Born in LA and a resident of NYC, Emmy-winning and Golden Globe-nominated actor, director, producer, and best-selling author Melissa Gilbert began accumulating her non-stop fifteen minutes of fame as a child in the late 1960s, appearing in numerous commercials from the tender age of two-and-a-half and guest-starring in roles on television. From 1974 to 1983, she cemented her flourishing career by starring as the young Laura Ingalls Wilder, the second daughter of Charles Ingalls (played by Michael Landon, who nicknamed her Half-Pint) on the popular NBC series Little House on the Prairie, based on her real-life character’s autobiographical books of the same name. Melissa Gilbert. Photo courtesy of Still. During its run, she went on to star in several made-for-TV films, including The Miracle Worker (1979), The Diary of Anne Frank (1980), and Splendor in the Grass (1981). For her acclaimed contributions to the television industry, Gilbert became the youngest person to receive a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1985. She was later elected to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Board of Directors in November 2000, and, the following November, became the third woman to serve as the Guild’s president, a position she held until 2005. Along with her renowned work on screen – including as a contestant on the fourteenth season of ABC’s reality competition show Dancing with the Stars in 2012 – Gilbert has been seen in many professional stage productions, beginning with her 1979 debut as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (prior to the TV movie), followed by The Glass Menagerie, Bus Stop, and Love Letters. In 1987, she made her Off-Broadway debut as Rose White, a role she originated, in A Shayna Maidel, earning Outer Critics’ Circle and Theater World Awards. Other Off-Broadway credits include If Only: A Love Story at the Cherry Lane, The Dead 1904 with the Irish Repertory Company, and My Brilliant Divorce at the New Ohio Theater. In 2008, she returned to her childhood roots and created the role of Ma Ingalls in the Guthrie Theater’s production of Little House on the Prairie, the Musical, with which she toured the country in 2009-10 (she is also co-founder of the lifestyle brand Modern Prairie, centered on contemporary mature women, with a name and mission inspired by the show). Most recently, in 2021-22, Gilbert starred in the premiere of the critically acclaimed When Harry Met Rehab at Chicago’s Greenhouse Theater Center. And this week, she appeared at a press event for her latest Off-Broadway production Still – a new play about a couple who broke up 30 years ago and never forgot each other but still have serious disagreements about important issues – with co-star Mark Moses, playwright Lia Romeo, director Adrienne Campbell-Holt, and producer Jane Dubin, beginning previews at The Sheen Center on January 28. Jane Dubin, Lia Romeo, Mark Moses, Melissa Gilbert, and Adrienne Campbell-Holt. Photo by Deb Miller. Melissa generously made time during her busy rehearsal schedule to answer our quick questions and to share a little about herself with our readers. What are you most looking forward to in 2025?  Melissa:  Spending more time with my grandchildren. Did you make a New Year’s resolution this year? I don’t believe in them, I believe in intentions; my word of intention is gentleness. What three emotions do you feel when you’re on stage? Excitement. Fulfillment. Completeness. What’s the most memorable reaction you’ve ever gotten from an audience member?  For A Shayna Maidel Off-Broadway, the most gripping were with Holocaust survivors sharing their stories after the show. It changed me. Who’s been the biggest inspiration in your career?  Michael Landon. What’s your first creative memory? A pre-school play. I was Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh; I had one line. What three words would you use to describe yourself? Loyal. Happy. Blessed. Melissa Gilbert and Mark Moses in Still. Photo by Jeremy Daniel. What do you find most relatable about your character Helen in Still?  That she’s finally in her own skin as a seasoned woman. Is there a past show or role you’ve played that stands out as your favorite? I have a particular affinity and love for Helen Keller. It was my first time on stage, and then I did the movie after that. It was one of my greatest experiences. Is there a role or show you’d like to play in the future? Virginia Woolf. With my husband [Emmy-winning actor Timothy Busfield]. What three things do you always have in your dressing room? A picture of my Dad. A candle. And Breather’s Blackberry Pastilles. If you weren’t an actor, what career path would you have pursued? A neurosurgeon, specializing in pediatrics. What do you do for fun when you’re not working? I knit. I garden. And I play board games with my husband. What do you love most about NYC? EVERYTHING!!! There’s NOTHING I don’t love about New York! The past eight years being back here have been pure magic. What’s the best thing about being famous? Getting my kids to the front of the line at Disneyland! Many thanks, Melissa, for a fabulous fifteen minutes! It was a pleasure to talk to you; I look forward to seeing you in Still. Still plays January 28-March 23, 2025, at The Sheen Center, Loreto Theater, 18 Bleecker Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $39-99, plus fees), go online.