ARNGRIM IN MINNESOTA

In Alison Arngrim’s one-woman show “Confessions of a Prairie #@!%,” she reveals what it was really like being T.V.’s most hated mean girl, Nellie Oleson.

By
Lucy Nieboer

November 08, 2012


What: Alison Arngrim’s “Confessions of a Prairie #@!%”

When: 7 p.m., Thursday through Saturday; 5 p.m., Sunday

Where: Camp Bar, 490 N. Robert Street, St. Paul,MN
Cost: $29.50




“Little House on the Prairie’s” Nellie Oleson makes Regina George look like Miss America. In the series that ran from 1974 to 1983, the she-devil of the New Frontier was constantly battling and berating poor Laura Ingalls.

Now, in a touring one-woman show based on her book of the same name, the girl who played the queen of snobbery and manipulation is getting the last laugh.

At age 50, Alison Arngrim has an entire act based on the memories of her childhood stardom. She has no trouble poking fun at the fact that her biggest commercial success occurred before she had graduated middle school.

“It’s hard to take yourself desperately seriously ... when you’re most famous for going down a hill in a wheelchair dressed like Bette Davis,” she said.

Show business is in Arngrim’s blood. Growing up, her mother was a cartoon voiceover actress (she portrayed Casper the Friendly Ghost and Gumby in the late sixties) and her father a prominent Hollywood manager.

After her first gig, a Heinz Ketchup commercial at age six, Arngrim had officially joined the family business. Although staying at the Chateau Marmont for extended periods and attending social gatherings with Liberace are stories straight out of a Sunset Boulevard fairytale, Arngrim admits growing up in Hollywood didn’t provide the most stable childhood.

“It was very glamorous but also very twisted and weird at the same time,” she said, “I don’t know if I’d recommend it.”

Having two parents with thriving careers left Arngrim unsupervised for long periods of time as a young child. During these unmonitored stints, she suffered major physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her older brother.

Arngrim attributes much of her recovery from this abuse to Nellie Oleson. For naturally quiet and shy Arngrim, healing came from having an outlet to portray a contemptible character.

“This fearsome character that everyone was afraid of was such a departure for me,” she said. “It was kind of fun. [I] was this character that was always venting her rage and yelling and screaming and throwing things — what a release.”

The “Little House” set was one of the places where Arngrim felt the safest. Her onscreen arch enemy, Melissa Gilbert, was her real-life best friend, and the two, inseparable during filming, still keep in touch.

After seven seasons, Arngrim was ready to move on and decided against upping her contract and staying on for the final two seasons.

When the show did wrap, Arngrim was ambivalent. She hoped to reinvent herself, and leave Nellie Oleson behind.

“The show ended when I was 21. I was having a mid-life crisis at 22,” she said.

Finding herself in stage work and standup, Arngrim was surprised when people didn’t forget about Nellie Oleson. She now realizes that this has been her salvation as an author, actress and comedienne. Her show is part storytelling, part standup and includes an extensive question and answer section.

“Because it won’t go away and it’s on DVD and reruns all over the world, I’m able to do this crazy one-woman show,” she said

Unsure of whether being a child star gave her a head start or sentenced her to a lifetime of answering questions about “Little House,” Arngrim has no regrets about her prairie days.

“You’re told as a child star it will be like this forever. ... Luckily for me, I was warned again and again — this could end tomorrow,” she said.

With shows booked in Argentina, France and around the country, Nellie the brat has provided Arngrim with a career that spans far beyond the prairie horizon.

very cool

I love Alison! I think she's awesome. I wish she'd bring one of her shows to Florida.

God it's sooo embarrassing to admit that I live in Florida....

I saw her show in July in Mankato at Laurapalooza. It was very funny. She was in a room with the biggest Laura fans on the planet, at a Laura conference and her question for us was, "When are we having Nelliepalooza?" It was awesome.

Interview With Allison 11/10/12


Alison Arngrim, who played nasty Nellie Oleson on "Little House on the Prairie," takes "pride in the fact that so many people enjoyed hating her as a girl and is more than happy to give them an opportunity to do so in the future," according to her bio. To borrow a quote from a famous friend of her family's, Arngrim lets fans relive their animosity to her "all the way to the bank."

But she can't feel much real hate these days. Arngrim's show, "Confessions of a Prairie #@!%," attracted sold-out crowds in July when she was at St. Paul's Cabaret theater at Camp Bar. She's back there for another lively stand that ends today with a 5 p.m. show.

Making the most of being a nasty little prairie girl has paid off for Arngrim. But when it comes to her husband of 19 years, musician Bob Schoonover, she limits his exposure to her inner, residual Nellie -- a character the French totally understand.

Q Even though you were a child, did you notice how beautiful Michael Landon was?

A Oh, heavens yes! You couldn't miss him if you tried. That mane of hair, those big white teeth, all those tan, rippling muscles. You'd have to be blind not to notice how gorgeous he was.

Q Did you see women being drawn to him?

A Oh yeah -- even my saintly, oh-so-proper Auntie Marion who took me to the set wasn't immune. He'd flash those teeth and twinkle those eyes and say "Mornin' babe!" and she'd giggle like she was 16! Of course, I always liked him because he was funny. He had a totally juvenile, warped sense of humor that seemed to have never quite made it out of junior high school. So, of course, all we 12-year-olds thought he was a riot.

Q Your daddy, the late Thor Arngrim, was Liberace's manager. Do you suppose Liberace is turning over in his grave about this upcoming Michael Douglas-Matt Damon bio-pic?

A Ha! Liberace was never concerned with what "the industry" or "critics" thought of him -- only his fans. He just wanted them to love him -- and they did. I think he would be concerned if he thought he was being portrayed in a way that would make his fans think less of him. But then, poor Liberace never lived to see a world where people like Ellen DeGeneres and Neal Patrick Harris could be openly gay and still adored by their fans. But remember, this is the man who, when critics panned his show -- his sold-out show, that is -- said, "When I read those reviews I cried ... all the way to the bank!" So considering this film will only add to his unending fame and no doubt increase sales of his old albums on iTunes, I suspect old Uncle Lee is laughing all the way to the big bank in the sky.



Q Your late mom, Norma MacMillan, was the voice of Casper the Friendly Ghost.

A Indeed! And Gumby, and Sweet Polly Purebred -- Underdog's girlfriend -- and Davey of "Davey & Goliath." And she was the voice of Caroline Kennedy and baby John-John on the famous comedy album, "The First Family."

Q In France, Nellie's never been thought of as being mean, right?

A It's a cultural difference. They don't think Nellie Oleson is mean. They think she's French. The first time I went to France 10 years ago, my friends [asked], Were they rude or mean? Not to me! It really is crazy. The ["Little House on the Prairie"] show's in 140 countries, and when I went to France, I found out they loved it. They really loved it.

Q Do they still recognize you?

A Oh, my God, it's huge. I tour France. I ended up doing a movie there, and then I have an adaptation of my American show. Then I have a new show, "Nellie Oleson's Trunk of Treasures," an interactive show. So [I did] a tour of France in September and October.

Q How often do you go to France?

A I'm tri-coastal: L.A., New York, Paris. I'm there all the time.

Q What is the most aggressive move someone who detested Nellie has directed at you?

A That would be my ill-fated first personal appearance. I made the stupid mistake of going in costume -- me and Katherine MacGregor, who's Mrs. Oleson. It was a children's fair, a charity. Nobody wanted our autographs. They were terrified of us. And then two little girls came running up from behind me and kicked me right in the butt and knocked me to the pavement. Yeah, that was pretty brutal.

Q In what ways are you like Nellie?

A I always say Nellie Oleson lives for 10 minutes every morning before that first cup of coffee. And I like the bon-bons -- I like the candy like Nellie -- peppermint sticks.

Q So, you've continued to make a pretty good living?

A I have! It's the darnedest thing. Now I am touring all year. A good third or more of the year I'm on the road. I'm doing really well. It's shocking.

LIWnut wrote:

I saw her show in July in Mankato at Laurapalooza. It was very funny. She was in a room with the biggest Laura fans on the planet, at a Laura conference and her question for us was, "When are we having Nelliepalooza?" It was awesome.

Nelliepalooza???!!! Oh, I'm waiting desperately for it!

Vanesa.

oh nice.

Love her show.

I'm seriously considering going to NYC in June to see Alison's show! The show is June 14th & 15th (Friday & Saturday). I may go to the Saturday show. It sounds like it's a lot of fun! It's also been a little while since I've been to NY. I miss it!

Now THAT would be cool!