David's Little House Star Profiles and Trivia

That would be Dee Croxton. There isn’t a lot of info about her. She acted from 1979 to 2000 (20 Titles). She was in Barney Miller, Murder She Wrote, to name a few. She was in the Movie Green Mile as an execution witness. She was in a 1986 episode of Highway to Heaven as Mrs Gettys in “A Special Love”.

You are absolutely right about seeing her in other episodes of Little House.

– Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow: Part 2 (1982)… Mrs. Jackson
– He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: Part 1 (1980)… Secretary
– Whisper Country (1978)… Ellen Fisher

Geez, Dave, you're good at this. Are you a detective in real life?

Yes! I went to the Barney Fife academy in North Carolina years ago..........
Did my field work on Planet 9.............
Dave

I knew there was something about you I liked.

Fred Stuthman, born in June of 1919, in Long Beach, Ca., started his acting career as a TV Horror Host on KCOP TV 13 in Los Angeles, CA in 1963.

The show had many spooky fun characters such as a shrunken head named Julie, a lizard named Billy Joe, Boris the stuffed werewolf, Pumpkin the rat, a skull named Aunt Minnie and her smaller skull relative Doris. Jeepers ran around with large bushy brows and bulging eyes.

He played bit parts in 20 productions from 1962 – 1980. He appeared on Father Murphy in 1982 as the undertaker in “John Michael Murphy R.I.P.” Other appearances included Greatest American Hero, Bret Maverick, Soap, Knott’s Landing, Mash, and 6 episodes of Lou Grant as the photo editor.

He passed away in July of 1982 at the age of 63.

He was on one episode of Little House
He played the Judge in Laura’s Dream
The Music Box - 1977
Laura Before The Judge

Dave wrote:

a shrunken head named Julie, a lizard named Billy Joe, Boris the stuffed werewolf, Pumpkin the rat, a skull named Aunt Minnie and her smaller skull relative Doris.

Then Dave wrote:

He passed away in July of 1982 at the age of 63.

The great ones always die too soon.

Wil Albert was born in August of 1930 in New York City, N.Y.. He appeared in in 51 titles from 1964 – 2008. He is currently 81 years old and appears to be still active.
His latest part was in “Frost-Nixon” as Sammy Cahn in 2008. He has appeared in CSI Miami, The King of Queens, The Bold and The Beautiful, Who’s The Boss, and Alice To name a few.

He was in Highway To Heaven as Mr. Rapposelli in the episode “An Investment In Caring” in 1985. He was also on Happy Days, Archie Bunker’s Place and “The Bold and The Beautiful” as Reverend Monroe.

He was on one Little House Episode in 1977 as Mr. Delano opposite Steve Shaw who played his son, Sam. He died in this story and Steve Shaw ( who also appeared in "The Odyssey") gave, what I believe to be, one of the most heart wrenching performances for a 12 year old actor ever seen on Little House. The tears flowed like a river when Sam’s “Papa” died.

Gold Country Part 1 and 2
Mr. Delano (Wil Albert) Dying Opposite His Son Sam (Steve Shaw)

Sam (Steve Shaw) in A Gripping Performance As His "Papa" Dies

Which episode of Archie Bunker's Place was he in? I saw Katherine MacGregor on All in the Family once!

easyt72000 wrote:

Which episode of Archie Bunker's Place was he in? I saw Katherine MacGregor on All in the Family once!

He played Bob in "Archie Alone Part 1" in 1980.

Katherine MacGregor
All in the Family (TV series)
Edith's Christmas Story (1973) … Nurse

easyt72000 wrote:

I saw Katherine MacGregor on All in the Family once!

Oh, wow. Do you know which episode that was?

The episode where Edith's doctor says she has a lump on her breast. Katherine played a nurse at the hospital. I have seen it many times over the years and did not recognize Katherine till I saw it a few years back.

Donald Petrie was born in April of 1954 in New York City. He acted in 27 titles since 1976. Some of them include Hart To hart, Falcon Crest, Threes Company, Quincy M.E., Fantasy Island, Eight is Enough, The Waltons and Police Woman to name a few.

He has also directed 31 projects including the movies “Grumpy Old Men” and “Mystic Pizza”. Has directed many television episodes such as Chicago Hope, Turner and Hooch, Snoops to name a few.

He was on one Little House Episode
To See The Light Part Two as Alan Barton in 1980
He plays the guy that gives Adam a place to stay while taking his law exam.

easyt72000 wrote:

The episode where Edith's doctor says she has a lump on her breast. Katherine played a nurse at the hospital. I have seen it many times over the years and did not recognize Katherine till I saw it a few years back.

Thanks. I remember that episode well, but didn't recognize Katherine either.

Royal Dano was undoubtedly one of the best, most quirky and striking character actors to ever grace the big and small screen alike in a lengthy and impressive career which spanned 42 years. Dano was born on November 22nd, 1922 in New York. He ran away from home at age 12 and lived in such states as Texas, Florida and California. He struck a deal with his father to continue his education, but still be able to travel around the country. Dano eventually attended New York University. His performing career began as part of the 44th Special Service Provisional Company during World War II. Dano soon branched out to the New York stage and made his Broadway debut with a small role in the hit musical "Finian's Rainbow." He was nominated by the New York Critic's Circle as one of the Promising Actors of 1949. Tall and lean, with a gaunt face, dark hair, a rangy build, and a very distinctive deep croaky voice, Dano was usually cast in both movies and TV shows as gloomy and/or sinister characters. He appeared most often in westerns and worked several times with James Stewart and director Anthony Mann. He made his film debut in "Undercover Girl." Dano's more memorable roles include the Tattered Soldier in "The Red Badge of Courage," a sickly bookworm bad guy in "Johnny Guitar," Elijah in "Moby Dick," Peter in "King of Kings," a cattle rustler in "The Culpepper Cattle Company," a coroner in "Electra Glide in Blue," a profanity-spewing preacher in "Big Bad Mama," Ten Spot in "The Outlaw Josey Wales," a weary factory line worker in "Take This Job and Shove It," a lightening rod salesman in "Something Wicked This Way Comes," a minister in "The Right Stuff," a stuffy high school teacher in "Teachers," rascally zombified old-timer Gramps in "House II: The Second Story," a cantankerous farmer in "Killer Klowns from Outer Space," and, in his last part, a cemetery caretaker in George Romero's "The Dark Half."

Among the numerous TV shows Dano did guest spots on are "Twin Peaks," "Amazing Stories," "CHiPs," "Quincy M.E.," "Fantasy Island," "Little House on the Prairie," "Kung Fu," "Ben Casey," "Planet of the Apes," "Cannon," "Playhouse 90," "Lost in Space," "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza," "Wagon Train," "The Virginian," "Hawaii Five-O," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Wanted; Dead or Alive," "Night Gallery," "Route 66," "The Rifleman," and "Rawhide." Moreover, Dano did the voice of the audioanimatronic Abraham Lincoln for Walt Disney's Hall of Presidents for both Disneyland and Disney World. Dano also portrayed Lincoln on the "Omnibus" television series. He's the father of actor Richard Dano. Royal
Dano died at age 71 of a heart attack on May 15th, 1994.

He was in two Little House Episodes.

“Sylvia” Part One and Two as Sylvia’s Father, Hector Webb - 1981
“Crossed Connections” as Alice Garvey’s Ex-Husband Harold.

Giving Albert The Once Over in "Sylvia"

Alice Garvey's Ex Husband Harold in "Crossed Connections"

Born on August 10, 1914, in Brooklyn, New York, Jeff Corey was a film and television character actor as well as one of the top acting teachers in America. He was an indifferent student, but after taking a drama class in high school, young Corey became hooked. His talent earned him a scholarship to the Feagin School of Dramatic Arts, the top acting school in New York City at the time. Corey then became a professional actor, a career choice which saved him from a life selling sewing machines, he later said.

His first gig after acting school was with a Shakespearean repertory company, after which he became a member of a traveling troupe that entertained children. After Leslie Howard closed his Broadway production of Hamlet in December 1936, he took the play on the road with Corey cast as Rosencrantz in 1937. In 1939, Corey appeared as part of the Federal Theater Project's (FTP) Living Newspaper dramatic showcase in the Life and Death of an American, co-starring with Arthur Kennedy, and featuring the music of Alex North. He made his film debut in a bit part in the Federal Theater's sole movie production, ...One Third of a Nation... (1939). Starring Sylvia Sidney, Leif Erickson, and future Oscar-winning director Sidney Lumet, the movie, which was released by Parmount, was a progressive exegesis on the hazards of tenement slum conditions. Congress terminated FTP funding on June 30, 1939, mainly due to objections to the leftist political tones of many FTP productions (see Tim Robbins' movie Cradle Will Rock (1999) (1999) about the pressures faced by the FTP in 1939).

In 1940, Corey, who had married his wife Hope in 1938, moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in studio productions through 1943, including The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), My Friend Flicka (1943), and Joan of Arc (1948). He also had a hand in establishing the Actors Lab, where he appeared in a wide variety of plays, including Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Miss Julie, and Prometheus. He also produced Juno and the Paycock for the Lab.

He joined the U.S. Navy Photographic Service in 1943 and was assigned to the aircraft carrier Yorktown as a motion picture combat photographer. He earned three citations while serving during the War, including one for shooting footage on the Yorktown during a kamikaze attack on the ship. The citation, which was awarded in October 1945, read: "His sequence of a Kamikaze attempt on the Carrier Yorktown, done in the face of grave danger, is one of the great picture sequences of the war in the Pacific, and reflects the highest credit upon Corey and the U.S. Navy Photographic Service."

After the war, Corey returned to Hollywood and resumed his acting career, specializing in character parts and playing heavies in films such as The Killers (1946) and Brute Force (1947), both of which starred another returning war vet, Burt Lancaster. His appearance as the psychiatrist in Home of the Brave (1949), one of his best screen performances, promised a long and productive career in Hollywood, but the first phase of his cinema career was cut short in 1951 when he was subpoenaed to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) after being named as a former Communist Party member by actor Marc Lawrence.

HUAC had scheduled hearings in Los Angeles as part of its crusade to ferret out Communist influence in Hollywood. Appearing before HUAC in Los Angeles in September 1951, the 37-year-old Corey refused to testify, instead invoking his 5th Amendment rights. The movie industry ruled that anyone invoking their constitutional right not to testify would be blacklisted, and Corey was, missing out on an entire decade of work in films and television during the 1950s. Ironically, Lawrence, whom Corey despised for the rest of his life, pointing out that he had remained stateside on a health deferment while Corey risked his life during the war, was virtually absent from American films and TV during the same decade, having to make his living in Italy along with American expatriates who had been blacklisted.

In the book on Hollywood blacklistees "Tender Comrades," Corey explained that he had been a member of the Communist Party, and that while he no longer was in 1951, he could not in good conscience turn informer.

"Most of us were retired reds," Corey said. "We had left it, at least I had, years before. The only issue was, did you want to just give them their token names so you could continue your career, or not? I had no impulse to defend a political point of view that no longer interested me particularly .... They just wanted two new names so they could hand out more subpoenas."

After being blacklisted, Corey used his G.I. Bill benefits to study speech therapy at UCLA while supporting his family as a common laborer. At the request of a fellow student, Corey organized a class in speech that he taught in the garage of his home in Hollywood Hills home. He expanded his curriculum to acting, accepting $10 a month in "tuition" per month from each student that allowed them to attend weekly classes. Eventually, he expanded the garage to create a small theater where his students performed scenes.

Corey's reputation as a teacher grew, and by the mid-1950s, he had become the premier acting coach in Hollywood. Although studios refused to hire the blacklisted Corey as an actor, they did send contract players to study with him.

His students included Robert Blake, pop singer Pat Boone, Richard Chamberlain, singer/actress Cher, director-producer Roger Corman, James Dean, Kirk Douglas, Jane Fonda, Peter Fonda, Michael Forest, Sally Kellerman, Irvin Kershner, Shirley Knight, Penny Marshall, Rita Moreno, Jack Nicholson, Leonard Nimoy, Anthony Perkins, Rob Reiner, singer/actress/director Barbra Streisand, future Academy Award-winning screenwriter Robert Towne and Robin Williams,

Of Corey the teacher, three-time Oscar-winner Jack Nicholson said after he had become a major movie star, "Acting is life study, and Corey's classes got me into looking at life as an artist."

Corey also tutored experienced actors who had trouble with a role, or who just needed insight into playing a character. One of the already-established actors Corey tutored was three-time Oscar nominee Kirk Douglas, who came to Corey for help in playing the title role in Spartacus (1960). It was Douglas who, along with Otto Preminger, ended the blacklist by hiring Dalton Trumbo to write the screenplays for Spartacus (1960) and Exodus (1960), respectively.

Two years after the Trumbo-penned films debuted on the big screen, Corey again was working in films and television. In 1962, he was cast in the film Yellow Canary (1943) when one of his acting students, pop singer Pat Boone, pressured 20th-Century Fox into hiring him. Now off the blacklist, Corey became a busy character actor in movies and on TV. Corey made his reputation as an actor's actor whom other actors loved to work with. Always good with actors, Corey also directed some episodes of series TV.

In addition to his acting work, Corey continued teaching. He was Professor of Theater Arts at California State University in Northridge, and was artist in residence at Ball State, in Indiana, The University of Illinois in Bloomington, Chapman College's World Campus Afloat, the University of Texas in Austin, and at the Graduate School of Creative Writing at N.Y.U. He also conducted acting seminars at Emory University in Atlanta, and for the Canadian Film Institute in Vancouver, British Columbia.

On August 16, 2002, six days after his 88th birthday, Corey died in a Santa Monica, California hospital, of complication from a fall. He was survived by his wife of 64 years, Hope, three daughters, and grandchildren.

He performed in over 235 titles from 1938 to 2000

He was in two Little House Episodes
As Edgar Mills in “Blind Justice” - 1981 – He Sold The Land Grants To The people of Walnut Grove.
As Judge Parker in “Barn Burner” – 1979 - Trying Judd Larrabee For Burning Jonathan’s Barn Down

Selling Land Shares in "Blind Justice"

As The Judge in "Barn Burner"

Didn't he play the guy the dropped dead in the Conners kitchen in "Roseanne?"

Yes he did..........
Roseanne
Salesman
Death and Stuff (1989)

OH my! She was that close to Kevin? I would have kissed him!

Davetucson wrote:

She was in "Tremors" with Kevin Bacon in 1990
Played "Nancy Sterngood"

She who? I think I'm lost. Who is this?

LIWnut wrote:

Davetucson wrote:

She was in "Tremors" with Kevin Bacon in 1990
Played "Nancy Sterngood"

She who? I think I'm lost. Who is this?

Subject: Charlotte Stewart Factoid (Miss Beadle)
Lost? She played Miss Beadle in 41 episodes of Little House...School Teacher

Jodeal Lawrence was born in November of 1932 in Sacramento, Ca.. She appeared in over 27 titles on television. Some of which were Falcon Crest, Trapper John MD, Archie Bunkers Place, Father Murphy in the episode “Ellie”, The Rockford Files, Six Million Dollar Man, and The Streets of San Francisco to name a few. She trained at The Pasadena Playhouse and performed frequently on the Los Angeles Stage.
She died in March of 2010 in Santa Rosa, Ca. at the age of 77. She was also billed as Jodean Russo at one time.

She played Josie the saloon girl in three Little House episodes.
There's No Place Like Home: Part 1(1978)… Josie
As Long as We're Together: Part 2(1978)… Josie
As Long as We're Together: Part 1(1978)… Josie

I remember her as saying one of the funniest lines ever on Little House. As she was training Mrs. Olsen for a job in the saloon, she told her to use some makeup to hide her crow’s feet. In disgust, Mrs Olsen told her that they were laugh lines.
She looked at Mrs. Olsen and said: “Honey, there ain’t nothing that funny!”

Cletus Young is one the individuals in Hollywood that prefers to remain anonymous. He has acted in 36 titles to date beginning in 1972. He has appeared on The Mentalist, Cold Case, the movie Hillside Strangler, 3 episodes of Father Murphy as “Donen”, TJ Hooker, and Police Woman to name a few. There is no birth date listed for him and it appears that he is still alive due to the fact that he has a role in “Hitchcock” now in post production.

He was in three episodes of Little House
As Long As Were Together 1 & 2 – as Harlan - 1978
Goodbye Mrs. Wilder – As Cole Parker – 1981

He played a nasty boy in “As Long As We’re Together”. Giving Carolyn a hard time and beating up on Charles.

Looking at those "Naked Lady" pictures in "Goodbye Mrs. Wilder".

LIWnut wrote:

Davetucson wrote:

She was in "Tremors" with Kevin Bacon in 1990
Played "Nancy Sterngood"

She who? I think I'm lost. Who is this?

It is a lot different seeing "period actors" in modern clothes, isn't it, Marilyn?? Plus from the side it can be hard to tell who an unnamed actress is. But the post is edited now so the "she" has a name. If you'd seen it with her name in it we ALL know you wouldn't have been lost about who it is.