‘Little House on the Prairie’ Star Melissa Gilbert’s Husband Recalls Meeting Her for the First Time in a Bar
It appears love strikes home when it comes to Melissa Gilbert of the classic TV show Little House on the Prairie and husband Tim Busfield. Both are veteran actors from the show business world. Busfield has been on shows like Thirtysomething and The West Wing. He also had a role in the Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams. Yet he’s got a story to tell about the first time he actually met Gilbert and it’s one for the books.
“That was my drill, at eight o’clock, there was a bar right across from the Universal Studios that would open at eight and nobody would ever be in there,” Busfield says in an interview with People. “And then at 10 o’clock it would turn into a club. I would have the bar to myself for the first 45 minutes and I’d watch some sports and have a slice.
Actor Falls For ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Actress While Getting Pizza
“I remember so clearly grabbing pizza and then looking in the door to make sure there wasn’t a lot going on,” he said. “There was one person sitting at the bar and she had a fedora on, and I couldn’t tell who it was, but I knew it was problematic. And it’d been about eight months I hadn’t been on a date and I was so happy and I was spooning with my pillow and really enjoying going to bed, not involved in a relationship.” That person happens to be Gilbert. Both actors have been through divorces in their lives. These days, they live on a farm in upstate New York and enjoy their time together.
When it comes to Little House on the Prairie news, Gilbert does remember when fans would try and “protect” her from Alison Arngrim. In an interview with her from Entertainment Weekly, the actress recalls that she and Arngrim would go places together. Arngrim played pain-in-the-side Nellie Oleson on the NBC drama. They are friends away from the show and still are today.
Gilbert Remembers Trying To Just Have Friendship With Alison Arngrim
“And people would try to protect me from her,” Gilbert said. This was going on when she was 10 years old and would want to tell people that it was just a TV show. “I remember we were 13 and at a supermarket together,” she said. “She went over to one aisle to look for something and people recognized us. And they suddenly felt compelled to protect her from me, like I was coming for her.”
Gilbert said that people would just freak out about them being friends. They would go places together and the actress says that she and Arngrim still do. Gilbert remains beloved for playing Laura Ingalls on the show. Watching her scenes with Michael Landon all these years later are touching and heartfelt.
