‘Little House on the Prairie’: How Tall Was Michael Landon?
Little House on the Prairie star Michael Landon executive produced and appeared in the show from 1974 until 1983. His former co-stars say he had a kind heart and big personality. His castmates also say that although he appeared tall, he was shorter than many people realized. How tall was Landon? Here’s what we know about the late actor.
Michael Landon tried to appear taller than he was on ‘Little House on the Prairie’
Landon tried to appear taller, according to co-star Alison Arngrim (she played Nellie Oleson). In her book Confessions of a Prairie B****, Arngrim says Landon tried his best to hide the fact that he wasn’t tall. She reveals he used to wear lifts in his shoes.
“Michael Landon was short, very short,” writes Arngrim. “I don’t know his actual height, because he was never without the enormous lifts he wore in his boots.”
Arngrim says Landon used props to give the illusion of height. According to her, he often did this when male actors were part of his scene.
“In every scene with another male actor, he was always positioned on a staircase, up on a ladder, anything,” says Arngrim. “They did everything but dig a hole for the rest of us to stand in,” she joked.
How tall was Michael Landon?
Michael Landon was 5 feet 9 inches tall, reports IMDb. Landon wasn’t very tall, but that didn’t stop him from displaying confidence. Arngrim says it was ‘hard not to notice’ Landon. She describes him as walking around the Little House on the Prairie set with “swagger.” Arngrim says it was difficult not to see him when he entered a room because he always made his presence known.
“He didn’t walk. He strutted,” says Arngrim in her book. “He swaggered. Like a peacock. His aura annoyed some people in the cast. I remember Katherine MacGregor telling me she disliked him on sight when, at her audition, he strutted into the room.”
Arngrim says MacGregor compared the way Landon walked to “a baby bantam rooster.” However, Arngrim didn’t mind the way he walked. In her opinion, it was “cute.”
Michael Landon made a change after meeting his wife, Cindy Landon
In her book The Way I See It, Melissa Sue Anderson (she played Mary Ingalls) says Landon began to cut back on how much he wore lifts. Anderson says his wife, Cindy, was quite short (she is reportedly a little over 5 feet tall), so Landon didn’t have to work as hard to look tall.
Anderson noticed Landon was wearing tennis shoes more often. It wasn’t necessary for him to try to appear taller because Cindy wasn’t tall. Anderson described Landon’s previous wife, Lynn, as “statuesque” and “a good bit taller” than Landon. However, she says he hid this by wearing lifts “almost all the time.”
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