He's buried at Hillside. He's Jewish.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...ge=gr&GRid=601
He's buried at Hillside. He's Jewish.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...ge=gr&GRid=601
oh charles....
pull the string!
It has been such a long time since I saw the Johnny Carson video with Michael in it. He only had something like 7 weeks to live. When Johnny's son died --Michael Landon called Johnny to express his condolences to Johnny. He only had one week left.
I remember driving home from school and the radio station broke in to the song that was playing, announced Landon's death and then played Don McLean's "American Pie"...sad...
Landon's passing was a sad day for all of us. According to what we believe, he was a good man & a true gift to television.
Michael Landon. what can I say .. a lot of people were really pulling for him to make it and he saddened a lot of hearts when he didn't.. he is missed and what a great talent...
There's more to the truth than just the facts. ~Author Unknown
the odd part is ..sara "gilbert" isnt even a Gilbert..she has a different dad ( same mom and yeah she was born to her rather than adopted) and last name all together...just saw that on Bio channel..was suprised shed take some other guys last name but i guess its more known..dunno
Gilbert was born in Santa Monica. Her parents are Barbara Crane (née Barbara Cowan) and Harold Abeles.
Her two older adoptive half siblings were stars of Little House on the Prairie: Melissa Gilbert and Jonathan Gilbert. Melissa and Jonathan were adopted by Barbara and her first husband Paul Gilbert (born Paul MacMahon); Paul died in 1975.
Abeles changed her surname to Gilbert to become an actress in 1984.
Some random thoughts:
Melissa Gilbert admits to having implants.
Allison Arngrim (Nellie) and Melissa Gilbert are best friends to this day.
Some of those Little House Episodes WERE intense. The fire, the rape, the drug abuse, the one where they blew up the town.
Michael Landon and Johnny Carson were good friends and his Tonight Show appearances were always special. They would kid about playing cards or Johnny's expensive tennis court.
Michael Landon Jr. tried acting, appearing as Little Joe's son on a Bonanza update. I think he produces shows for the Hallmark Channel now. Leslie Landon appeared on a few of the Little House spinoff episodes as a teacher.
Guest
Michael was so frail on Carson,he was in good spirits tho,laughin and jokin,I'm sure he was scared tho,maybe a little in denial.
I seem to remember Landon singing the theme song to Bonanza on Carson once but cannot find it so here is Lorne Greene singing it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA-PdP4k4Xw
Michael's oldest son Mark was found dead in his West Hollywood home he was 60 [adopted by Michael] he was his first wife's son.
Actor Michael Landon's eldest son Mark found dead at West Hollywood home at age 60
Associated Press
Last update: May 12, 2009 - 12:34 AM
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Mark Landon, an actor and eldest son of "Little House on the Prairie" star Michael Landon, was found dead Monday at his home. He was 60.
The cause of death was not immediately clear but there was no evidence of foul play, said Sgt. David Infante of the Los Angeles County sheriff's office.
Mark Landon, among Michael Landon's nine children, appeared in three movies, including "Us" — a CBS television movie written and directed by his father in 1991 just before he died of cancer at age 54. The film was a pilot intended to be another series for Michael Landon. It aired a few months after his death.
Michael Landon also starred in such shows as "Bonanza" and "Highway to Heaven." He adopted Mark Landon after marrying his mother, Dodie Levy-Fraser, in 1956.
Mark, was Dodie Frasers (Michael's first wife) son from her first marriage and Michael adopted him after he married Dodie. Together they adopted another Son: Josh Landon, born 1959; adopted during Landon's first marriage to Dodie.
Son: Jason Smith (aka Jason Landon); born May, 1961; adopted in 1961 during Landon's first marriage to Dodie Fraser; given up by Dodie Landon after divorce from Michael Landon in 1962 to new adoptive parents Bill and Alma Smith.
I remember Jason being on Oprah talking about finding out that Michael Landon had been his adopted dad.....then given him up for adoption again after him and Dodie's marraige broke up. Wow, that would be a difficult one to accept, Michael Landon was having an affair at the time with his future second wife.
Last edited by Nicki; 05-11-2009 at 11:29 PM.
Here is the story about the Child that was adopted by Michael Landon and his wife Dodie then given up for adoption again:
The Son Michael Landon Loved—and Left
By Susan Schindehette
Nearly Three Decades Later, Jason Smith Still Wonders Why
"I hate it when someone calls [Josh and Jason] 'adopted'.... They're my sons—period. Not my 'adopted sons.' They're my sons and I'm their father until they die—or I die."
—Michael Landon, 1962
LAST JULY 5 A CELEBRITY-STUDDED throng of 500 people gathered at Los Angeles's Hillside Memorial Park to pay tribute to Michael Landon, who had died of pancreatic and liver cancer four days earlier at the age of 54. In Hattiesburg, Miss., Jason Smith was grieving too. The gangly, earnest night manager of a grocery store, Smith, 30, held a faded black-and-white photo of a smiling family: a mother, two small boys, and himself as a baby being cradled by the man who had died.
In 1961 Michael Landon was savoring early stardom—two years into his role as Little Joe on Bonanza and five years married to his first wife, Dodie Fraser, a legal secretary six years his senior. Landon had adopted 12-year-old Mark, Dodie's son from a previous marriage, and the couple had adopted son Josh as an infant.
The marriage, though, was not thriving, and in an apparent effort to shore up the union, Dodie decided to adopt a third child. "Michael was not in favor of bringing another baby into a home where he wasn't that happy anyway," says Landon's longtime publicist Harry Flynn. Yet in May 1961, week-old Jason, who had been surrendered for adoption by a Los Angeles teenager, officially became a Landon.
Jason's arrival could not save the marriage. The couple separated 10 months later, on March 16, 1962. And with that separation, the course of Jason's life was altered abruptly.
For reasons she has never publicly revealed, Dodie Landon, who was awarded custody of all three children, decided that she could not continue to care for her youngest son. As a single working mother of three children, two of them less than 3 years old, "Dodie couldn't keep being who she was with the extra kid." speculates record producer Nik Venet, a close friend of Landon's. "It's a terrible thing, but when she couldn't handle the kid, that was the end of the adoption."
Through her hairdresser, Mary Ethel Sharknock, Dodie learned of a Texas couple, Bill and Alma Smith, who, with their own three children grown, were eager to refill the family nest. After making preliminary arrangements, Bill, 56, a retired Coast Guard engineer, and Alma, 54, drove to L.A. Shortly after their arrival, Dodie drove to Mary Sharknock's home, walked across her lawn, handed 3-year-old Jason to Alma, then drove off. According to the Smiths' daughter, Dorothy Davis, now 56, "Dodie just gave Jason away. Mary Ethel said that she had his bags packed for two weeks. And she was afraid my mom and dad wouldn't come."
Bud Smith, now 55, recalls his parents' description of their new son. "They said that when they drove away, it was dark, and Jason was just amazed at all the lights, like he'd never been out of the house."
"When he first came, he couldn't even put sentences together," adds Dorothy. "he would look at Mother, point, and say, 'Dress. Pretty.' The thing I remember is that he never mentioned a mother or a daddy, and he never cried for one."
Jason himself has only dim memories of his first three years. "I remember a German shepherd dog. We used to ride on its back and pull his tail. I remember playing in a sandbox. I remember what I thought at that time, being a small child, was a lake in our front yard, which I guess was a pond or pool." He also has memories of "a man...somebody throwing me up in the air and catching me...tall, dark hair."
But his next recollections are of life with the Smiths, a relatively happy period that ruptured in 1971 when Bill Smith died of a heart attack. A few weeks later, 10-year-old Jason received another shock. Alma, who "did a lot of crying while she was telling me," explained that Jason was not the Smiths' "natural-born son," but had been adopted from Michael Landon.
Though Jason had already guessed that the Smiths were too old to be his natural parents, "I had never dreamed that [Landon] had been my dad," he says. "But I always wondered why Mom used to make me watch Boiuin-za." Throughout his childhood, there were also unfounded neighborhood in-more that Jason was Landon's biological child. "The Landon family doctor had made a remark to my parents about 'Michael Landon getting girls pregnant,' " says Jason's sister, Dorothy. "So I think everybody just assumed that Jason was Michael Landon's son." At school, playmates who caught wind of the gossip tauntingly called him Little Joe.
After her husband's death, Alma Smith saw her health decline. At one point 11-year-old Jason was left to care for himself and his incontinent mother until his brother Robert intervened. After Alma died in 1971. Jason spent an unsettled adolescence being shunted among family and friends in Texas, Mississippi and finally Arizona. The seventh grade, spent with Dorothy in Houston, was "kind of nice," he recalls. "I actually got to go to school in one place for a whole year." At 17, he moved out on his own.
Over the years Jason was able to piece together sketchy details of his rejection by the Landons. "The bottom line," he says, his voice cracking, "is that basically I was just handed over. But I really don't know—really—the reason why."
He did make several halfhearted attempts to contact both Dodie and Michael. "To be honest, I had pretty low self-esteem, so when I didn't get any replies, I just let it slide," he says. Then last spring, when Jason heard that Landon had cancer, he sent a letter through a friend to the Landon household. "I didn't want his money," says Jason. "All I wanted was to just meet him and talk with him." If received, the letter was not answered.
Dodie Landon Lake, 61, remarried in 1976 and living in Palm Springs, will not comment on Jason's situation. But in response to PEOPLE'S inquiry, she had her son Josh give this statement: "At the time of Mom and Dad's divorce, Jason was still very new to the family and young enough so that it seemed much more thoughtful, for Jason's sake, to put him in a more permanent family situation."
If his abandonment was painful for Jason, there are hints that it was also hard on Landon. "It was one of the few things he never talked about," says Nik Venet. "And I believe the reason is that he didn't have a clue how to handle it." Venet also believes that, at least in the early years, Landon, who in the course of three marriages became the loving father of three adopted and six biological
children, somehow managed to keep a watchful, if distant, eye on the 10th. "I le knew an awful lot about Jason. It would be hard to prove, but I think someone was contacting him," says Venet. "Michael had a conscience about the boy, and an affection for him. He just wanted to make sure the kid was okay."
Today, for the most part, Jason is okay. He has held the same job for the last two years. In his off-hours he attends the University of Southern Mississippi part-time and hopes to graduate with a business degree. Sometime next year, Jason plans to marry Sherry Parker, 31, a secretary at his school who has known him since childhood. His major family feud is not with the Landons but with brother Robert's family, who provided information to a tabloid without Jason's knowledge.
Though Landon's nine children, including Mark and Josh, each stand to receive al least 8 10 million from his estate, Jason says he does not plan to press the family for money. In the months since Landon's death, he also seems to have come to terms with his strange fate. Still, he wistfully admits, "I do often wonder what it would have been like to have been Jason Landon all my life."
Thanks for posting Nicki. What a sad tale.
Guest
Since joining, I have come to love this findadeath forum and I'm glad to be a participant now rather than a "lurker" when Dennis is on the forum. I can look up any deceased celebrity and learn more about him or her and read comments from the posts.
I loved Michael Landon. Not just as an actor but also as a human being. I watched him in "Bonaza" and "Highway to Heaven" but "Little House" was one of my favorite shows growing up. I'm very sad to hear today that his eldest son has died now. I'll never forget the day Michael Landon passed away--July 1, 1991. It was my son Brian's 1st birthday.
Your math is correct Lisa. Marks father was killed in the Korean War....at least that was the news they gave at one time. So Dodie was a widow with a young son.....Mark was actually young enough to be Michaels little brother. He adored kids and adopted Mark. Considering he ended up with 9 children...adopted plus his own, he very much enjoyed the youngsters.
Last edited by Nicki; 05-13-2009 at 10:21 PM.
Actually this is very true, and even more strange is I also have had so many family members and friends not only die but were born in the month of July. My grandma also died on July 1st. We are either remembering someone who passed away in July, or going to someones birthday party. It's just a really weird. What is it about this month?
I have to agree. I remember Lyn going on talk shows and joining some celebrity club for divorced women who got dumped by their husbands. Lyn was pissed that Michael dumped her for Cindy, but I always found that rather weird since Michael dumped his first wife for Lyn.
Michael appeared to be a great father in spite of his marital issues though...
Last edited by Rudy's Girl; 05-13-2009 at 11:47 AM.
I remember I was reading and listening to the radio in the background. All of a sudden the station (which was a strict top 40 and no dj) played the theme from Bonanza. I thought that was very odd. A couple minutes later my mother told me that Michael Landon had died.
Apparently whoever was working at the radio station that day was also a big fan.
Nicki, that was an incredible story. thank you!
I have 4 cats, and it's really too many. But I can't bring myself to send even one back to the shelter...the thought of putting a dumpling in a carrier and sending it away--to a very nice place, even!--would eat me alive. But that's my own problem. (g)
I can't imagine 'giving back' a child I had adopted. I'd go right out of my mind.
I have an old Japanese magazine from the early 1950's, and in it is the story of a 'happy reunion' of a poor family who abandoned their daughter, then went back to get her. Unbelievably, the entire family's names are included along with their picture. That story blows my mind too.
Wow.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Wow, that was some huge-open-mouthed-but-totally-straight-bromance greeting. (爆)~RaRa
The Landon family should do the right thing and invite the guy to dinner and give him a couple of million.
Not to purposely go off topic.....but (as I do) I'm childless (unless we count Ron's kids) so all of my "kids" have been adopted "furbabies".....I cannot fathom ever giving any of them back....even though the late, great "Lady HooHoo" was as psychotic as she was photogenic. I had an appreciation for Michael Landon's acting career but as for his familial resume'.....ummmmm not so much. Sad to learn of his eldest son, Mark's passing.....may he and Michael RIP.
Well, in some ways I can understand a family in a irrational moment when so much is against them giving up a daughter. AND when the picture became more clear....they did go back to retrieve her.
The Landon family had already had Jason for awhile....it was not JUST a few days. AND....they were far from poor. Very much wealthy by that time. I can't even fatham growing up and finding out someone as famous as Michael Landon had been your father for more then a few months and then gave his consent to send you back. If Dodie did not want that child, Michael Landon sure could have taken Jason along to his new home with Lynn. He must have figured it just would not have worked with a child in the new home from his former marriage. And judging from Lynn's reaction when she got dumped for Cindy she probably would not have wanted to adopt a child that was a product of his previous previous marraige with Dodie. Very sad and must have hurt tremendously for that little boy when he found out later on.
Well, its all water under the bridge now...everyone makes some decisions they may have regrets about....this one was a doozy.
Last edited by Nicki; 05-13-2009 at 10:35 PM.
Jennifer Landon Michael's youngest daughter was on As The World Turns as Gwen Nordbeck Munson. she won 2 or 3 Daytime emmys for her portrayal. she left the show last year along with her onscreen husband Jesse Soffer.
I read that when Michael Landon signed the contract as Little Joe
on Bonanza he celebrated by going to a Chinese restaurant
and scarfing up a load of egg rolls.
To him at the time I guess this was celebrating!
I thought Michael Landon was one of the most attractive men
in show business. He was so beautiful!
I read Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim and here's some Michael Landon/Little House trivia:
1. Michael, some actors and crew members drank anywhere from 1 to 2, maybe 3, cases of beer every day during shooting.
2. Michael never wore underwear. He knew what women liked.
3. Michael was married to his first wife Dodi when he met lynn on Bonanza, and then met Cindy on Little House.
Usually I watch Bonanza at 2 - 4 pm each day. One day this week they started showing way early epis, probably some of the first ones filmed, and I believe the one Wednesday was the debut, which was shot in the early 50s. Michael Landon was 22 and so young looking. That was before I was born. I can't remember when I first heard about Bonanza, but I didn't start watching it until the last year.
I read Melissa Gilbert's book Prairie Tale and it's surprisingly juicy. She says that her brother doesn't keep in touch and that she doesn't know the truth about her or her brother's adoption. Her mother has told her many different stories but she implies that her father knocked someone up and brought the baby, Melissa, home to his wife who "adopted" her.
She said that Michael Landon always had a coffee cup full of booze when he was on set and he smelled like cigarettes and alcohol. She did not get along with Melissa Sue Anderson.
Even though he wasn't a saint, his shows touched me and I always enjoyed him as a celebrity.
He certainly was an attractive man. Really handsome. I loved him on Little House. He had a beautiful smile and laugh!!
I Loved Michael Landon and the family values that he stood for. This article made me a little heart sick.
I agree. I really liked her book - a lot. Lots of great stuff in there. I just wish she would have talked more about LH.
I also liked the way she wrote too. Very candid and speaks her mind. Me and her sort of have the same attitude - which I really was surprised about.
I enjoyed his work as a kid.
The poor man did have the worst face lift on tv. It was brutally obvious.