David's Little House Star Profiles and Trivia

Ramon Bieri (1929–2001)
He co-starred on the short-lived 1981 TV series Bret Maverick with James Garner. Bieri appeared in many TV movies as well. His movie roles range from Badlands, The Sicilian, The Grasshopper, which was his first film, Grandview, U.S.A., and Reds.
He made guest appearances in many TV shows, including Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Knight Rider in two episodes, playing a different villain in each. He was featured in recurring roles in Room 222 (as the vice principal) and St. Elsewhere.

He was in over 120 TV and Movie productions from 1962 – 2001. Passed away in May of 2001 at the age of 71 years.

Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
Children of the Dark (1994) (TV)
Love, Lies and Murder (1991) (TV)
Vibes (1988)
The Sicilian (1987)
Carly's Web (1987) (TV)
The Richest Cat in the World (1986) (TV)
The Zoo Gang (1985)
Grandview, U.S.A. (1984)
Reds (1981)
Seventeen Going on Nowhere (1980) (TV)
A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story (1978) (TV)
Sorcerer (1977)
Badlands (1973)
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
The Grasshopper (1970)

He was on one Little House Episode as the owner of the Feed and Seed that Charles was replacing the roof on when he fell out of the tree.
– A Harvest of Friends (1974) Liam O'Neill

A CLASS ACT!
Anne Archer, born in August of 1947 in Los Angeles, Ca., was nominated for an Academy Award®, a Golden Globe and the British (BAFTA) Academy Award for her role as Michael Douglas' sympathetic, tortured wife, "Beth Gallagher", in Adrian Lyne's 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction (1987). Archer is also well-known for her poignant Golden Globe-winning performance in the ensemble cast of Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993) and for playing CIA agent Jack Ryan's beleaguered wife, "Cathy", in Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), both based on Tom Clancy bestsellers.

She was in a starring role opposite Courteney Cox in the independent feature November (2004) and also in Revolution Studios' comedy Man of the House (2005/I), portraying "Prof. Molly McCarthy" opposite Tommy Lee Jones. She also appeared on Showtime's provocative series "The L Word" (2004) with Jennifer Beals, Mia Kirshner and Pam Grier.

Born into a show business family, she followed in the footsteps of her parents, actress Marjorie Lord (TV's "The Danny Thomas Show" (1953)) and actor John Archer (White Heat (1949)). Archer studied theatre arts at Claremont College before debuting on the motion picture screen opposite Jon Voight in The All-American Boy (1973). She won critical acclaim for her leading role in Lifeguard (1976/I) as Sam Elliott's old flame.

Throughout her motion picture career, Archer has starred opposite some of Hollywood's most dynamic and respected leading men, not only Michael Douglas and Harrison Ford, but also Gene Hackman in Narrow Margin (1990), Tom Berenger in director Alan Rudolph's romantic comedy Love at Large (1990), Donald Sutherland in Eminent Domain (1990) and Sylvester Stallone in Paradise Alley (1978). In 2000, she appeared in The Art of War (2000) with Wesley Snipes and Rules of Engagement (2000) (her first project with Tommy Lee Jones), which was one of the box office hits in Spring of that year.

With husband Terry Jastrow (an Emmy-winning sports producer), she co-produced and starred in the feature Waltz Across Texas (1982), a modern romance set in the Texas oil fields. In 1998, Archer worked with husband Jastrow again as co-producer and co-host, with Isabella Rossellini, on ABC's World Fashion Premiere from Paris (1998) (TV), a history-making two-hour special. Again the following year, she served as a producer on the telecast. With complete backstage access, the shows spotlighted the haute couture shows of the most famous designers in the world.

Archer has essayed dramatic roles as complex and disparate characters in cable productions of equally distinct genres. She starred with Michael Murphy in the contemporary romantic drama Indiscretion of an American Wife (1998) (TV) for Lifetime and opposite William Petersen in Present Tense, Past Perfect (1995) (TV), based on a bittersweet story by Richard Dreyfuss, who also directed the Showtime drama. Previously, for the same network, she portrayed Dennis Hopper's sexy former wife in the contemporary, gritty Nails (1992) (TV) and for HBO, again, starred with Jon Voight in the period piece The Last of His Tribe (1992) (TV).

Her television performances have also included Neil Simon's Jake's Women (1996) (TV) opposite Alan Alda and CBS's Jane's House (1994) (TV) opposite James Woods. Recently, she received acclaim for a three episode arc on Fox-TV's series "Boston Public" (2000), created by David E. Kelley.

Her stage work includes the world premiere of "The Poison Tree" at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum, the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" in Massachusetts and the starring role in the London West End production of "The Graduate", for which she received rave reviews. Archer's New York stage debut was as "Maude Mix" in the celebrated Off-Broadway production of John Ford Noonan's "A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking".
From 1970 to 2001, she has appeared in over 85 Movies and Television shows and Plays.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#62). [1995]
Her father, John Archer, played The Shadow on the radio. He was later succeeded on film by Alec Baldwin, who also appeared in The Hunt for Red October (1990). Anne played the wife of Alec's character (now played by Harrison Ford) in Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994).

One Episode of Little House
Doctor's Lady (1975) As Kate Thorvald


IN 2008

Johnny Lee, birthdate unknown, acted in 11 TV shows before leaving show business in 1975.
A very short five year career.

1975 The Hindenburg
Paul Breslau (uncredited)

1974 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Joey

1973 The Magician
Grandson

– The Man Who Lost Himself(1973)… Grandson
1972 The Bold Ones: The New Doctors
Noah Stedman

– Time Bomb in the Chest(1972)… Noah Stedman
1971 Bonanza
Peter Conway

– Fallen Woman(1971)… Peter Conway
1971 The Andromeda Strain
Boy (uncredited)

1971 Alias Smith and Jones
Tommy Cunningham
– Exit from Wickenburg(1971)… Tommy Cunningham (uncredited)

1971 City Beneath the Sea
Tony

1970-1971 Nanny and the Professor
Allen Price, Jr. / Morgan Carlson
– A Diller, a Dollar(1971)… Allen Price, Jr.

– The Masculine-Feminine Mystique(1970)… Morgan Carlson
1970 Prudence and the Chief
Fergus MacKenzie

He was in One Episode of Little House
Child of Pain(1975)… Graham Stewart After A Beating

Julie Frances Cobb was born in May of 1947 in Los Angeles, Ca.
Daughter of Lee J. Cobb and Helen Beverly.
Starred with her father, Lee J. Cobb, in the 1974 "Gunsmoke" (1955) episode "Gunsmoke: The Colonel (#20.13)" (1974).

Starred in the 1979 version of "Salem's Lot" (1979), based on Stephen King's book, and her husband James Cromwell stars in the 2004 remake.

First role was on "Star Trek: By Any Other Name (#2.22)" (1968); her ex-husband (James Cromwell) later played the first and only "Star Trek" character to utter the phrase "Star Trek".
Her father, Lee J. Cobb, appeared with her future father-in-law, Harry Morgan, in How the West Was Won (1962).

Went to the same High School as Angelina Jolie, Michael Klesic, Nicolas Cage, Lenny Kravitz, and David Schwimmer.
Former Playboy Bunny.

She acted in over 82 productions including, Days of Our Lives, ER, Family Law, Beverly Hills 90210, Doogie Howser, Growing Pains, Newhart, Charles in Charge, Knots Landing, Lou Grant, Fantasy Island, Marcus Welby to name a few.

She was married four times. Two of her ex husbands appeared on Little House
Married To James Cromwell 1986-2006 He Played Harv Miller



Married to Victor French 1976 - 1978 Mr Edwards


Was also married to Chris Morgan. 1978 - 1985 His father was Harry Morgan of Mash fame. (Colonel Potter).
Jerry Hoffman 1970-1971 (Producer)

One Little House Episode
Money Crop - 1975 - Trudy Coulter

As Leslie Thompson in Star Trek

Richard W. Farnsworth (September 1, 1920 – October 6, 2000) was an American actor and stuntman. His film career began in 1937; however, he achieved his greatest success for his performances in The Grey Fox (1982) and The Straight Story (1999), for which he received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Farnsworth was born in Los Angeles, California, to a housewife mother and an engineer father.[1] He was raised during the Great Depression. He lived with his aunt, mother, and two sisters in downtown Los Angeles after his father died when he was seven years old.

He was working as a stable hand at a polo field in Los Angeles for six dollars a week when he was offered a chance to make seven dollars a day plus a box lunch as a stuntman. In 1937, when he was sixteen, he started by riding horses in films such as The Adventures of Marco Polo with Gary Cooper. He performed several horse-riding stunts in such films as the Marx Brothers' A Day at the Races (1937) and Gunga Din (1939).
What differentiated Farnsworth from other western actors was his gradual transition into acting from stunt work. He made uncredited appearances in numerous films, including Gone with the Wind (1939), Red River (1948), The Wild One (1953), and The Ten Commandments (1956). He was on the set of Spartacus (1960) for eleven months. He laughed when he said he did not look like a gladiator but drove a chariot. However, it was not until 1963 that he finally received his first acting credit.

Farnsworth's acting career was largely in western films, although he did appear in the 1977 television miniseries Roots and the short-lived but critically acclaimed 1992 summer replacement The Boys of Twilight. He also appeared in television commercials. Farnsworth became well known in the Pacific Northwest for portraying the groundskeeper who saw the mythical "Artesians" in the 1980s Olympia Beer ad campaign. In 1979, Farnsworth was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Comes a Horseman. However, his breakthrough came when he played stagecoach robber Bill Miner in the 1982 Canadian film The Grey Fox, for which he won a Genie Award.
In 1985, he appeared in the Canadian miniseries Anne of Green Gables, winning a Gemini Award for his performance as Matthew Cuthbert. Another of his prominent roles was as a suspicious sheriff in the film version of Stephen King's Misery (1990). He also appeared in The Natural in 1984.

In 1999, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for The Straight Story. When David Lynch asked to see if he wanted to be in the simple but emotional movie The Straight Story, Farnsworth had no idea who he was. Farnsworth did not like violence or swearing, and so his agent was very careful to tell him that Lynch was the director who had made The Elephant Man. Fortunately, he liked this movie. When Farnsworth and Lynch met, he reiterated his dislikes. Lynch reassured him that there would be none of that in the movie. The role, a rarity for a man his age, showed Hollywood that "there's a lot of talent out there."
Farnsworth has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street. In 1997, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Farnsworth was married to Margaret "Maggie" Hill for 38 years. She was the mother of his two children, Diamond and Missy. She died in 1985. Toward the end of his life, he met Jewly Van Valin on the bridle trail, a stewardess 35 years his junior. Farnsworth and Van Valin started riding together and were engaged. He was well liked and busy in his community of Lincoln, New Mexico, where he had a 60-acre ranch and moved after his wife's death.
Farnsworth was the spokesman for the Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium, an annual event in Ruidoso, New Mexico. He made a video with cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell called Buckaroo Bard. He also helped with the 'Last Great Cattle Drive of This Millennium' in 1999. Shortly before his death, he was presented with an award from the Governor of New Mexico for Excellence and Achievement in the Arts.]

Farnsworth was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer in the early 1990s. By 1999, he had been diagnosed as having terminal bone cancer. He made the movie The Straight Story while in considerable pain. Not wanting to live his life in pain, Farnsworth committed suicide by shooting himself at his ranch in Lincoln, New Mexico.[2] He is interred with his wife Margaret in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
He appeared in over 84 titles of movies and television shows.

He never spoke one curse word in any appearance he made. It was a pre - condition of him taking any part.

He appeared in one episode of Little House and one of Highway To Heaven.

Quarantine - 1977 - As Wall
One of the Men Who Tried to Stop Charles
From Getting to Doc Baker - On The Right

I was so sad when I heard that Richard died. I love watching him as Matthew Cuthbert. He was also the Grandpa in a recent Lassie movie. He was such a wonderful actor.

Recently on facebook (just after Ruth Foster died) a friend of mine posted a pic of Ruth knitting (wearing the blue coat) and behind her is "Bandit" relaxing with his handler. The lady who is in the shot replied to my friend and gave information about Jack and Bandit. Here is what she had to say.

I was the dog trainer on LH when this picture was taken with Ruth in it. I had been asked to take over on Jack the brown shaggy dog, along with Barney his double. The two dogs lived with me while they were on the show. Michael L...andon had decided to have Jack die of old age to change the story line and open the door for a new dog to enter into the Ingals lives. He told me it was to boost the ratings of the show. Jack was not really old at this time either! I was very sad of course, because I was very fond of both the shaggy dogs. Michael looked at my own personal dog Cobber for the new dog, as he had used him in the episode 'Little Women'. Even though he liked my dog, he still wanted something more flashy. So he picked the Black and White Border Collie, Jeff, who plays Bandit. Jeff belonged to Ray Berwick and was part of the animal show at Universal Studios. I did the episode with Jack and Jeff where Jack dies. It's a tear jerker for sure and even I cried when I watched it recently on DVD, after not seeing it since I did the work on it long ago. They didn't have videos or taping shows in the 70's.

I asked her if she had any fond memories with the dogs and here is her reply.

Yes I do. They were very sweet dogs owned by Peggy and Hal Driscol, which was an animal rental kennel for our industry.. When their time ended on the show, I had to return them back to their owners. I was very sad to give them back and miss...ed them very much as they lived with me for quite awhile. I was always giving them baths and Groming them, so they were always fed and taken care of by me. The owners always provided plenty of food for them and any vet care if needed. Jeff's (Bandit) home was at Universal Studios, so I would pick him up from there and take him either to Paramount or the Big Sky Ranch in Simi Valley, where LH had the exterior sets. When he wasn't working on LH, he was apart of the Universal Studios animal show. He was an act dog, unlike Jack and Barney, who were trained for movie and TV work. I had to spend at least 3 weeks with him working and training him to respond and work like a movie dog, before his first episode. Once the show got underway with Bandits appearance, I very rarely saw the two Shaggy dogs anymore. But I kept in touch with the owners so they could keep me posted on them. Of course all the dogs are gone now, but they will live on in my memories and all the fun and work I did with them while I was on the show.

Thanks so much for sharing the story! Those two dogs were great and trained so well.
How cool to be able to talk to the trainer.
Thanks Again,
Dave

Actually there were 3 dogs: Jack and his double Barney and Jeff who played Bandit.

Just goes to show you how much work goes on behind the scenes. Thanks for adding those Marilyn. The dog in my picture on the left was alot like Jack. His name was Fella, but he often answered to Jack too. (I pretended I was Laura all the time.)
Animals add so much to a show.

He was born Ralph Rexford Bellamy in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Lilla Louise (née Smith), a native of Canada, and Charles Rexford Bellamy. He ran away from home when he was fifteen and managed to get into a road show. He toured with road shows before finally landing in New York City, New York. He began acting on stage there and by 1927 owned his own theatre company. In 1931, he made his film debut and worked constantly throughout the decade first as a lead then as a capable supporting actor. Bellamy was cast in the lead role in the film Straight from the Shoulder (1936) and also in the film It Can't Last Forever (1937) with Edward J. Pawley.

He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Awful Truth (1937) with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, and played a similar part, that of a naive boyfriend competing with the sophisticated Grant character, in His Girl Friday (1940). He portrayed detective Ellery Queen in a few films during the 1940s, but as his film career did not progress, he returned to the stage, where he continued to perform throughout the fifties. Highly regarded within the industry, he was a founder of the Screen Actors Guild and served as President of Actors' Equity from 1952-1964.

Throughout the 1930s and 40s, Bellamy was regularly seen socially with a select circle of friends known affectionately as the Irish Mafia. This group consisted of a group of Hollywood A-listers who were mainly of Irish descent (despite Bellamy having no Irish family connections himself). Others included James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Spencer Tracy, Lynne Overman, Frank Morgan and Frank McHugh. He did other movies during this time, including Dance, Girl, Dance and the horror classic The Wolf Man.

In 1949, Bellamy starred in the drama Man Against Crime on the DuMont Television Network; the program lasted until 1956, when the lead role was taken by Frank Lovejoy, who thereafter starred in NBC's Meet McGraw detective series. Bellamy was a regular panelist on the CBS television game show To Tell the Truth during its initial run. He also starred in the television detective series Follow That Man (aka "Man Against Crime"). Bellamy starred as Willard Mitchell, along with Patricia Breslin and Paul Fix, in the 1961 episode "The Haven" of CBS's anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson. About this same time, he appeared too on the NBC anthology series, The Barbara Stanwyck Show.

During the 1963-1964 television season, Bellamy co-starred with Jack Ging, who played Mr. Brown on Little House, (Willie's Father in Law) in the NBC medical drama The Eleventh Hour, in the role of a psychiatrist in private practice. Wendell Corey had appeared in the first season of the series.

He appeared on Broadway in one of his most famous roles, as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello. He later starred in the 1960 film version. In the summer of 1961, Bellamy hosted nine original episodes of a CBS Western anthology series called Frontier Justice, a Dick Powell Four Star Television production.
On film, he also starred in the Western The Professionals (1966) as an oil tycoon, and Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968) as an evil physician, before turning to television during the 1970s. An Emmy Award nomination for the mini-series The Winds of War (1983) – in which Bellamy reprised his Sunrise at Campobello role of Franklin Roosevelt – brought him back into the spotlight. This was quickly followed by his role as Randolph Duke, a conniving billionaire commodities trader in Trading Places (1983), alongside Don Ameche.

In the 1988 Eddie Murphy film, Coming to America, Bellamy and co-star Don Ameche reprised a one-scene cameo of their roles as the Duke brothers. After Randolph and Mortimer Duke lost their enormous fortune at the end of Trading Places, in Coming to America, the brothers are shown homeless and living on the streets. Prince Akeem (Murphy) gives them a paper bag filled with money, which they gratefully accept, exclaiming, "We're back!"
In 1984, he was presented with a Life Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild, and in 1987 received an Honorary Academy Award "for his unique artistry and his distinguished service to the profession of acting".
Among his later roles was a memorable appearance as a once-brilliant but increasingly forgetful lawyer sadly skewered by the Jimmy Smits character on an episode of L.A. Law.
He continued working regularly and gave his final performance in Pretty Woman (1990).

Bellamy was married four times, first to Alice Delbridge (1927–1930), then Catherine Willard (1931–1945). He was married to organist Ethel Smith (1945–1947),[1][2] and, finally, to Alice Murphy (1949–1991).
A Democrat, he was in attendance at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.
He opened the popular Palm Springs Racquet Club in Palm Springs, California with fellow actor Charles Farrell.
Bellamy died on November 29, 1991, at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, from a lung ailment. He was 87 years old. Bellamy was buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Bellamy has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6542 Hollywood Boulevard.

He was in one Little House episode. Marvin’s Garden in 1983. As Dr. Marvin Haynes who helps Jenny Wilder recover from a swimming accident. A Very sweet and tender story that is one of my personal favorites.

Helen Kleeb (January 6, 1907 — December 28, 2003) was an American film and television actress in a career covering nearly fifty years.

In 1956-57, she guest-starred on CBS's Hey, Jeannie!, starring Jeannie Carson. In the 1960-1961 television season, Kleeb appeared as Miss Claridge, a legal secretary, on the ABC sitcom Harrigan and Son, starring Pat O'Brien and Roger Perry.

She appeared in episodes of, among other television shows, Dennis the Menace, I Love Lucy and Get Smart, as well as in small film roles (The Manchurian Candidate, Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte).

She had 127 appearances in movies and television. She may be best known for her role as "Miss Mamie Baldwin" on CBS's The Waltons (1972–81). (66 episodes)

She died in 2003, nine days before her 97th birthday, in Los Angeles. Her married name was Garrison. She left no known survivors.

She was on one Little House episode as Miss Conley (Dr. Haynes's Nurse) in Marvin’s Garden in 1983.

Born 25 November 1936 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA, Matt Clark attended George Washington University following a two year stint in the army.
Studied acting with famed drama coach Herbert Berghof.
Son of Frederick William Clark, a carpenter, and Theresa (Castello) Clark, a teacher.
His ex-wife Erica Lann-Clark is a poet, actress and storyteller. They had four children: Matthias, Jason, Seth and Aimee. She first worked as a teacher and alternative healer while the children were growing up. She later became a storyteller and has since entertained audiences across the country and in Canada, Thailand, Singapore, and Hawaii at various storytelling festivals.
Served in the Armed Services before pursuing his acting career.
Born in Washington, D.C., but was raised in nearby Alexandria, Virginia.
Tall, lean character actor best known for his somber look in late '60s, '70s and '80s westerns.
Studied at George Washington University but dropped out before graduating.
Worked numerous jobs while joining a local D.C. theatre group. Later became a member of New York's Living Theatre company and worked off-Broadway and in community theatre for a time in the late 1950s. Was also a stage manager and one point.

From 1964 to the present, he has been in over 113 motion picture and television productions. Played Mr. Hennessey in The Waltons in “The Fawn” in 1973.

He was on two Little House Episodes
– Mortal Mission (1979)… Seth Berwick
– Plague (1975)… Eric Boulton
Eric Boulton in "The Plague" With his wife and son. About to eat the tainted corn meal.

Bradley Green (Born December 29th, 1965 )
General Hospital Fans Should Get A Kick Out of This One

1981-1982 General Hospital
Dr. Tom 'Tommy' Baldwin, Jr. #2

1975-1981 Little House on the Prairie
Boy #2 / Nate Berwick / Paul Boulton
– Sylvia: Part 2(1981)… Boy #2
– Sylvia: Part 1(1981)… Boy #2
– Mortal Mission(1979)… Nate Berwick
– Plague(1975)… Paul Boulton

1978 Project U.F.O.
Terry Robinson
– Sighting 4022: The Camouflage Incident(1978)…
1977 American Raspberry

Boy Scout
1976 Police Story
Boy #2
– Open City(1976)… Boy #2

1976 The Blue Knight
Boy in Park
– The Creeper(1976)… Boy in Park

Brad Greenbaum, MD, got an early dose of medicine on ABC's daytime drama "General Hospital."

Now an orthopedist, Brad was interviewed several years ago about his General Hospital role.
As a youth, he played Tommy Baldwin (using his stage name, Bradley Greene). Being on the popular soap opera heightened his interest in medicine. He became an orthopedic surgeon and is chief of orthopedics at Irvine (Calif.) Regional Hospital.

The money he made from playing a doctor's son on TV helped put Dr. Greenbaum, 36, and his two brothers, also physicians, through college. In another melding of drama and life, Dr. Greenbaum did his residency at Los Angeles County/USC General Hospital, the hospital used for the exterior shot that opened the show for years.

"To be honest with you, if "General Hospital" had called me back a year or so later after I went off, who knows, I might be playing Tommy Baldwin right now. The reality is that acting is not the kind of profession where you can really guarantee you'll have a job tomorrow or the next day. I'm definitely gratified with my current profession. But I look back and I realize I could have been a Hollywood celebrity right now."

He was on 3 Little House Episodes
As Paul Bolton in “The Plague” 1975

Actor on The Left, Doctor on the Right

Born in Amarillo, Texas, in July of 1911, Ann Doran began acting at the age of four. She appeared in hundreds of silent films under assumed names to keep her father's family from finding out about her work. Rarely in a featured role (with the exceptions of Jean Andrews in Rio Grande (1938) and James Dean's dominating mother in Rebel Without a Cause (1955)), Doran appeared in more than 500 motion pictures and 1,000 episodes of television shows, including the American Civil War drama Gray Ghost.
Doran worked as a stand-in, then bit player, then incidental supporting player. By 1938 she was under contract to Columbia Pictures, where the company policy was to use the members of its stock company as often as possible. Thus, Doran appears in Columbia's serials (such as The Spider's Web and Flying G-Men), short subjects (including those of The Three Stooges, Charley Chase, Andy Clyde, and Harry Langdon), B features (including the Blondie, Five Little Peppers, and Ellery Queen series), and major feature films. She became a favorite of Columbia director Frank Capra and appears in many of his productions. Most of these appearances were supporting roles, although she did play leads in Columbia's Charley Chase comedies of 1938-40.
When Columbia launched the boy-and-his-dog Rusty series in 1945, Doran was cast and prominently featured. Although the actor playing the boy's father changed several times, Doran continued constant as the boy's mother. Her steady, sensible maternal roles led to her being cast as James Dean's mother in Rebel Without a Cause.
Doran also guest starred on many television programs, including three appearances in the role of Bonnie Landis in the CBS legal drama The Public Defender, starring with fellow Texan Reed Hadley. She appeared too in the CBS children's western My Friend Flicka, the story of a boy and his horse on a Wyoming ranch. She also guest-starred in Ray Milland's CBS sitcom Meet Mr. McNutley.
In 1960, she was cast as Martha Brown, the mother of horse rider Velvet Brown (played by Lori Martin) in the NBC family drama National Velvet. She also made one appearance on McHale's Navy as Mrs. Martha "Pumpkin" Binghampton, wife of Captain Binghampton (Joe Flynn).
Three years later, she appeared in the 1965-66 season of the 34-episode ABC western series The Legend of Jesse James as Zerelda James Samuel, the mother of Jesse and Frank James.
Doran continued to work in movies and television until shortly before her death of natural causes at the age of 89. She bequeathed $400,000 to the Motion Picture Country House, the retirement home for the movie industry.
She was in over 361 productions of movies and TV shows including one episode of Highway To Heaven and one appearance on Father Murphy.

Little House on the Prairie
Founder's Day(1975)… Helen Tyler

As the Domineering Mother Opposite James Dean in "Rebel Without A Cause"

Okay...one request. Research Blanche for me. The orangutan that was in "The love of Blanche.". I did notice her real name was Strawberry. Good Luck!

How about the raccoon that bit Laura?

Davetucson wrote:

WOULD U LIKE ME TO RESEARCH THE RACOON THAT BIT LAURA TOO?

Yeah that'd be cool.

And please don't write in all caps mate; it's the online equivalent of shouting.

Will do

Gin wrote:

Okay...one request. Research Blanche for me. The orangutan that was in "The love of Blanche.". I did notice her real name was Strawberry. Good Luck!

This is the best I can do Gin, there is no info I can find on Strawberry that played Blanch, but here's some background on her species!
• In Malay orang means "person" and utan is derived from hutan, which means "forest." Thus, orangutan literally means "person of the forest."
• ♦ Orangutans share nearly 97% of their genetic material with humans. Our close genetic relatedness with all the great apes make us sibling species.
• ♦ Orangutans' arms stretch out longer than their bodies - over 7 ft. from fingertip to fingertip - and are used to employ a "hookgrip."
• ♦ When on the ground, they walk on all fours, using their palms or their fists.
• ♦ When male orangutans are about 15 years old, they develop large cheek pads, which female orangutans apparently find attractive.
• ♦ When males are fighting, they charge at each other and break branches. If that doesn't scare one of them away, they grapple and bite each other.
• ♦ For the first few years of his/her life, a young orangutan holds tight to his/her mother's body as she moves through the forest in search of fruit. Later, he/she will follow the mother as she moves through the trees.
• ♦ Juvenile orangutans love to play and will "play fight" in the trees without showing any fear of heights.
• ♦ Like humans, orangutans have opposable thumbs. Their big toes are also opposable.
• ♦ Orangutans have tremendous strength, which enables them to brachiate (swing from branch to branch) and hang upside-down from branches for long periods of time to retrieve fruit and eat young leaves.
• ♦ Orangutans love to eat soap, which surprisingly does not upset their stomach, and will lather their arms before eating the frothy treat.

LIWnut wrote:

Actually there were 3 dogs: Jack and his double Barney and Jeff who played Bandit.

Hey! Thanks for posting all this info about the three dogs. I didn't know a word about them, and they sure were important in LHOTP.

Vanesa.

Bonnie Bartlett (born June 20, 1929) is an American television and film actress. Her career spans over 50 years, with her first major role being on a 1950s daytime drama, Love of Life. She is best known for her role as Ellen Craig on the medical drama series St. Elsewhere. She and her husband, actor William Daniels, who played her fictional husband Dr. Mark Craig, won 1986 Emmy Awards on the same night, becoming the first married couple to accomplish the feat since Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in 1965.

Bartlett was born in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, the daughter of Carrie and E.E. Bartlett, and raised in Moline, Illinois. Her father was an insurance salesman and a failed actor, and she was determined to live out his dream. Bartlett met her husband, actor William Daniels at Northwestern University. They were married on June 30, 1951. In 1961, she gave birth to a son, who died just 24 hours later. They later adopted two children: Michael, who became an assistant director and stage manager in Los Angeles, and Robert, who became an artist and computer graphics designer based in New York City.

Bartlett studied acting with Lee Strasberg, and first got her start in television playing the heroine "Vanessa Dale Raven" on the soap opera Love of Life from 1955 to 1959, replacing actress Peggy McCay. She then moved on to nighttime roles in the 1960s. Her most widely known role was as Ellen Craig on St. Elsewhere. Initially an infrequently recurring character, she took on greater prominence in the 1984–1985 season when the storyline included Ellen and Mark's marital problems. The storyline deepened in the next season when their son was killed and they had to raise their granddaughter. Bartlett won back-to-back Emmys, and was made a contract player. Further difficult material included Ellen and Mark's divorce and slow reconciliation following the loss of their granddaughter in a custody dispute with her birth mother.

While her children were growing up, Bartlett was mostly a stay-at-home mother, accepting only small guest appearances on such programs as Gunsmoke, The Rockford Files, The Waltons as well as a recurring role as Grace Snyder Edwards on Little House on the Prairie . Her acting career picked up considerably in the 1980s, including the miniseries V and North and South: Book II.

Bartlett and husband William Daniels made Emmy Awards history in 1986 when they became just the second real-life married couple to win acting awards on the same night. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne first accomplished the feat in 1965. Bartlett and Daniels won for their portrayals of Dr. Mark and Mrs. Ellen Craig on the TV series St. Elsewhere. They later acted together again when she played a college dean in a season of Daniels' ABC series Boy Meets World.

When St. Elsewhere ended in 1988, Bartlett's career moved to a wide variety of guest-starring appearances, including major roles on Wiseguy as a tough and corrupt matriarch of a sewage business, as Andrea Drey; Secretary General of the United Earth Oceans Organization (UEO) on seaQuest DSV, on Home Improvement as Lucille Taylor (Tim "The Tool-Man" Taylor's mother), and on ER as Ruth Katherine Greene (Dr. Mark Greene's mother).

In the fall of 2000, she was an honoree at Moline High School in Moline, Illinois. Her plaque sits in a viewing window in the auditorium lobby at the school. Bartlett is an active member of Screen Actors Guild and currently serves on its National Board of Directors.
Most recently, Bartlett wrapped production on Valediction, which could begin its film festival circuit as early as October 2011. The teaser trailer can be found on YouTube via Valediction Teaser Trailer.

She has acted in over 100 productions

Appeared in 23 episodes of Little House as Grace Snider (Edwards) from 1974 -1979.

In "Spring Dance" Grace

With Her Actor Husband of 50 Years William Daniels

Mariette Hartley was born in June of 1940 in Weston, Connecticut, the daughter of Mary Ickes “Polly” (née Watson), a manager and saleswoman, and Paul Hembree Hartley, an account executive. Her maternal grandfather was psychologist John B. Watson (through Watson’s daughter from his first marriage) and her maternal grandmother was the sister of politician Harold L. Ickes.

In her 1990 autobiography Breaking the Silence, written with Anne Commire, Hartley talked about her struggles with psychological problems, pointing directly at Watson’s practical application of his theories as the source of the dysfunction in his family. She has also spoken in public about her experience of bipolar disorder, and was a founder of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In 2009, Hartley spoke at a suicide and violence prevention forum about her father's suicide.

Marriete Hartley began her career in her teens as a stage actress, coached and mentored by the noted Eva Le Gallienne. Her film career began with Ride the High Country (1962), a western with actors Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea, and directed by Sam Peckinpah. In 1962, she appeared in an episode of Gunsmoke as a mountain girl. She also had a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie (1964).

In the 1963-64 television season, she appeared in an episode of ABC’s drama about college life, Channing and in two episodes of The Virginian. In 1966, she appeared as Polly Dockery in the series finale, "A Burying for Rosey", of The Legend of Jesse James.

She worked with Rod Serling and Gene Roddenberry, two creators of television science fiction. She first appeared in an episode of The Twilight Zone ("The Long Morrow"). She appeared in two episodes of the series Daniel Boone, "Valley of the Sun" in 1968 and as a nun in "An Angel Cried" in 1970. In 1969, she appeared in the penultimate episode of Star Trek, "All Our Yesterdays". She appeared in several science fiction films, Marooned (1969), Earth II (1971), and the pilot for the post-apocalyptic Genesis II (1973), another Roddenberry production.

On television, she portrayed Dr. Claire Morton on the primetime adaption of Peyton Place. In 1971, Hartley had a guest appearance with Glenn Corbett on the Gunsmoke episode "Phoenix". In 1975, she appeared on McCloud, starring Dennis Weaver entitled "Lady on the Run". In 1978, she appeared in the TV series Logan’s Run (based on the film of the same name) and in The Incredible Hulk in two episodes. As Dr. Carolyn Fields, she marries Bill Bixby's character, the alter ego of the Hulk; for her performance, Hartley won an Emmy Award. Hartley appears in an episode of M*A*S*H as Dr. Inga Halverson (Series 7, Episode 17, "Inga"). She also co-starred with Bixby in the 1983 situation comedy Goodnight, Beantown. She appeared in two episodes of the mystery series Columbo, starring Peter Falk as the rumpled detective. In 1979, she portrayed the Witch in ABC’s holiday telefilm The Halloween That Almost Wasn't (a.k.a. The Night Dracula Saved The World).

In the 1990s, she toured with Elliott Gould and Doug Wert in the revival of the mystery Deathtrap. She hosted the television documentary series Wild About Animals. In 2006, Hartley starred in her own one-woman show, If You Get to Bethlehem, You've Gone Too Far, which ran in Los Angeles.

She played Dorothy Spiller, the mother of Courteney Cox's character on Dirt and is featured as Ceptembre Sage Weller in Shhh ..., a spoof based on The Secret. Hartley has had a recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Lorna Scarry.
During the late 1970s, Hartley also appeared with James Garner in a popular series of television commercials advertising Polaroid cameras. The two actors had such on-screen chemistry that it was often (erroneously) believed that they were married in real life. Her biography contains a photo of her in a T-shirt proclaiming, “I am NOT Mrs. James Garner.” Hartley also guest-starred in a memorable episode of Garner’s TV series The Rockford Files during this period. The script required them to kiss at one point. Unknown to them, a paparazzo was photographing the scene from a distance. The photos were run in a tabloid trying to provoke a scandal, causing a good deal of attention. (An article that ran in TV Guide was titled, “That woman is not James Garner’s wife!”)

Between 2001 and 2006, Hartley endorsed the See Clearly Method, a commercial eye exercise program of which sales were eventually halted by a court which found that it had been marketed dishonestly.

She has been in over 140 productions since 1962. One Episode of Little House.

As Elizabeth Thurmond in “For My Lady”

Star Trek

Claude Earl Jones is an American feature film and TV character actor.
Jones has had roles in many classic 1970's, 1980's and 1990's TV shows in both dramatic and comedic portrayals, including Kojak, the mini-series Centennial, Diff'rent Strokes, WKRP in Cincinnati, The A-Team (which starred Original Series star Dirk Benedict), Quantum Leap (starring Re-imagined Series guest star Dean Stockwell) and Seinfeld.
Jones played the tyrannical Lacerta in the Original Battlestar Galactica Series episode "The Lost Warrior."
In the late 1960s and the 1970s, Claude was the Drama instructor at Ganesha High School in Pomona, CA. In 1971, Claude directed "Teahouse of the August Moon" at Valley Community Theatre in Pomona, CA.
He was in over 63 TV Shows form 1963 -1997.

Update 2019 - Claude passed away in Montclair, California on November 25th, 2019 of Dementia. He was 86 years old.


Two Little House Episodes
Home Again – 1983 – Mr. Gibson
The Legacy – 1982 – Jack Prescott

In "Home Again" - Dropping The Charges Against Albert, As Mr Gibson


In "The Legacy" as Jack Prescott

Barbara Collentine
Born: June 17, 1924
Acted in 56 productions from 1956 to 200

She is the wife of Richard Bull (Mr. Olsen). Was in the Michael Landon production of “The Lonliest Runner” in 1976 as Mrs. King. Was in one Little House Episode as Edna Mills in “Blind Justice” 1981. Other appearances on My Three Sons, Highway Patrol, The Rockford Files, Police Woman and Room 222 to name a few.

As Edna Mills in "Blind Justice"