Melissa Gilbert Movies
Actress Melissa Gilbert literally grew up before our eyes in the role of Laura Ingalls on the TV series
Little House on the Prairie. A professional from the age of 3, Gilbert was ten years old when she assumed the role of Laura, and in her mid-20s when
Little House branched off into a handful of TV movies in the 1980s. Outside of this series, Gilbert was the uncrowned queen of the TV remakes: She starred as young Helen Keller in 1979's
The Miracle Worker, played the title role in 1980's
The Diary of Anne Frank, and assumed the old Natalie Wood role in 1981's
Splendor in the Grass. More recently, she has been showing up in made-for-TV biopics, e.g. Babymaker: The Dr. Cecil Jacobson Story (1993) and
Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story (1994). Gilbert's latter-day series-TV work has included the parts of Kate Delany in
Sweet Justice and Rochelle in
Stand By Your Man; she has also been heard as the voice of Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, in the daily
Batman: The Animated Series. In all of these, she has been billed under her married name of Gilbert-Brinkman (her marriage to Bo Brinkman has since dissolved). Melissa Gilbert is the sister of
Sara Gilbert, who played Darlene on TV's
Roseanne; her grandfather,
Harry Crane, was one of the creators of the Jackie Gleason series
The Honeymooners. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide