Little House on the Prairie cast: who is still alive? With the Netflix reboot out, a full check on the original Walnut Grove actors
Netflix's reboot landed in July 2026 and sent a whole generation back to the 1974 NBC original. Here's an up-to-date roll call of the Walnut Grove cast as of September 2026, with what the surviving actors are doing now and what they've said about the new version.
Netflix dropped its new Little House on the Prairie on July 9, 2026, and within a week the 1974 cast was trending again. Fifty-two years after the NBC pilot aired, the Walnut Grove roll call is in better shape than most shows of that vintage.
The original ran nine seasons on NBC, from 1974 to 1983, plus three post-series TV movies. Of the principal cast, thirteen are still living as of September 2026, and several are working the convention circuit, the podcast circuit, or both.
The Ingalls household
Michael Landon, who played Charles and also produced, wrote, and directed much of the series, is the conspicuous absence — he died of pancreatic cancer on July 1, 1991, at 54. Everyone else who lived under that roof is still here.
- Melissa Gilbert (Laura), 62 — still acting on screen and stage, a past president of the Screen Actors Guild, and author of two memoirs, Prairie Tale and Back to the Prairie.
- Melissa Sue Anderson (Mary), 63 — largely stepped back from acting, lives in New York, surfaces mostly at Little House reunions.
- Karen Grassle (Caroline), 84 — kept working in theater and indie film, and published Bright Lights, Prairie Dust in 2021.
- Rachel Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush (Carrie ), both 56 — the twins who shared the role, now running Greenbush Twins & Company.
- Matthew Labyorteaux (Albert), 59 — moved heavily into voice work for animation and video games.
- Wendi Lou Lee (Grace), 48 — author and speaker, having survived a brain tumor.
The rest of the town
Nellie Oleson turned out to be the most durable brand of the lot. Alison Arngrim, 64, wrote the bestselling Confessions of a Prairie Bitch, tours a stage show, and co-hosts the Little House on the Prairie 50th Anniversary Podcast with Dean Butler, 70, who played Almanzo Wilder.
Also still with us: Jonathan Gilbert (Willie Oleson), 59, who left acting and reportedly went into finance; Charlotte Stewart (Miss Beadle), 85, who sells handmade "Beadle Bags" to fans; Ketty Lester (Hester-Sue Terhune), 92, the singer behind the 1962 hit "Love Letters"; Bonnie Bartlett (Grace Snider Edwards), 97, an Emmy winner for St. Elsewhere and half of Hollywood 's longest-married couple with William Daniels; Leslie Landon (Etta Plum), 63, now a licensed clinical psychologist; Patrick Labyorteaux (Andy Garvey), 61; Linwood Boomer (Adam Kendall), who went on to create Malcolm in the Middle; plus Stan Ivar, Pamela Roylance, David Friedman, Allison Balson, and Lucy Lee Flippin. Jason Bateman, 57, did a season as James Cooper Ingalls before anyone knew who he was.
Who's gone
Eight of the show's most recognizable adult faces died before the reboot was announced. Two of them — Michael Landon and Victor French — were both 54.
- Victor French (Mr. Edwards) — lung cancer, June 15, 1989, aged 54. He also directed a stack of episodes.
- Karl Swenson (Lars Hanson) — heart attack, October 8, 1978, aged 70, days after filming.
- Steve Tracy (Percival Dalton) — November 27, 1986, aged 34, of AIDS-related illness; Arngrim has done HIV/AIDS charity work ever since.
- Kevin Hagen (Doc Baker) — esophageal cancer, July 9, 2005, aged 77.
- Dabbs Greer (Reverend Alden) — April 28, 2007, aged 90.
- Merlin Olsen (Jonathan Garvey) — mesothelioma, March 11, 2010, aged 69, after a Hall of Fame career with the Rams.
- Richard Bull (Nels Oleson) — February 3, 2014, aged 89.
- Katherine MacGregor (Harriet Oleson) — November 13, 2018, aged 93.
- Hersha Parady (Alice Garvey) — complications from a brain tumor, August 23, 2023, aged 78.
- Shannen Doherty (Jenny Wilder) — July 13, 2024, aged 53.
Nobody called them
Netflix's version stars Alice Halsey as Laura, Luke Bracey as Charles, Crosby Fitzgerald as Caroline, and Skywalker Hughes as Mary, with Rebecca Sonnenshine showrunning and a second season already ordered. It adapts the books rather than remaking the show, which means no Doc Baker, no Miss Beadle, and no cameos.
Arngrim confirmed as much to ReMIND: as far as she knows, none of the old gang was asked. She has an offer on the table anyway.
"I'm finally old enough to play Mrs. Oleson, so call me!" — Alison Arngrim, ReMIND, 2025
For the record: Trip Friendly, an executive producer on the Netflix series, is the son of Ed Friendly, who produced the 1974 original. The family business survived where Walnut Grove didn't.
Earlier we wrote: Why did Gunsmoke end abruptly? The cast read about it in the papers — the reasons behind CBS's call