Melissa Gilbert's Complete Transformation

If you were a TV watcher in America in the mid 1970s and early 1980s, chances are you could recognize Melissa Gilbert's face, at a minimum. But if you were a "Little House on the Prairie" fan, then you knew Gilbert's Laura Ingalls character like she was your own sister. So when Gilbert appeared on a red carpet in 2023, at age 59, with her hair in braids, fans couldn't help but feel nostalgia for the show and character.

Though Gilbert has never hit the popular heights of "Prairie" again in her career, she has remained a fixture in entertainment throughout the years, appearing in plays, TV cameos, and at award shows (she was president of the Screen Actors Guild from 2001 to 2005). Through her transformation, we have seen her go from one of the most iconic characters on TV to being one of the famous '80s actors that are practically unrecognizable today. Let's rephrase: She's unrecognizable except when she's wearing braids. Then we're right back on the prairie again.

Right after her birth in LA in 1964, Melissa Gilbert was adopted by actors Paul Gilbert and Barbara Crane, the daughter of famed Hollywood screenwriter Harry Crane. Her family connections gave her a toe into the entertainment industry, where she began appearing in ads for Carter's baby clothes at age two. She earned her iconic role as Laura Ingalls on "Little House on the Prairie" in 1973 and continued playing the charmingly precocious child until the series wrapped in 1983. During that time she won hearts over as the second child in the Ingalls household, living in late-1800s Minnesota, running across the landscape in a smock dress with her braids flowing behind, or causing unknown mischief in the one-room schoolhouse, or getting in a scrape with frenemy Nellie.

Her auburn-flecked brunette hair and freckles became her trademark, both on and off-screen. She also had braces during this era, which had to be removed for filming, or covered in wax, to fit in with the period of the story.

Fun fact: In 1981, Melissa Gilbert went to her high school prom with Michael Landon Jr., the son of her on-screen dad Michael Landon. But that wasn't the headline grabber of the decade of excess; that was her high-profile romance with brat packer Rob Lowe from 1981 to 1987. In her memoir "Prairie Tale," she confesses that she had doubts about the relationship (both parties had affairs but things ended when Gilbert fell pregnant and Lowe told her he was not ready to be a father). But while they were together, she embraced the young Hollywood lifestyle, hobnobbing around town with other celebrities and wearing glam attire, including a fur coat that she wore on repeat. One of the memorable places she wore it was in New York City with Brooke Shields, circa 1982. Nowadays we'd like to think she'd go fake, with a faux fur coat that oozes the mob-wife aesthetic (and was trending in 2024).

For the 1984 Golden Globes, she attended with Lowe, wearing a sapphire-blue gown with of-the-era exaggerated shoulders. That same year, "Little House on the Prairie" wrapped when Gilbert was around 20. In 1988, she married her first husband Bo Brinkman and the two welcomed son Dakota the following year.

For the 1991 Emmy Awards, held in August of that year, then 27-year-old Melissa Gilbert showed that she was easing into a more sophisticated style. For the event, she wore a sparkly Giorgio Armani 'fit and hose.

By 1992, Gilbert was divorced from Bo Brinkman, but again, wasn't single for long. In 1995, she married her second husband Bruce Boxleitner and she gave birth, at age 31, to son Michael (named as a tribute to on-screen dad Landon) that same year. She also became stepmom to his two sons. The couple attended an awards ceremony in 1998, where Gilbert looked to be embracing '90s minimalism in all black and minimal jewelry. She also sampled bangs in this era. During this time, she appeared in several made-for-TV movies, but none of her roles ever saw acclaim and fame like "Little House on the Prairie."

In 2001, Melissa Gilbert ran for and was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild, a role she held until 2005. Though she didn't have many acting roles at this time, she did make a number of red-carpet appearances, including at the Directors Guild awards in February 2004. For the event, she wore a boho-inspired gown with paisley detailing and traded in her signature locks for blonder hair.

In 2008, Gilbert revisited "Little House" by taking on the role of the mother, Caroline Ingalls, in a stage production of the beloved story. In 2011, she divorced again, but she took on a new challenge the following year by appearing on "Dancing with the Stars," where she finished fifth with partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Also that year, in September, she wore a simple black square-neck dress to visit the New York Stock Exchange. Her hair was a fiery shade of red that suited the then-48-year-old actor.

In 2013, Melissa Gilbert joined the ranks of celebrities who didn't wear a traditional white wedding dress when she wed actor Timothy Busfield wearing a red gown. She also decided to leave her hometown of LA and relocate to Michigan. Melissa Gilbert's big career move changed the way she sees aging, since she felt she could age more peacefully without the pressures of Hollywood. She quit Botox and embraced her graying hair. In 2018, the couple moved again, this time to Upstate New York.

She documented setting up her Catskills home in her book, "Back to the Prairie: A Home Remade, A Life Rediscovered." In spring 2022, she co-founded women's lifestyle brand Modern Prairie, which sells clothing, accessories, and homewares. Gilbert's red-carpet appearance at a theater premiere in January 2020 also reflected the vibe, as she appeared in a long prairie skirt. She upscaled her appearance at a Monaco red-carpet event in June 2023, when she wore a navy outfit that featured a draped cape look over the shoulders. As one of the most prominent child stars of her era, Gilbert has aged gracefully, while still paying homage to her "Prairie" roots.