Melissa Anderson - The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House

The Way
I See It

The Way
I See It

A Look Back at My Life

on Little House

Melissa Anderson

Guilford, Connecticut

Copyright 2010 by Melissa Anderson

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

E-ISBN 978-0-7627-7486-9

For

Piper and Griffin

Contents

THE WAY I SEE IT

TEASE

FADE IN:

INT. MODERN KITCHEN DAY

A phone hangs on the wall in this typical 1970s room. It is RINGING. A LITTLE BLONDE GIRL runs to answer it.

GIRL

(calling)

Ill get it!

She picks up the receiver and sits cross-legged on the floor, the cord hanging in loops up to the cradle.

GIRL

(into phone)

Hello?

EXT. OFFICE BUILDING DAY

CAMERA CLOSES IN ONTO a 5th floor window.

INT. MARY GRADYS OFFICE DAY

MARY GRADY, a successful childrens talent agent, sits at her cluttered desk, phone on her shoulder, Flair pen in her teeth. Smiles as she sing-songs into the phone:

MARY GRADY

Is this Miss Melissa Sue Anderson?

INTERCUT WITH MELISSA IN HER HOUSE

MELISSA

(into phone)

Oh, hi, Mary. How are you? Are you calling to send me out on an audition?

Mary goes through the clutter of photos and pieces of paper on her desk, trying to find out what this pilot is all about.

MARY GRADY

Well, as a matter of fact, I am. Im looking at the breakdown now, and this is what it says: Pretty, blonde, blue-eyed 11-year-old girl for principal role in two-hour movie pilot for NBC. Now, this is a much bigger deal than the episodic television youve appeared in, Melissa. What do you think? Do you want to try?

MELISSA

YES! YES! I am sooo excited! When do I go, Mary? What do I wear?

MARY GRADY

The interview with the NBC executives is tomorrow afternoon, and you should wear something blue it brings out your eyes.

MELISSA

I will, Mary. And thank you. Wish me luck!

Mary picks up the breakdown, squinting at it.

MARY GRADY

Oh, and I see here, hmmm, I think its... a Western?

C HAPTER O NE

Too Well Fed and a Seven-Year Contract

I went to my closet to begin picking out my outfit for that first meeting at NBC, deciding on a light-blue-and-white checked shirt and my favorite pair of jeans. Mary, my agent, was right: The blue definitely brought out my eyes. After school the next day (I was in sixth grade), I went home to change my clothes, brush my hair, and use Pearl Drops Tooth Polish for an added zing to my smile.

The drive to NBC Burbank from my home in Woodland Hills should have taken about twenty minutes if there was no traffic, but as is usually the case in Los Angeles, it would take at least twice that much time. We always allowed an hour so as not to be late for these interviews. I remember seeing the big NBC logo in the parking lot and having no idea of what to expect from this meeting.

I signed myself in and sat in the outer waiting room. I dont remember seeing other girls at this meeting, but there may well have been, because as many as two hundred girls originally auditioned for each of the principal roles: Mary and Laura.

Finally, I was called to go in. The room was large and comfortable, with two sofas, some large upholstered chairs, and a large coffee table. I was led to an armchair where I sat down among a group of executives. A white-haired man with very blue eyes, the vice president of talent, held my composite (a double-sided sheet with photos and vital statistics) and began the conversation.

Hi, Melissa. My name is Al Trescony. I have a daughter who was born on the same day as you.

I smiled. Really? The same day as me? Ive never met anyone with the same birth date.

Al laughed and said, Well, shes a bit older, ten years, but just as pretty as you are.

Thank you, I said.

I was nothing if not polite.

Some of the other executives in the room made small talk and asked me what I liked to do, my favorite subjects in school, my favorite sports. I said I really liked basketball. I had a hoop over my garage so I played a lot. I told them that reading and English were probably my best subjects and that I really enjoyed reading books and did a lot of it at home.

So youve probably read the books that this movie is based on, then? Al said.

I told him, I dont know what books you mean. My agent said she thought it was a Western.

Ah, well, it is, a bit, Al said. A pioneer Western you could say: Little House on the Prairie ?

I bounced up and down in my chair. Ive read all of those books. I loved them. Thats what this is? Neat!

The executives laughed at that and asked me if I knew which role I was being considered for.

Oh, Im sure it must be Mary, right?

You got it, Melissa, Al said. You certainly have the blue eyes for it.

Again I said, Thank you.

As the meeting came to an end, Al said, So, Melissa, do you think youll be able to read for the role of Mary?

Absolutely, I said. Im so excited. It will be fun.

All right, then. Well be in touch with your agent about that.

We shook hands all around, and I practically skipped my way out of that room back to the reception area where my mother was waiting for me.

Mom! Its Little House on the Prairie! Thats the Western!

When I got home, I pulled out my copy of Little House on the Prairie from my bookshelf and began to reread it, trying to envision myself in the Mary role, but also trying not to get my hopes up. As I turned the pages, I began to realize somethingMary doesnt do a lot. As a matter of fact, nobody really does very much except Laura and Pa. Mary and Ma were there, to be sure, but everything seems to revolve around Pa and Half-Pint. This was not something I, as an actress, would ever have brought up if I was lucky enough to land the role.

During the course of the series, this became a major source of conflict between Mike Landon and Ed Friendly, the other executive producer. Ed wanted to stick faithfully, if not slavishly, to the nine Little House books, and the pilot was based on the entire second book: Little House on the Prairie. Mike realized there would not be enough inherent drama if they only used the material in the books and, also, that the characters of Ma and Mary would not be fully fleshed out. He wanted the series to run for several years, at 24 episodes a year. It was a battle Mike Landon and Ed Friendly fought for quite a while. I still loved these books, though, and thought how much I and other kids would love to see a movie and TV show based on them.

At school the next day, I quickly forgot all about Little House and immersed myself in trying to win the Aluminum Can Drive for Charity. I went all around my neighborhood, door-to-door, asking for aluminum cans, and even recruited my two best friends, identical twins named Pam and Tam, to help. They were great sports and even did the unthinkable with me: We donned overalls and rubber gloves and Dumpster-dove in back of some apartment buildings. Completely disgusting. But I won the Aluminum Can Drive by a mile, and better than that, Pam and Tam and I have been best friends for almostgulpforty years.