transitions.”
“We are all going through incredible things, whether they’re physiological, hormonal changes happening, we’re losing our spouses and partners or have children leaving the nest,” she said in 2024. “I think the strength that we possess having just survived this long is remarkable.”
Melissa Gilbert has two sons, Dakota Brinkman and Michael Boxleitner, from her marriages to director Bo Brinkman and actor Bruce Boxleitner. Gilbert has shared that she is intentional about choosing roles that bring her closer to her children and grandchildren.
“Anything that takes me to a location that gets me near one of my kids’ homes is good for me,” she told People in 2025. “I don’t feel any added responsibility in choosing roles because I have grandchildren. I think I’m just more determined to continue to bring stories to light that affect the way people interact with one another.”
Melissa Gilbert deleted her social media account in 2026 amid the accusations against Busfield. Her account on Instagram and Threads said that the page was not available.
