Nellie Oleson Burns Down 'Little House On The Prairie'

By Ben Widdicombe Posted Jun 17th 2010 07:00AM

Alison Arngrim, familiar to a generation of TV viewers as the petulant Nellie Oleson of 'Little House On The Prairie,' is dishing the dirt on Walnut Grove. In her new book (released this week) and one-woman show, both called 'Confessions of a Prairie Bitch,' she tells tales and reveals who she liked (Melissa Gilbert) and who she didn't (Melissa Sue Anderson) on set.

"I tell all true stories," she told PopEater. "I talk about what it was like to be a bitch, and what it's like to be hated. What does it mean to be Nellie Oleson? It means somebody has called me a bitch to my face every day since I was 11 years old."

And were they right?

"Yes!" she said with a laugh. "Of course, I'm not really a bitch, I just played one on TV."

Alison's website doesn't make it easy to find tour dates, but the show will be in New York this Thursday through Saturday, and then moves to San Francisco and on to France, where (like Jerry Lewis) she is surprisingly popular.

"The French really love 'Little House on the Prairie,' and they love Nellie Oleson," she says. "I go to France at least twice a year for a month and perform my one-woman show in French. The show really resonated with the French for some reason, and [I learned the language because] I realized I could go back and cash in. They don't think Nellie's mean, they think she's French."

Arngrim was part of the first generation of TV actors to benefit from residual payments "in perpetuity," meaning she still gets checks from 'Little House.' "'The Waltons' don't get residuals," she says with an impish trace of Oleson smugness.

And she adds that almost without exception, the fans' favorite "Nellie moment" is the episode where she pretends to be crippled. The saintly Laura Ingalls finally breaks and pushes Nellie, in her wheelchair, into a pond. "It's the most beloved episode and it really vibrates with people," she says. "Nellie gets her come-uppance!"

But were there any real-life catfights on-set?

"One of the things that seems to shock people is that Melissa Gilbert and I are friends," she says, speaking at her book event at New York's Aspen Social Club. "We loved each other and we still love each other -- Melissa is very much like my sister. We had slumber parties. Yet, you had Melissa Sue Anderson, who played her sister, and they never went to each other's house. Melissa [Gilbert] has spoken in her book about how she did not have a very good relationship with Melissa Sue. I talk about how Melissa Sue was really the diva head cheerleader-type, the homecoming queen who we all were sort of in awe of. Melissa Sue admits in her book she did not become friends with the other girls. She said she was shy ... we think there's another word for it, and it's the one they call me."

Alison (whose tweets you can follow here) is also heavily involved with Protect.org, a child-protection advocacy group, in part because she was abused as a child. She even told Ann Curry, how she used her abuse as inspiration for Nellie. "When you live with abuse, you have a lot of rage and anger, and I had a place to actually take it and vent it as Nellie. "It's done me so much good, I can't even describe it."

Asked about her funniest fan interaction, she said she was at an autograph signing a few years ago at the LA County Fair, and a middle-aged women went red in the face when she saw her and finally blurted out "I forgive you!" before storming off.

"It was nice to be absolved after all these years," Arngrim says with a chuckle.

Tags: Alison Arngrim, little house on the prairie, melissa gilbert

Comments

(94)

Thursday 17 June

By Sue

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Would like to see Alison on DWTS.

Friday 18 June

By Johnny

I'd love to see Alison on DWTS. I seen her a few years ago at the L.A. County fair and she had the greatest personallity I'd ever experienced. I was almost tongue tied when It was my turn for her to sign my photo of her. She still a STAR too me.

By DIANE

YES I WOULD LOVE TO SEE HER AND THE REST OF THE YOUNG CAST ON THAT SHOW ON DWTS.

Saturday 19 June

By Pago

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

GO 'HEAD! I hope NO ONE forgets you were a great friend to the Gays when most were not; we CERTAINLY have not!

By mw

Her or Melissa Gilbert on DWTS.

By JBaer

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Another tell-all about a popular TV show. Wow, what a shock...

By kay

I agree with you there. I never liked Alison Arngrim as Nellie Olsen. She was a snotty kid, and she sounds like she is still that way. I would waste my money on her "book." She hasn't done anything acting wise since Little House. She is just trying to cash in on the popularity of that show, because she can't make a career out of acting, since she was never a good actress (in my opinion).

By d

Aren't they all?

By gcouncil02

shutup, You guys would do the samething if you were in her shoes

By S M V

Kay, did you ever think that maybe the reason you never liked her as Nellie was because she was doing such a good job convincing you to hate her? Sooooo obvious....

By julie

WOW she was unattractive as a child ,but has really grown into a beautiful toadface.I agree another loser probably down to her last few flies,so I guess she will dish on her co-stars to make a couple of bucks.To bad a mule didnt kick her in her azz instead of her face on the show

By Joe Papierz Jr

Just who are you to call someone else "toadface"? I bet your no bargain. By the way, did it make you feel good about yourself to call someone else a toadface?

By Julie

WHO AM I? I AM JULIE THE BEAUTIFUL,AND I FEEL FABULOUS ABOUT MYSELF, THANKS FOR ASKING. PS: YOU WOULDNT HAPPEN TO BE TOADFACES LAWYER THAT WORKS FOR THE FIRM DEWEY CHETAM&HOWE?

By mm

I say she does look similar to a toad so i would agree.

THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT MM. SEE JOE THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN,

By Steven

Julie, you are either some 14 year old that never really seen the show because it was way before your time or you have not matured beyond that age. Everyone else can see past your trolling in this thread.

WRONG STEVEN. ITS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SHOWS,AND JUST BECAUSE I DONT AGREE WITH YOU,DOESNT MEAN IM NOT ENTITLED TO MY ON OPINION,SO SAVE YOUR MICKEY MOUSE ANALYZATIONS FOR YOURSELF..

By Paige

you really shouldn't swear on this website. kids see this stuff and repeat it

By sweetforme

Identifying the troll is easy. When your posted opinion of someone or something is slung back in your face as a personal insult or attack, you have encountered a troll.
Joe and Steven, don't feed the nasty troll. This troll is obviously trying out for the part of little Nellie Olsen. GG troll.
Although "talent" and "beauty" are in the eyes of the beholder, we all know Ms. Allison Arngrim was and is a true talent, a tv land sweetheart, and a trailblazer of our time.

By kitten

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Julie, I understand that you may not be a fan of Alison Arngrim or the character she portrayed, but that is no reason to disrespect another human being by calling them rude names or trying to degrade them in the presence (even cyber/virtual presence) of others. When you do this, it only shows the lack of respect you have for yourself and others. The mature thing to do would be to agree to disagree about her acting abilities (and this would be your opinion) and end the discussion there. I will pray that all of you who are arguing about this will see that nothing can be gained for degrading anyone (or each other).

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