‘Little House on the Prairie’: Radames Pera Remembered Michael Landon as ‘Wonderful’ and ‘Also Human’
Michael Landon created and starred in NBC’s hit series Little House on the Prairie. Launching the historical drama in 1974, Landon recruited young actor Radames Pera to play John Sanderson Edwards in season 2. The Kung Fu alum recalled how Landon was somewhat of a contrast to his character of Charles Ingalls.
Michael Landon differed in ways from Charles Ingalls
Pera noted how Landon portrayed a character that was the epitome of a moral family man, yet the actor had some vices that wouldn’t be condoned by Charles Ingalls.
“In the public eye, [Landon] had this squeaky clean image,” Pera told Fox News in 2020. “But he told some of the dirtiest jokes I’ve ever heard. He liked to drink and there was a good flow of alcohol on that set come 3 or 4 o’clock in the afternoon and everybody was gone. There was a minibar in the prop truck. He smoked cigarettes, he drank.”
Despite Landon’s penchant for imbibing on set, Pera emphasized his boss’s kindness and commitment to Little House.
“I’m not knocking the man,” Pera remarked of Landon. “He really was a wonderful person. But he was also human, not just this perfect image accepted by the American public. He was a very talented workaholic. He literally poured his life into his work and creating entertainment for America. That was his goal. And he did a wonderful job at it. He could make you laugh and cry in one scene. There’s really no one like him.”
Radames Pera was written out of ‘Little House’ in season 3
John and Mary Ingalls (Melissa Sue Anderson) start a romance in season 2 which gets interrupted when he gets the opportunity to attend a university. When the Edwards family moves away from Walnut Grove, Pera’s character was written out of the series by breaking Mary’s heart.
“The family suddenly disappears and Mary comes to visit me while I’m off in college,” Pera explained. “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.”
Pera revealed that Little House viewers voiced their outrage at the plot line and still take him to task for two-timing Mary.
“We received a lot of angry letters over that,” he shared. “In fact, when I make public appearances today with other cast members, I still get fans who yell out ‘cheater!’ I just have to smile.”
Alison Arngrim commented on Michael Landon’s complex personality
Little House star Alison Arngrim portrayed mean girl Nellie Oleson on the show and echoed Pera’s sentiments on Landon being multi-faceted.
“Michael Landon was one of the biggest walking bundles of contradictions I have ever met,” the Little House alum wrote in her book, Confessions of a Prairie B****. “He was a ‘family man’ and talked endlessly about Lynn, his second wife, and his children, to whom he seemed utterly devoted. He had divorced his first wife, with whom he also had children, when he got caught having an affair on the set of Bonanza with Lynn (she was working as an extra and a stand-in). He went on to divorce Lynn for Cindy (a Little House stand-in…) when Lynn caught them at it.”
Though Landon clearly had flaws, Arngrim remembered him with great affection. “I loved him and loved every minute of working with him,” she wrote.
Landon died of pancreatic cancer in 1991.
