‘Little House on the Prairie’ star exposes crew’s shocking on-set behavior: ‘Insane’

‘Little House on the Prairie’ star exposes crew’s shocking on-set behavior: ‘Insane’

The “Little House on the Prairie” set was filled with drinking, smoking and “insane” parties, according to former star Alison Arngrim.

Arngrim, who played child bully Nellie Oleson in the iconic TV series, said on the “Here’s What Happened” podcast last week the show’s “older” crew members acted like the characters from “Mad Men.”

“They came from an era where everybody smoked and everybody drank, like all the time,” the actress explained. “There was no health food and no vegetarian options and gluten-free muffins.”

“Little House on the Prairie” star Alison Arngrim exposed the crew’s on-set behavior on the “Here’s What Happened” podcast (as seen above). YouTube/Here’s What Happened Podcast
Arngrim (seen here on the podcast) claimed the crew drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes and had “insane” parties on the set. YouTube/Here’s What Happened Podcast

She added, “The prop men were in charge of the booze and the cigarettes, as well as the candy, so everyone was hanging out at their truck.”

Arngrim, now 64, clarified that none of the child actors were smoking on the set.

But some of her adult co-stars, including Michael Landon, “were puffing Marlboros all over the place” with the crew, who she said “went through a couple cases” of beer every day.

Arngrim also claimed Landon, who played the show’s patriarch, Charles Ingalls, “often would have a shot of whatever he was drinking that day” — usually whiskey.

Arngrim (seen above in “Little House on the Prairie”) compared the crew to characters in “Mad Men.” Courtesy Everett Collection
“They came from an era where everybody smoked and everybody drank, like all the time,” Arngrim (pictured above in the show) said. Courtesy Everett Collection

Despite that, Arngrim insisted “no one was drunk on the set.”

“They were burning it off or something, because these guys were going on ladders and hanging lights and I’m going, ‘I know they’re living on beer,’” she shared.

Arngrim also said when the crew was “running low” on beer, they’d send somebody out to restock.

“The prop truck had a whole bar and at the end of each day when they were done they’d put up like a bar with a board on a couple of saw horses and then start really drinking,” she recalled.

Arngrim (seen above with Allison Balson in “Little House on the Prairie”) said the crew “went through a couple cases” of beer every day. Courtesy Everett Collection
She also claimed co-star Michael Landon (seen above with the rest of the cast) frequently took shots of whiskey. Getty Images

The crew, according to Arngrim, also had “insane” Christmas and wrap parties that involved everyone having a designated driver.

Arngrim said she couldn’t believe the crew members were “still awake” to party after such heavy drinking.

“Their tolerance was God knows what,” she shared. “Because they were out of the ’50s where you drank and you smoked. They did not think this was weird.”

Arngrim (seen above with Melissa Gilbert in the show) said there were “insane” parties where everyone had designated drivers. NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Arngrim (seen above in the show with Gilbert, Karen Grassle and Katherine MacGregor) clarified that “no one was drunk on set” despite the heavy drinking. ©NBC/Courtesy Everett Collection

Based on the popular book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, “Little House on the Prairie” followed the pioneer Ingalls family living their rural frontier life in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. 

The series, which aired for nine seasons between 1974 and 1983 on NBC, had multiple scandals including Landon’s affair with teenage stand-in actress Cindy Clerico and stars Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson’s decades-long feud.

A “Little House on the Prairie” reboot series with a new cast premiered on Netflix last week.

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