Michael Landon

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Michael Landon (October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor, writer, director, and producer, who starred in three popular NBC TV series that spanned three decades. He is widely known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983), and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven (1984–1989). Landon appeared on the cover of TV Guide twenty-two times, second only to Lucille Ball (TV Guide, July 6, 1991). His twenty-eight years of full-hour television acting surpasses that of TV legends Lucille Ball and James Arness.

Landon produced, wrote, and directed many of his series' episodes, including his shortest-lived production, Father Murphy, which starred his friend and "Little House" co-star Merlin Olsen. In 1981, Landon won recognition for his screenwriting with a Spur Award from the Western Writers of America. Although his youngest daughter Jennifer Landon and Bonanza co-star David Canary, have both won multiple Emmys, Michael Landon was never given the honor. In 1976 Landon wrote and directed an auto-biographical movie, The Loneliest Runner, and was nominated for two Emmys. He also hosted the annual long-running coverage of the Tournament of Roses Parade with Kelly Lange, also on NBC.

Life and career

Early life

Michael Landon was born Eugene Maurice Orowitz in Forest Hills, a neighborhood of Queens, New York. Landon's father, Eli Maurice Orowitz, was a Jewish American actor and movie theater manager, and his mother, Peggy O'Neill, was an Irish American Catholic dancer and comedienne. Eugene was the Orowitz' second child; his sister, Evelyn, was born three years earlier. In 1941, when Orowitz was four years old, he and his family moved to the Philadelphia suburb of Collingswood, New Jersey, where he attended and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at Temple Beth Shalom,, a Conservative synagogue, in Haddon Heights, an area that did not allow Jews until after World War II. His family recalls that Landon "went through a lot of hassle studying for the big event, which included bicycling to a nearby town every day to learn how to read Hebrew and do the chanting." He later attended Collingswood High School.

During his childhood, Landon was constantly worried about his mother's suicide attempts. Once the family went on a vacation on a beach, and his mother tried to jump off a cliff and drown herself, but a lifeguard was present and she was rescued. Soon after the attempt his mother acted as if nothing had happened. After a few minutes, Michael threw up. It was the worst experience of his life.

Landon also battled the childhood problem of bedwetting, an issue that was documented in his biography, Michael Landon: His Triumph and Tragedy. His mother would put his wet sheets on display outside his window for all to see. He would run home every day and try to remove them before his classmates could see.

In high school, Landon was an excellent javelin thrower, his 193’ 4” toss in 1954 being the longest throw by a high schooler in the United States that year. This earned him an athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California, but he subsequently tore his shoulder ligaments, ending his javelin throwing career and his participation on the USC track team.

Early career

Landon decided on his surname by choosing it from a phone book. His first starring appearance was on the television program, Telephone Time in the episode, The Mystery of Casper Hauser as the title character. Other parts came - movie roles in I Was A Teenage Werewolf, High School Confidential, and the notorious God's Little Acre, as well as many roles on television, such as Crossroads (three episodes), The Restless Gun (pilot episode aired on Schlitz Playhouse of Stars), Sheriff of Cochise (in "Human Bomb"), Crusader, The Rifleman, Fight For The Title, The Adventures of Jim Bowie, Johnny Staccato, Wire Service, General Electric Theater, The Court of Last Resort, State Trooper (two episodes), Tales of Wells Fargo, Tombstone Territory (in the episode "Rose of the Rio Bravo", with Kathleen Nolan), among many others.

45 rpm record singles

In 1957, Candlelight Records released a Michael Landon single, "Gimme A Little Kiss (Will "Ya" Huh)"/ "Be Patient With Me" during the height of his notoriety for role in the film, I Was A Teenage Werewolf. Some copies show the artist credited as the "Teenage Werewolf" rather than as Michael Landon. In 1962, both the A- and B-side of the record were re-released on the Fono-Graf label that included a picture sleeve of Landon's then-current work on Bonanza as Little Joe Cartwright. In 1964, RCA Victor Records released another Landon single, "Linda Is Lonesome"/"Without You". All of Landon's singles have since been issued on compact disc by Bear Family Records as part of a Bonanza various artists compilation.

Bonanza

In 1959, at the age of 22, Landon had his first starring TV role as Little Joe Cartwright on Bonanza, one of the first TV series to be broadcast in color. Also starring on the show were Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, and Dan Blocker. Landon's character was the youngest, sometimes quick tempered Cartwright brother, who later evolved into a "ladies' man". During Bonanza's sixth season (1964–1965), the show topped the Nielsen ratings and remained number one for three years. Landon, a southpaw, often performed his own stunts.

Receiving more fan mail than any other cast member, the young actor coaxed the powers-that-be to allow him to write and direct some episodes. In 1962, he wrote his first script. In 1968, he directed his first episode. In 1993, TV Guide listed Little Joe's September 1972 wedding episode ("Forever"), as one of TV's most memorable specials. Landon's script fondly recalled brother Hoss, who was initially the story's groom, before Dan Blocker's untimely death. During its final season, Bonanza declined in the ratings and NBC cancelled it in November 1972. Its last episode aired on January 16, 1973.

Along with Lorne Greene and Victor Sen Yung, Landon appeared in all 14 seasons of the western. Landon was loyal to many of his Bonanza associates including producer Kent McCray, director William F. Claxton, and composer David Rose, who remained with him throughout Bonanza as well as Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven.

Little House on the Prairie

The year after Bonanza was canceled, Landon went on to star as Charles Ingalls in the pilot of what would become another successful television series, Little House on the Prairie, again for NBC. The show was taken from a 1935 book written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose character in the show was played by nine-year-old actress Melissa Gilbert. In addition to Gilbert, two other unknown actresses also starred on the show: Melissa Sue Anderson who appeared as Mary Ingalls, the oldest daughter in the Ingalls family, and Karen Grassle as Charles's wife, Caroline. Landon served as executive producer, writer, and director of Little House. The show, a success in its first season, emphasized family values and relationships. Little House became Landon's second-longest running series.

As Little House on the Prairie executive producer, Landon hired five sets of real-life siblings to appear on the show: Melissa and Jonathan Gilbert (Laura Ingalls and Willie Oleson), Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush (Carrie Ingalls), Matthew and Patrick Labyorteaux (Albert Quinn Ingalls and Andy Garvey), Brenda and Wendi Turnbaugh (Grace Ingalls), and Jennifer and Michele Steffin (Rose Wilder).

Landon's real-life son, Michael, appeared as Jim in the episode "The Election". His real-life daughter Leslie also played in this episode, as well as a plague victim in "The Plague", an episode from the show's premiere season. Leslie would later appear as Marge, a pregnant woman in the fourth episode of the sixth season, "The Third Miracle." She was a dishwasher who befriends Laura in the episode "A Wiser Heart", and was cast as school teacher Etta Plum during the show's final season.

The show was nominated for several Emmy and Golden Globe awards. After eight seasons, Little House was retooled by NBC in 1982 as Little House: A New Beginning, which focused on the Wilder family and the Walnut Grove community. Though Landon remained the show's executive producer, director and writer, A New Beginning did not feature Charles and Caroline Ingalls. A New Beginning was actually the final chapter of Little House, as the series ended in 1983. The following year, three made-for-television movies followed.

Melissa Gilbert said of her on- and off-screen chemistry with Landon, “He was very much like a ‘second father’ to me. My own father passed away when I was 11, so, without really officially announcing it, Michael really stepped in.” Melissa also said about Michael’s smoking ritual, “He would be smoking. It was real cold in here and he had these big leather gloves on, and he would put a cigarette in his glove. And then, just (you know) flicked the bug away, and I just thought that I’ve never seen anything like it. That was the coolest, he was the toughest.” When not working on the Little House set, Gilbert spent most of the weekends visiting Landon's real-life family in 1976, she once said, “The house was huge. We ran like banshees through that house, and Mike would hide behind doorways and jump out and scare us.” Melissa said about Landon who took the script in a new direction, “He put frogs in his mouth, we had a script supervisor. He had this chair with these pouches on the sides and he would carry from the set to where we were shooting, from spot to spot to spot to wrap around the course of the day. And there was one day where he was sneaking up and putting rocks in his pocket of the pouches, and the chair got heavier, to move the chair over, and completely clueless, but of course, everybody else knew.” When Gilbert realized that Little House was going to reran heavily in syndication and on DVDs for new viewers who’d looked at them, she said, “I defy anyone to watch Little House on the Prairie, and not end up getting teary-eyed at some point, they were all so moving, and that all came from him. That all came from who he was and what he believed in and how strongly he wanted to live that.” Finally, when asked about the cancellation of the show, “Everybody said goodbye and wandered back up to their trailers, to get changed, and Mike and I were left alone and we’re both weeping, uncontrollably, sitting on a log. And he said to me, ‘You know what, this is just the beginning for you. It’s only the beginning, and it’s going to be O.K.’” said Gilbert. When Gilbert was 17, she briefly dated Michael Landon Jr., and took him to her prom, but this was weeks after Peggy’s (Michael’s real-life mother) death in 1981, at the time where the relationship drew Landon and Gilbert closer, as she was one of the few people to find out about his mother’s passing, before her relationship with Landon fell apart. After the series ended, Gilbert did not stay connected with Landon until 1990, when she telephoned him and had a reunion together. Seven years later, on May 9, 1991, when she saw a gaunt-looking Landon on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson discussing his pancreatic cancer, she was compelled to finally telephone him.She visited Landon at his Malibu home where he was, by then, bed-ridden. They spent the afternoon together. It was her opportunity to say goodbye. After Landon's death, she named her own son, Michael Garrett Boxleitner (b. 1995), after him.

Highway to Heaven

After producing both the Father Murphy TV series and a movie, Sam's Son, Landon starred in another successful television series. In Highway to Heaven, he played Jonathan Smith, a probationary angel whose job was to help people in order to earn his wings. His co-star on the show was best friend Victor French (who had previously co-starred on Landon's Little House on the Prairie) as ex-cop Mark Gordon. NBC didn't feel the show would last very long, but it proved to be another hit for Landon. This was also the first religious fantasy drama series, starting a specialized sub genre which included later shows such as Touched By An Angel. On Highway, Landon served as executive producer, writer, and director. Though Landon liked directing and writing more than acting, he continued to act because actors were paid more, and his top-billing enticed network executives to buy his series.[citation needed] Highway to Heaven was the only show throughout his long career in television that he owned outright.

By 1985, prior to hiring his son, Michael Landon Jr., as a member of his camera crew, he also brought real-life cancer patients and disabled people to the set. His decision to work with disabled people led him to hire a couple of adults with disabilities to write episodes for Highway to Heaven. By its fourth season, Highway took a nose dive in the ratings, and in June 1988, NBC announced that the series would return for an abbreviated fifth season, which would be its last. The final episodes were filmed in the fall of 1988, and aired from May to August 1989. Co-star French would not live to see Highway's series finale make it to air; he died of advanced lung cancer on June 15, 1989, the disease of which was only diagnosed two months before. Landon invited his youngest daughter, Jennifer Landon, to take part in the final episode.

Other projects

In 1983, Landon co-produced an NBC "true story" television movie, Love Is Forever, starring himself and Laura Gemser (who was credited as Moira Chen), about Australian photojournalist John Everingham's successful attempt to scuba dive under the Mekong to rescue his lover from communist-ruled Laos in 1977. The real Everingham was cast as an extra in the film.

Sam's Son was a 1984 coming of age feature film written and directed by Michael Landon and loosely based on his early life. The film stars Timothy Patrick Murphy, Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, Hallie Todd, and James Karen. Karen previously worked for Landon in the made for television film Little House: The Last Farewell. Sam's Son was rated PG by the MPAA.

After the cancellation of Highway to Heaven and before his eventual move to CBS, Landon wrote and directed the teleplay Where Pigeons Go to Die. Based on a novel of the same name, the film starred Art Carney and was nominated for two Emmy awards.

Up through the run of Highway to Heaven, all of Landon's television programs were broadcast on NBC. However, after the cancellation of Highway, he moved to CBS and in 1991 starred in a two hour pilot called Us. Us was meant to be another series for Landon, but with his diagnosis on April 5 of pancreatic cancer, the show never aired beyond the pilot.

Personal life

Landon was married three times, and is the father of nine children.

Dodie Levy-Fraser (married March 1956/Landon filed for divorce in March 1962 - divorce finalized in December 1962)

Mark Fraser Landon, born October 1, 1948 (adopted, Dodie's biological son), died May 11, 2009

Josh Fraser Landon, born February 11, 1960 (adopted as infant)

Lynn Noe (married January 12, 1963/divorced 1982)

Cheryl Lynn Landon, born November 16, 1953, was Lynn's daughter from her first marriage and was nine when her mother and Landon married. Though Landon was unable to legally adopt her, he referred to her as his daughter. Cheryl Landon has a Master's degree in Education and a teaching credential. She has one son.

Leslie Ann Landon, born October 11, 1962. She is the biological child of Lynn Noe and her second husband, Mannie Baier. She was legally adopted by Landon. With a Ph.D. in psychology, Leslie Landon is a therapist, specializing in children who have experienced loss. She is married and has four children.

Michael Landon Jr., born June 20, 1964

Shawna Leigh Landon, born December 4, 1971

Christopher Beau Landon, born February 27, 1975

Cindy Clerico (married on February 14, 1983)

Jennifer Rachel Landon, born August 29, 1983. Jennifer Landon is a Daytime Emmy-winning actress (now playing Gwen Norbeck Munson on As the World Turns).

Sean Matthew Landon, born August 5, 1986

In February 1959, Landon's father succumbed to a heart attack. In 1973, while a student at the University of Arizona, his eldest daughter Cheryl was involved in a serious car collision just outside of Tucson, Arizona. The sole survivor out of four involved in the collision, Cheryl Landon was hospitalized with serious injuries and remained in a coma for days. In March 1981, Landon's mother, Peggy O'Neill, died.

Illness and death

On April 5, 1991, Landon was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which had also metastasised into his liver and lymph nodes. The cancer was inoperable and the doctors' prognosis was terminal. On May 9, 1991, he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to speak of his cancer and to publicly condemn the tabloid press for their sensational headlines and inaccurate stories, including the claim that he and his wife were trying to have another child. During Landon's appearance, he pledged to fight the cancer and asked fans to pray for him. On May 21, 1991, Landon underwent successful surgery for a near-fatal blood clot in his left leg. In June 1991, Landon made the cover of Life Magazine, after granting the periodical an exclusive private interview about his life, his family, and his struggle to live. On July 1, 1991, Landon died in Malibu, California. He was 54 years old.

Landon was interred in Culver City's Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery and his family was joined by 500 other mourners including former President Ronald Reagan (with whom Michael had once chopped wood) and his wife Nancy. Also among the mourners were actors Merlin Olsen, Ernest Borgnine, Brian Keith and many more of Landon's co-stars, including Little House on the Prairie child-actors Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson. Bonanza producer David Dortort and Pernell Roberts, Landon's former TV brother also attended. About Landon's death, Roberts issued a statement, "I am deeply grieved."

Legacy

A community building at Malibu's Bluffs Park was named "The Michael Landon Center" following the actor's death.

Cheryl Landon made a promise to her father to continue his grave concern for the future generation with positive live shows; promoting family values and to honor and protect his name. She continues the work for youth. She has been awarded: "Ambassador of Peace" from the Washington Times Foundation and United Nations.

Landon's son, Michael Jr., produced a memorial special, Michael Landon: Memories with Laughter and Love, featuring the actor's friends and co-stars. Bonanza co-star David Canary said that one word that described Landon was "fearless" in his dealings with network brass. Melissa Gilbert, who played his daughter on Little House said that the actor made her feel "incredibly safe" and that he was "paternal". Often cited was his bizarre sense of humor, which included having toads leap from his mouth and dressing as a superhero to visit a pizza parlor. In his final 1991 Tonight Show appearance, Johnny Carson related how the actor took him back to a restaurant the two had dined at previously. Carson had been led to believe he accidentally ran over the owners cat in the parking lot during their first visit. When sitting down to eat the second time, Carson discovered that Landon had helped create a fake menu of dinner items featuring dead cat.

A made-for-TV movie, Michael Landon, the Father I Knew, co-written and directed by his son Michael, Jr., aired on CBS in May, 1999. John Schneider starred in the title role as Michael Landon, with Cheryl Ladd as Lynn Noe, and Joel Berti as Michael Landon, Jr. The biopic detailed, from Landon, Jr's point of view, the personal emotional trauma he endured during his parents divorce, and his father's premature death. The program spanned a timeline from the 1960s through the early 90s.

Honors and awards

1969 - Bambi Award won for Bonanza (shared with Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts)

1970 - Western Heritage Awards won Bronze Wrangler Fictional Television Drama for Bonanza episode, The Wish

1979 - Golden Globe Award nomination for Best TV Actor, Little House on the Prairie

1981 - Western Writers of America won Best TV Script for Little House on the Prairie episode, May We Make Them Proud

1984 - Golden Boot Award

2004 - TV Land Awards nomination for "Most Memorable Mane", Little House on the Prairie

Michael Landon also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 N. Vine Street and in 1998, and was inducted posthumously into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

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