‘Little House on the Prairie’: Why Radames Pera Called Being Written Out of the Show a ‘Knife Through My Heart’
Radames Pera was cast as John Sanderson Edwards in season 2 of Little House on the Prairie. Playing the love interest of Mary Ingalls (Melissa Sue Anderson), Pera was stunned when his character was permanently written out of the show after Michael Landon made a creative decision as executive producer.
John two-timed Mary on ‘Little House’
Pera described the plot line in an early season 4 episode that let viewers know his character wouldn’t be heading back to Walnut Grove.
“The family suddenly disappears and Mary comes to visit me while I’m off in college,” Pera told Fox News. “And all the while, in between writing love letters to her, I was seeing another woman. That’s how they cut out the audience’s interest in my character. We received a lot of angry letters over that.”
Little House loyalists were so unhappy with the storyline that Pera still gets flack for breaking Mary’s heart.
“In fact, when I make public appearances today with other cast members, I still get fans who yell out ‘cheater!’” he shared with a laugh. “I just have to smile.”
Isaiah Edwards returned to ‘Little House’ – sans John
Victor French portrayed Isaiah Edwards in the first three seasons on Little House but left the show after getting an offer for a sitcom. His exit caused a falling out with Landon, but they later made amends. French was written back into the historical drama so Pera expected to be making his return as well.
“Michael and Victor eventually made up,” the Little House alum remarked. “And Victor came back on set. So I was really excited… Then I remember walking on the set. There are Michael and the second director.”
Pera sadly discovered his character had been removed from the show – permanently. John apparently met his demise in a street car accident.
“They go, ‘It’s so funny you showed up today – We just shot the scene where we find your dead body’,” Pera explained. “That was a knife through my heart. I had walked in thinking we had another chance and they were done with me already.”
Charlotte Stewart called Radames Pera ‘collateral damage’ of Michael Landon and Victor French’s feud
Charlotte Stewart played school teacher Eva Beadle on Little House until the end of season 4. She remembered the Edwards family being written back into the storyline with one notable exception.
“[French] and Michael patched things up and Mr. Edwards and his family miraculously reappeared in Walnut Grove,” Stewart wrote in her memoir, Little House in the Hollywood Hills: A Bad Girl’s Guide to Becoming Miss Beadle, Mary X, and Me.. “Well, all but one – Radames Pera had played Mr. Edwards’ adopted son John Sanderson.”
Stewart recalled Pera hoping to return to the show as well but learning the news of his character’s death. She considered John’s passing as a product of the initial conflict between Landon and French.
“When Radames heard the news of Victor and the Edwards family coming back to the show, he naturally saw it as a return for his character as well,” Stewart revealed. “His character was dead – Radames was collateral damage of the Michael-Victor falling out.”
