‘Little House on the Prairie’: Why Melissa Sue Anderson Apologized to Michael Landon’s Wife, Cindy Clerico

Michael Landon caused quite a stir on the Little House on the Prairie set when he began a relationship with Melissa Sue Anderson’s stand-in, Cindy Clerico, while he was still married to Lynn Noe. Anderson admitted to freezing out Clerico in allegiance to Landon’s current wife and described the tension with Landon during that initial time period.

Melissa Sue Anderson became friends with Cindy Clerico on ‘Little House’ set

Anderson was 16 years old when Clerico was hired as her stand-in on Little House and recalled having a lot in common with the teenager.

“Cindy and I had been very friendly before the affair became known,” Anderson wrote in her memoir, The Way I See It. “She was very athletic and very tan, and she looked great in her teeny Chemin de Fer jeans. We used to commiserate about the best ways to keep our jeans from stretching out.”

The Little House alum began to notice Clerico acquiring some high-priced items but assumed she was good with finances.

“Cindy was always nice, and she did her job,” Anderson noted. “I remember that she had a light-blue Volkswagen Bug when she started. Later, she had a Porsche, and I thought she must have saved her money. I was naive, I know.”

‘Little House’ star felt Michael Landon ‘really let me down’

Anderson revealed the effect the news of Landon’s affair with Clerico had on the younger Little House actors who held the him in high esteem.

“For us, as kids, it was a real blow,” Anderson explained. “Although we knew he could be difficult at times and had his flaws, we never dreamed he was capable of inflicting that kind of pain on his real family. For me personally, I had held him up to a higher moral standard. … He had really let me down.”

Clerico was reassigned from her stand-in position to makeup artist. Anderson had to keep communication open with Landon since he was her co-star and boss, but it was a different story with Clerico.

“I knew and liked Lynn, his wife – I had too much respect for her to just accept Mike’s behavior as ‘business as usual’,” Anderson wrote. “But because he was my boss I tried not to let my personal feelings make too much of an impact on our working relationship. All bets were off, though, when it came to the ‘other woman’. I just couldn’t help it.”

Melissa Sue Anderson mended fences with Cindy Clerico years later

Anderson revealed that she basically cut herself off from Clerico when she learned of her affair with Landon and refused to sit in her makeup chair.

“In my silent show of solidarity with Lynn Landon, I did not have my makeup done by Cindy,” Anderson remarked. “And she was good, too. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was civil to her, but that’s about it. We certainly were no longer friends.”

As time went on, Anderson forgave Landon and their relationship healed. Their bond remained after she left Little House in 1981, where they would sometimes get together with their spouses. During one of those gatherings, the former Little House star made amends with Clerico, who was then married to Landon.

“[Anderson’s husband] Michael and I occasionally socialized with Mike and Cindy Landon,” Anderson wrote. “We all lived in Malibu at that time and would get together for dinner… I apologized to Cindy for giving her the cold shoulder all those years ago. She accepted and said I wasn’t the only one.”

Landon and Clerico were married from 1983 until his death in 1991.