‘Bonanza’: Michael Landon ‘Couldn’t Believe’ How He Acted to His Second Wife on Set
NBC’s Western series, Bonanza, gained a serious following through the years — and star Michael Landon accrued a significant fan base thanks to his role as Little Joe Cartwright. He met his second wife, Lynn Noe, while on the set of the series — and he spoke to Johnny Carson about how he acted when he first met her. Here’s what Landon said.
Who was Michael Landon’s second wife? How many times did he marry?
Michael Landon married three times. He married Dodie Levy-Fraser and adopted both her kids in 1956 — and this was before he attained fame from Bonanza. Landon and Levy-Fraser divorced in 1962, and a year after their divorce, he married his second wife, Marjorie Lynn Noe. Noe and Landon had four children of their own and Landon also adopted her daughter from another relationship.
Noe and Landon had a great relationship for a long time, and she saw Landon’s rise to fame. Unfortunately, their marriage also didn’t last. They divorced in 1982 following a scandal that happened on Little House on the Prairie. Landon fell for the young makeup artist, Cindy Clerico, and he had an affair.
Landon touched on how often he fought with Noe before it all ended. “I would have done anything to make that relationship continue, but I could not,” he said regarding Noe. “It’s not just difficult for the wife. It is painful for the husband too. But it is far better than letting it stay the way it was.”
Michael Landon said he ‘couldn’t believe’ how he acted toward Lynn Noe when he met her on ‘Bonanza’
Before Michael Landon and Lynn Noe’s marriage ended, they were happy and in love. While on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, he recounted how he was very shy toward Noe when they first met on the set of Bonanza.
“Love at first sight I know everybody thinks is baloney, but I just thought she was terrific,” Landon told Johnny Carson. “I looked at her — and I was very shy. And I couldn’t believe it! I couldn’t believe I was shy. … I just really didn’t think I’d be shy. But she really kind of took my breath away.”
Landon then recalled a moment on Bonanza when he knew Noe would be present for a fight scene he was acting in. He put his all into the fight scene in the hopes she’d be watching. Unfortunately, when he looked over, he noticed she seemed completely unenthused to be there.
“I come to find out she didn’t want to work that day because they put a purple hat on her that she hated,” Landon continued. “Once you put a purple hat on a woman that she doesn’t like, ruined her whole day.”
Did Cindy Landon get remarried?
Michael Landon and Lynn Noe’s marriage didn’t last despite what Landon said about their relationship when they first met. Landon pursued Cindy Clerico (who later became Cindy Landon) after meeting on Little House on the Prairie and having their alleged affair.
Cindy Landon survived the Bonanza star when he died at 54 years old from cancer. So, did she ever remarry? It doesn’t appear she did. A year after his death in 1992, she reflected on how she wasn’t ready to date. “But I haven’t dated,” she said, according to People. “I’ve gone out with a friend, and he’s only a friend. I’m not open to romance yet.”
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