‘Little House on the Prairie’: Alison Arngrim Reveals ‘The Safest Place on the Set’
Little House on the Prairie star Alison Arngrim starred in the series for seven seasons. She says the cast and crew became like her family. However, like any other family, there were sometimes clashes between the actors. Arngrim says there was one place on the set that was a haven for her and the other cast members. Here’s what she described as the “safest place on the set.”
Alison Arngrim’s friendships on the ‘Little House on the Prairie’ set
Arngrim grew close to two of her cast mates. One of her closest friends is Melissa Gilbert (she played Laura Ingalls). Arngrim says she knew she would be friends with Gilbert after an incident when she passed out on the set from heat exhaustion. In her autobiography Confessions of a Prairie B****, Arngrim says Gilbert stayed outside her dressing room and paced back and forth like “an expectant father at a maternity ward.”
Arngrim says Gilbert made sure she knew how things on the set worked and who she should watch out for. They were enemies on camera, but inseparable behind the scenes. Their friendship has lasted the test of time and they remain friends today.
Another co-star Arngrim grew close to was the late Steve Tracy. He played Percival Dalton, the husband of her character, Nellie Oleson. They grew so close that people thought Arngrim and Tracy were dating in real life. However, Tracy was gay. Their friendship blossomed and remained strong until his death from AIDS-related complications at the age of 34 on November 27, 1986.
The ‘safest place’ on the ‘Little House on the Prairie’ set
Arngrim says there was one place on the set where no one could argue. People weren’t allowed to cause discord in this space. She revealed the hair and makeup department was “the safest place” on the set. “Absolutely no arguing, no yelling, no pushing, no shoving,” writes Arngrim.
Arngrim says if you had gotten into an argument with someone before entering hair and makeup, you couldn’t finish it there. According to her, any aggressive behavior that took place here would be reported to those in charge. Arngrim says it was for the best that she had her first encounter with co-star Melissa Sue Anderson in the hair and makeup department. According to her, Anderson wasn’t the friendliest person and Gilbert once claimed she was “evil” and tried to “kill” her.
This might have been one of the most uncomfortable places on the set
If the hair and makeup department was the “safest” place on the set, then the lunch area would probably be one of the most uncomfortable places on the set (at least during the summer). In her autobiography, Bright Lights, Prairie Dust, Karen Grassle revealed what it was like to eat lunch on the set during the summer.
When it became hot on the set, the cast and crew would have lunch outdoors. However, bees were attracted to the smell of the food, and they would hover near the area. Grassle says the caterers kept the bees away by hanging a piece of raw meat on a branch. This way, the bees would be attracted to the meat and stay in that spot. “We forever had a flag of liver or steak flying high over our picnic,” says Grassle.
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