Michael Landon Sr.
(born Eugene Maurice Orowitz;
October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor and filmmaker. He is
known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza (1959–1973), Charles
Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983), and Jonathan Smith in
Highway to Heaven (1984–1989). Landon appeared on the cover of TV Guide 22
times, second only to Lucille Ball.
Early life
Landon was born Eugene Maurice Orowitz on October 31, 1936,
in Forest Hills, Queens, New York. His parents were Kathleen "Peggy" (née O'Neill; a dancer
and comedian) and Eli Maurice Orowitz. His father was Jewish, and his mother
was Roman Catholic. Eugene was the Orowitz family's second child; their
daughter, Evelyn, had been born three years earlier in 1933.
In 1941, when Eugene was four, he and his family moved to Collingswood, New Jersey. He celebrated his bar mitzvah at
Temple Beth Sholom in Cherry Hill. His family recalls that Landon "went through a lot of hassle studying
for the big event, which included bicycling to a nearby town every day to learn how to read Hebrew and recite prayers." Years later, he told
an interviewer that he never went on a date when he was in high school "because no Christian father in the
town would allow his daughter to go out with a Jew."
During his childhood, Landon worried constantly about his
mother attempting suicide. He later reported that on a family beach vacation,
his mother tried to drown herself, but Landon rescued her. Shortly after the
attempt, his mother acted as if nothing had happened, and a few minutes later, he
vomited. He said that it was the worst experience of his life. Stress overload
from his mother's suicide attempts caused Landon to battle the childhood
problem of bedwetting, which was reported in the unauthorized biography Michael
Landon: His Triumph and Tragedy. His mother put his wet sheets on display
outside his window for all to see. He ran home every day and tried to remove
them before his classmates could see. Some of these experiences were
incorporated into his semi-autobiographical television movie, The Loneliest
Runner, which he wrote, produced, and directed.
Landon attended Collingswood High School and was an
excellent javelin thrower; with his 193 ft 4 in (58.93 m) toss in 1954 being
the longest throw by a high schooler in the United States that year. This
earned him an athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California,
but he subsequently tore his shoulder ligaments, putting an end to his days as
a college athlete and as a student.
Now in Los Angeles, Landon considered going into show
business and worked as an attendant at a service station across from the
Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California. He was eventually noticed by Bob Raison,
a local talent agent. Following his advice, Landon changed his Jewish-sounding
name, selecting his new name from a telephone book.
Career
Early work
Landon's first starring appearance was on the television
series Telephone Time, in the episode "The
Mystery of Casper Hauser" (1956) as the title character. Other parts
came, including movie roles in I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957), Maracaibo
(1958), High School Confidential (1958), God's Little Acre (1958), and The
Legend of Tom Dooley (1959), as well as many roles on television, such as
Crossroads (three episodes), The Restless Gun (pilot episode aired on Schlitz
Playhouse of Stars), Sheriff of Cochise (in "Human
Bomb"), U.S. Marshal (as Don Sayers in "The Champ"),
Crusader, Frontier Doctor, The Rifleman (in "End of a Young Gun",
1958), The Adventures of Jim Bowie, Johnny Staccato, Wire Service, General
Electric Theater, The Court of Last Resort, State Trooper (two episodes), Tales
of Wells Fargo (three episodes), The Texan (in the 1958 episode "The Hemp Tree"), The Tall
Man, Tombstone Territory (in the episodes "The
Man From Brewster", with John Carradine and "Rose of the Rio Bravo", with Kathleen Nolan), Trackdown
(two 1958 episodes), and Wanted Dead or Alive, starring Steve McQueen (in
episodes "The Martin Poster",
1958, and "The Legend",
1959). Landon also appeared in at least two episodes of Dick Powell's Zane Grey
Theater including "Gift from a Gunman"
in 1957 and "Living is a Lonely Thing" in 1959. Landon can be seen in
two uncredited speaking roles as a cavalry trooper in a 1956 episode of the
ABC/Warner Bros. television series Cheyenne, an episode titled "Decision". Two years later,
Landon returned to that same series as White Hawk in "The White Warrior".
Bonanza
In 1959, at the age of 22, Landon began his first starring
TV role as Little Joe Cartwright on Bonanza, one of the first TV series to be
broadcast in color. Also starring on the show were Lorne Greene, Pernell
Roberts, and Dan Blocker. During Bonanza's sixth season (1964–1965), the show
topped the Nielsen ratings and remained number one for three years.
Receiving more fan mail than any other cast member, Landon
negotiated with executive producer David Dortort and NBC to write and direct
some episodes. In 1962, Landon wrote his first script. In 1968, Landon directed
his first episode. In 1993, TV Guide listed Little Joe's September 1972
two-hour wedding episode ("Forever")
as one of TV's most memorable specials. Landon's script recalled Little Joe's
brother, Hoss, who was initially the story's groom before Dan Blocker's death.
During the final season, the ratings declined, and NBC canceled Bonanza in
November 1972. The last episode aired on January 16, 1973. Along with Lorne
Greene and Victor Sen Yung, Landon appeared in all 14 seasons of the series.
Landon was loyal to many of his Bonanza associates, including producer Kent McCray,
director William F. Claxton, and composer David Rose, who remained with him
throughout Bonanza, as well as Little House on the Prairie and Highway to
Heaven.
Little House on the
Prairie
The year after Bonanza was canceled, Landon went on to star
as Charles Ingalls in the pilot of what became another successful television
series, Little House on the Prairie, again for NBC. The show was taken from a
1935 book written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose character in the show was
played by 9-year-old actress Melissa Gilbert. In addition to Gilbert, two other
unknown actresses also starred on the show: Melissa Sue Anderson, who appeared
as Mary Ingalls, the oldest daughter in the Ingalls family, and Karen Grassle
as Charles' wife, Caroline. Landon served as executive producer, writer, and
director of Little House. The show was nominated for several Emmy and Golden
Globe awards. After eight seasons, Little House was retooled by NBC in 1982 as
Little House: A New Beginning, which focused on the Wilder family and the
Walnut Grove community. Though Landon remained the show's executive producer,
director, and writer, A New Beginning did not feature Charles and Caroline
Ingalls. A New Beginning was actually the final chapter of Little House, as the
series ended in 1983. The following year, three made-for-television movies
aired.
In a 2015 interview, Gilbert said of Landon, "He gave me so much advice...the
overall idea that he pounded into me, from a little girl, into my brain was
that nothing's more important than 'Home & Family'; no success, no career,
no achievements, no accomplishments, nothing's more important than loving the
people you love and contributing to a community. Though we were working, really,
really hard, we were 'Not Saving the World', one episode of television at a
time, we're just entertaining people and there are more important things to
do... and have fun; no matter what."
Highway to Heaven
After producing both "Little
House" and later the Father Murphy TV series, Landon starred in
another successful program. In Highway to Heaven, he played a probationary
angel (who named himself Jonathan Smith) whose job was to help people to earn his wings. His co-star on the show was Victor French (who had
previously co-starred on Landon's Little House on the Prairie) as ex-cop Mark
Gordon. On Highway, Landon served as executive producer, writer, and director.
Highway to Heaven was the only show throughout his long television career that he owned outright.
By 1985, before hiring his son, Michael Landon Jr., as a
member of his camera crew, he also brought real-life cancer patients and
disabled people to the set. His decision to work with disabled people led him
to hire a couple of adults with disabilities to write episodes for Highway to
Heaven.
By season four, Highway dropped out of the Nielsen top 30,
and in June 1988, NBC announced that the series would return for an abbreviated
fifth season, which would be its last. Its final episodes were filmed in the
fall of 1988. One aired in October, two in December, one in March 1989, and the
remainder aired on Fridays from June to August. French did not live to see
Highway's series finale broadcast; he died of advanced lung cancer on June 15,
1989, two months after it was diagnosed. Landon invited his youngest daughter,
Jennifer Landon, to take part in the final episode.
Other projects
In 1972, he was among the guests in David Winters' musical
television special The Special London Bridge Special, starring Tom Jones and
Jennifer O'Neill.
In 1973, Landon was an episode director and writer for the
short-lived NBC romantic anthology series Love Story. In 1982, he co-produced
an NBC "true story" television
movie, Love Is Forever, starring Laura Gemser (who was credited as Moira Chen)
and himself, about Australian photojournalist John Everingham's successful
attempt to scuba dive under the Mekong to rescue his lover from communist-ruled
Laos in 1977. The real Everingham was cast as an extra in the film, which also
marked the acting debut of Priscilla Presley.
Sam's Son was a 1984 coming-of-age feature film written and
directed by Landon and loosely based on his early life. The film stars Timothy
Patrick Murphy, Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, Hallie Todd, and James Karen. Karen
previously worked for Landon in the made-for-television film Little House: The
Last Farewell.
He was a guest of the PBS television series The Electric
Company.
After the cancellation of Highway to Heaven and before his
move to CBS, Landon wrote and directed the teleplay Where Pigeons Go to Die.
Based on a novel of the same name, the film starred Art Carney and was
nominated for two Emmy awards.
Throughout the run of Highway to Heaven, all of Landon's
television programs were broadcast on NBC, a relationship that lasted 30
consecutive years with the network. After the cancellation of Highway and due
to a fallout with those within NBC's upper management, he moved to CBS and in
1991 starred in a two-hour pilot called Us. Us was meant to be another series
for Landon, but with his diagnosis on April 5 of pancreatic cancer, the show
never aired beyond the pilot. Also during the 1990–91 season, Landon appeared
as host of the CBS special America's Missing Children, which explored actual
cases of missing children that were under investigation. This special was also
being considered as the pilot for a new series. He appeared as a celebrity
panelist on the premiere week of Match Game on CBS.
Singing
Landon also had a singing career, of the teen idol type.
In 1957, Candlelight Records released a Michael Landon
single, "Gimme a Little Kiss (Will
"Ya" Huh)"/ "Be Patient with Me" during the height
of his notoriety for his role in the film I Was a Teenage Werewolf. Some copies
show the artist credited as the "Teenage
Werewolf" rather than as Michael Landon. In 1962, both the A- and
B-sides of the record were re-released on the Fono-Graf label, which included a
picture sleeve of Landon's then-current role on Bonanza as Little Joe
Cartwright.
In March 1964, RCA Victor Records released another Landon
single, "Linda Is
Lonesome"/"Without You". All of Landon's singles have since
been issued on compact disc by Bear Family Records as part of a Bonanza various-artists
compilation.
Landon sang on television, on the Dean Martin Show,
Hullabaloo, and other venues, and also sang live on stage at theatrical venues
(sometimes with a holster and gun strapped to his hip).
Personal life
Landon was married three times and was a father to nine
children (three of whom were adopted):
Dodie Levy-Fraser (married 1956; divorced 1962)
Mark Fraser Landon (adopted; Dodie's biological son (in 1956
aged 11)
Josh Fraser Landon (adopted as infant)
Marjorie Lynn Noe (married 1963; divorced 1982)
Cheryl Lynn Landon (born Cheryl Ann Pontrelli), Lynn's
daughter from her first marriage; she was nine when her mother and Landon
married.
Leslie Ann Landon
Michael Landon Jr.
Shawna Leigh Landon
Christopher Beau Landon
Cindy Clerico (married 1983), a makeup artist on Little
House on the Prairie
Jennifer Rachel Landon
Sean Matthew Landon
In February 1959, Landon's father died from a heart attack.
In 1973, his eldest daughter, Cheryl, and three others were
involved in a serious car collision just outside Tucson, Arizona, while Cheryl
was a student at the University of Arizona. She was the sole survivor. She was
hospitalized with serious injuries and remained in a coma for days.
Landon's mother, Peggy, died in March 1981.
Landon admitted to being a chain smoker and heavy drinker.
Landon said in an interview with the Associated Press, "I believe in God, I believe in family,
I believe in truth between people, I believe in the power of love, I believe
that we really are created in God's image, that there is God in all of
us."
A 1985 profile in People described him as a conservative who
was close to Ronald Reagan. In a 1991 interview, he criticized political
polarization and political correctness in America. In 1990, he supported a pro-environmentalist
proposition in California.
Illness and death
Landon began to suffer from a severe headache while he was on
a skiing vacation in Utah. Three days later, he was diagnosed with pancreatic
cancer, which had begun to affect the tissues and blood vessels around his
pancreas. The cancer was inoperable and terminal. Landon said that he believed
his smoking and drinking had caused his pancreatic cancer, and that he had
tried to quit smoking after co-star Victor French died of lung cancer.
He appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to
speak about the cancer and condemn the tabloid press for its sensational
headlines and inaccurate stories, including the claim that he and his wife were
trying to conceive another child. During his appearance, Landon pledged to
fight the disease and asked his fans to pray for him. Twelve days after his
appearance on the show, he underwent successful surgery for a life-threatening
blood clot in his left leg. In June, he appeared on the cover of LIFE after
granting the periodical an exclusive private interview about his life, his
family, and his struggle to live.
Age 54, Landon died in Malibu, California, at 1:20 pm on
July 1, 1991, with his wife at his bedside. Landon was interred in a private
family mausoleum at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City,
California. Landon's headstone reads, "He
seized life with joy. He gave life generously. He leaves a legacy of love
and laughter." His adopted son Mark, who died in May 2009, is also
interred there.
Legacy
A community building at Malibu's Bluffs Park was named the
Michael Landon Center following the actor's death. Landon's son, Michael Jr.,
produced a memorial special called Michael Landon: Memories with Laughter and
Love, featuring the actor's family, friends, and co-stars; Bonanza co-star
David Canary said that one word that described Landon was "fearless" in his dealings with network brass. Melissa
Gilbert, who played his daughter on Little House, said that the actor made her
feel "incredibly safe" and that he was "paternal". Often cited on the show was Landon's
bizarre sense of humor, which included having toads leap from his mouth and
dressing as a superhero to visit a pizza parlor.
In 1991, during Landon's final Tonight Show appearance,
Johnny Carson related how the actor took him back to a restaurant the two had
dined at previously. Carson had been led to believe he accidentally ran over
the owner's cat in the parking lot during their first visit. When sitting down
to eat the second time, Carson discovered that Landon had helped create a fake
menu of dinner items featuring cat metaphors.
A made-for-TV movie, Michael Landon: The Father I Knew,
co-written and directed by his son Michael Jr., aired on CBS in May 1999. John
Schneider starred in the title role as Michael Landon, with Cheryl Ladd as Lynn
Noe and Joel Berti as Michael Landon Jr. The biopic detailed, from Michael
Jr.'s point of view, the personal emotional trauma he endured during his
parents' divorce and his father's premature death. The movie spanned a timeline
from the 1960s through the early 1990s.
A plaque and small playground referred to as the Little
Treehouse on the Prairie were erected in Knight Park, a central park in Landon's
hometown of Collingswood. In 2011, the plaque was removed from the park by the
borough and was later given to a local newspaper by an unnamed person.
According to the Collingswood, NJ, website, the plaque was removed during a
fall cleanup with plans to return it to a safer location. The plaque was reinstated
next to a bench in a safer location the following summer.
In 2021, Karen Grassle, Landon's co-star on Little House,
published her memoir, Bright Lights, Prairie Dust: Reflections on Life, Loss,
and Love by House's Ma. In the book, Grassle detailed the troubled relationship
she had with Landon, citing derogatory remarks he made about her while on the
set of Little House, often with other members of the cast and crew present.
Grassle subsequently "mended
fences" with Landon before his death.
Landon allegedly damaged a motel room wall during a 1962
stay while headlining the local county fair in Neligh, Nebraska. The room, now
called the Michael Landon Suite, remains largely unchanged, and the plaque
beside the hole commemorates the incident.
Filmography
Film
1956 These Wilder
Years Boy in Poolhall Uncredited
1957 I Was a
Teenage Werewolf Tony Rivers
1958 Maracaibo Lago Orlando
High School Confidential! Steve
Bentley
God's Little Acre Dave
Dawson
1959 The Legend
of Tom Dooley Tom Dooley
1961 The Errand
Boy Joseph 'Little Joe' Cartwright Uncredited
1976 The
Loneliest Runner John Curtis (adult)
1982 Love Is
Forever John Everingham Also co-producer
1984 Sam's Son Gene Orman
Television
1955 Tombstone
Territory Chris Anderson Season 2, Episode 7: "The Man From Brewster"
1956 Cheyenne U.S. Cavalry trooper (Uncredited) Season 1, Episode 7: "Decision"
The Adventures of Jim Bowie Jerome
Juventin Season 1, Episode 4:
"Deputy Sheriff"
1957 General
Electric Theater Claude
Duncan Season 5, Episode 27: "Too Good With a Gun"
General Electric Theater Dixon Season 5, Episode 30: "The Bitter Choice"
The Restless Gun Sandy Pilot episode
Tales of Wells Fargo Tad
Cameron Season 1, Episode 6: "Shotgun Messenger"
Tales of Wells Fargo Jackson Season 1, Episode 10: "Sam Bass"
Tales of Wells Fargo Tad
Cameron Season 2, Episode 11: "The Kid"
1958 The Texan Nick Ahearn Season 1, Episode 8: "The
Hemp Tree"
Cheyenne Alan
Horn / 'White Hawk' Season 3,
Episode 13: "White Warrior"
Wanted Dead or Alive Carl
Martin Season 1, Episode 1: "The Martin Poster"
The Rifleman Will
Fulton Season 1, Episode 3: "End of a Young Gun"
1959 The Rifleman Billy Mathis Season 1, Episode 40: "The
Mind Reader"
Wanted Dead or Alive Clay
McGarrett Season 1, Episode 27: "The Legend"
1959–1973 Bonanza Joseph 'Little Joe' Cartwright 430 episodes
1974–1983 Little
House on the Prairie Charles
Ingalls / Narrator 187
episodes
1984–1989 Highway
to Heaven Jonathan Smith 111 episodes
1990 Where
Pigeons Go to Die Hugh at 50 Television film; also director
1991 Us Jeff Hayes Television film; also director and writer
Awards and honors
1969 Bambi Award TV series International Bonanza
(shared with Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts) Won
1970 Bronze
Wrangler Award Fictional
Television Drama Bonanza
episode: "The Wish"
(shared with director, producer and cast) Won
1979 Golden Globe
Award Best TV Actor – Drama Little House on the Prairie Nominated
1980 Spur Award Best TV Script Little House on the Prairie episode:
"May We Make Them Proud" Won
1984 Hollywood
Walk of Fame Television Star
at 1500 N. Vine Street Inducted
Golden Boot Award Significant
Contribution to the Western Genre Honored
1991 Youth in
Film Award Michael Landon Award Outstanding Contribution to Youth Through
Entertainment Honored
1995 Television
Hall of Fame Significant Contribution to
the Field of Television Honored
1998 National Cowboy
& Western Heritage Museum Western
Performers Hall of Fame Inducted
2004 TV Land
Award Most Memorable Mane Little House on the Prairie Nominated
2005 TV Guide 50 Sexiest Stars of All Time Ranked #33
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Landon
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