Karen Trust Grassle is an American actress, best known for her role as Caroline Ingalls, the wife of Michael Landon's character and the mother of Melissa Gilbert's character, in the NBC television drama series Little House on the Prairie.
April 20, 1924, De Smet, South Dakota, United States
Place Of Birth
Berkeley, California, United States
Height
5 ft 5 in (1.67 m)
Profession
Actor, Writer
Education
Ventura High School, University of California, Berkeley
Nationality
United States of America
Spouse
Scott T. Sutherland (m. 1991–2000)
Children
Lily Radford
Parents
Gene Grassle
Nicknames
Karen Trust Grassle
Movies
Wyatt Earp, Cocaine: One Man's Seduction, Harry's War, Crisis in Mid-Air, Little House on the Prairie
TV Shows
Little House on the Prairie
Star Sign
Pisces
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Quote
1
No. I never tell people how old I am. As an actor, it's not in my interest.
2
[on the importance of having the right chemistry of either a series' or a co-star]: No. Of course, it's more fun if you and the other person work well together, but it's not a requirement. I mean, you're acting. You can have difficulties with each other because of ego or insecurity or advertising and billing, things that can annoy people or hurt their feelings, but you don't let it get in the way of the work. That's the thing.
3
Well, yes! But you have to put the work first. It can be quite painful if you don't feel appreciated by your partner, or if you're supposed to be wildly attracted to them and you're not. But so what? We get to be actors. We are lucky to be able to work.
She now lives in Pacific Palisades, California, with her adopted daughter, Lily. [2005]
3
Appearing in a commercial for "Premier" bathrooms. [January 2009]
4
She is a staunch liberal Democrat.
5
Played the mother of 5 children on Little House on the Prairie (1974), but never had any biological children of her own.
6
When she came to LA in 1973 for a never-completed movie project, she was calling herself "Gabriel Tree", and it was under this name that she beat out 47 other actresses for the role of "Caroline Ingalls" in the long-running TV drama Little House on the Prairie (1974) (co-star Michael Landon convinced her to revert back to her given name of Karen Grassle).
7
In the late 1960s - hoping to boost her career, briefly changed her professional name to Kay Dillinger, claiming to be the illegitimate offspring of the notorious 1930s bank robber (who died ten years before she was born!).
8
She was known as the miracle baby in her family because, previous to her birth, her mother had 4 miscarriages.
9
Her father, Gene Grassle, ran a gas station and her mother managed a restaurant.
10
Her first New York break was the play "The Gingham Tree." She had to borrow a dollar from a friend to go to the audition!
11
After Little House on the Prairie (1974) ended, she was featured as a guest star on various television shows and toured the country performing in numerous plays. Later on, she moved to Louisville, Kentucky, to continue her work in the theater. She was the co-founder and artistic director of Santa Fe's Resource Theatre Company and starred in "Wit" at the Arizona Theater Company.
12
Won the role of Caroline Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie (1974) out of 47 other actresses who also auditioned.
13
Inducted (as a cast member of Little House on the Prairie (1974)) into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1998.
A long-involved advocate for women's rights, she wrote and co-starred in the mini-movie Battered (1978), which dealt with the issues of domestic violence.
$500 Thousand
